Car Audio Central - Ultimate Car Audio Forum and Community

you will also want to get a 2 fared capacitor

btw my buddy has an 12l7 in a really nicly built box and it sounds decent

Not totally sure how a cap will make things better....but....to each their own.

There is somewhat of a "BIG 3" upgrade tutorial here if you need it:
http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/ulti ... =007801;p=

I suggest you install everything, and then see where you stand on alternator upgrades. No sense spending a gob of money on something you dont end up needing. Just because you have 1500 watts available to you dosent mean you will be using that all the time (or even very often), so if this is a daily driver, it may not be necessary.

just some friendly advise :)

IMO yes you will need to get a new alt. all full tilt that amp will be drawing nearly 120 amps+. your stock alt is around 90 amps if in good condition. After the truck takes what it needs then the sub amp and then the mids and highs amp its clear to see that the math does not work out.

IMO you need to do the following.

go to a napa auto parts. They have a HO for your truck with runs at 200 amps and has a voltage regualtor. they also have a full lifetime quarantee.

if you want to try a cheaper route Have a local alt shop rewind your alt. should be able to get it done for around 200 bucks and they can get around 120-130 amps out of it. This would be enough but not prefered.

get yourself a good deep cycle gel cell. i would run one in the back and one up front. if you move your wiper fluid tank you can run them both upfront but fo the sake of wire runs you would want to have the second battery close to the amps.

upgrade your big 3 with nothing less the 1/0<-- dont under estimate the power of this upgrade. it really does make a difference.

run your power for the sub amp no less then 1/0. if you want to go smaller run to a distro block withing a few feet of the amp and then drop down to 2awg but no less.

without these things several things will be the result. poor power output by the amp. the amp power supply will get week from the contant change in voltage. dimming of your lights, destruction of your alt. disscharge of your battery. (stock batterys can only handle a full cycle maybe twice at the very most)
you will save yourself alot of trouble down the road. it cost more yes. but the rewards will be well worth it

gl to ya. should be a nice set up when all is said and done :happy055:

PS: forget the cap. i will agree that they ahve there place to a point but for the most part they are a bandaid to a problem not a fix.

I appreciate all the responses guys, thanks.

Some of you said the l7s are no good, and I don't have my heart set on them at all, so what would you recommend to take their place?

Also, is it a pretty big job replacing the alternator, or is it just take the old one out, put the new one in?

just a swap on the alternator and a wire upgrade as far as l7s the atlas will rock them no question.

how much are you looking to spend?

martin0804 wrote:I appreciate all the responses guys, thanks.
Some of you said the l7s are no good, and I don't have my heart set on them at all, so what would you recommend to take their place?
Also, is it a pretty big job replacing the alternator, or is it just take the old one out, put the new one in?

for the most parts its pull the old one and put in the new. SOME of the super high powered ones you have to build your own brackets but you wont be needing anything near that high tec.

i run the new 06 l7 15's and REALLY love them. i think the biggest problem people have with them is that for the money you can get subs with much better t/s specs. if you search around you can find some great deals on the L7's. before i got the l7's i was going to get a TS 3000 subr but they did not have any to ship so i started looking for something else. i got both L7's for 400 bucks. as for there output i am VERY happy.

the L7 is VERY particular about the box its in. i find that they really like a chunky ported box if you really want them to make some noise

swap them for atlases and i bet you wont go back^^^

for $425 you could get Justin's Bravox BVX's they are 12" and they are nasty Subs!