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Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:11 pm
by wixy
The stock McIntosh subwoofer in my 05 Liberty 3.0r-b no longer works, so I'm looking to replace it.

Are there any subs I can buy that will slot right in without significant modification?

Or is it possible to buy the stock subwoofer somewhere?

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:29 pm
by hamish_023
From memory it's an 8inch sub.

Not sure if putting a different sub will work better with out changing amps but...

http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/mm/in ... s=mm840dvc

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 12:12 am
by mihai
If you have the sedan, then I used a VIBE Space 8 subwoofer.

Heres my thread about it. viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8359

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 12:31 am
by The Sean
I trotted down this path shortly before I was saved by Phat.

The stock sub is a 7.5in so the 8 inch sized ones will need a spacer and going off what I saw this afternoon when I changed mine out, you will probably need a new speaker cover (there is above 25mm-30mm between the metal shelf the speaker sits on and the underside of the carpet covered parcel shelf)

(Probably being the the operative word above)

According to Marty at FHRX studios, if you get a 4 ohm rated sub, you won't need a amp to run it. Bear in mind I'm rather happy with the stock sound and my needs did not require added bass. Also, it has to be somewhat compact as there are bars for the boot under the sub.

If it all gets too hard for you, call Marty at FHRX.

As a rough idea of cost, I asked for a new 8in sub fitted with bracket and grille and dynamat to the carpet covered parcel shelf and the metal shelf that holds the sub and he said to allow about $500 (that's no amp and it was a estimate)

If you did want to just get a replacement genuine sub, you should allow about 2 hours to install and make sure you enlist a friend to help as there is a decent amount of car bits and bobs to take off and refit.

Also helps that you don't ask a mate who is 6ft 4in and weights 130kgs as I'm not that smaller, it gets rather Danger Close in the back!

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 1:27 am
by mihai
The Sean wrote:The stock sub is a 7.5in so the 8 inch sized ones will need a spacer and going off what I saw this afternoon when I changed mine out, you will probably need a new speaker cover (there is above 25mm-30mm between the metal shelf the speaker sits on and the underside of the carpet covered parcel shelf)

Also, it has to be somewhat compact as there are bars for the boot under the sub.


Regarding the amount of room, there is close to 40-50mm between the carpet and metal shelf. I know this because i had a 35mm spacer + about 10mm thickness of the sub mount ring. In regard to the new speaker cover, I just used the stock one that came with the VIBE Space8, however I never had the mac grill in the first place.

The mounting depth of mine is 104mm and it clears the rods in the boot so anything less than that should be fine (but remember that I also have the spacer)

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:32 am
by blacktop™
Hey Michael are you sure the mounting depth is 104mm? All the research that ive done suggests the mounting depth is 114mm.

On another note, Marty reckons that vibe's quality has gone down the shitter so they don't stock vibe stuff anymore.

I'm still undecided about what sub to use in my wagon application...

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:37 pm
by mihai
blacktop™ wrote:Hey Michael are you sure the mounting depth is 104mm? All the research that ive done suggests the mounting depth is 114mm.


Hmm. :?
Now you've thrown me off as to what the mounting depth is! LOL.
Maybe it is 114mm. Can't remember exactly now, but eitherway, it clears the rods in the boot.

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:31 am
by The Sean
The way the sub cover is attached to the underside of the carpet parcel shelf means you lose about 10mm.

In total, the space MIHAI is correct but to make the extra room you need to remove that sub cover

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:30 pm
by mihai
The Sean wrote:The way the sub cover is attached to the underside of the carpet parcel shelf means you lose about 10mm.

In total, the space MIHAI is correct but to make the extra room you need to remove that sub cover


Ahh. Ok. Didnt know that as my car didn't have the mac sound system. Good info there. :)

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:21 pm
by The Sean
Hehe, bear in mind we were about 2 beers down each at the stage we got the carpet shelf out

Our nerves were a little on edge, those airbag gas propellant thingos are massive...we were thinking of setting up a phone on the dash to record so if one went off...we'd become Youtube Kings!!!

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:41 pm
by mihai
The Sean wrote:Hehe, bear in mind we were about 2 beers down each at the stage we got the carpet shelf out

Our nerves were a little on edge, those airbag gas propellant thingos are massive...we were thinking of setting up a phone on the dash to record so if one went off...we'd become Youtube Kings!!!


LOL! Did you take the airbag modules out?

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:15 pm
by The Sean
No, No, no need, you just end up exposing the gizzards when you remove that trim piece that is above the parcel shelf...there is a point where you have to lever out the SRS AIRBAG bolt cap and the workshop manual isn't real clear about that bit (i.e. we didn't know it was just a cap) so there was some nervousness there

Serious thanks to Tangcla for hosting it on his website, made things a boot load easier

...and yourself too Mick, cheers for the initial post (another thread) as it got my backside into gear

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:47 pm
by mihai
The Sean wrote:No, No, no need, you just end up exposing the gizzards when you remove that trim piece that is above the parcel shelf...there is a point where you have to lever out the SRS AIRBAG bolt cap and the workshop manual isn't real clear about that bit (i.e. we didn't know it was just a cap) so there was some nervousness there

Serious thanks to Tangcla for hosting it on his website, made things a boot load easier

...and yourself too Mick, cheers for the initial post (another thread) as it got my backside into gear


Thats good, i was gonna say if you removed the airbag, you over complicated things. :P

I think I remember the thread, you asked 'how to remove parcel shelf' or something. Glad I could be of assistance :D

Did you end up removing the trim with the hook thing and then unbolting and removing the whole thing? Because I only did steps 1 + 2 from the workshop manual. Skipped 3+4 and managed to get the parcel shelf out differently.

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:52 pm
by hamish_023
How does the aftermarket sub go considering sub level through the mac.

Re: Liberty 3.0r-b subwoofer replacement

PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:45 am
by The Sean
G'Day Mick,

I think there is a few extra braces in place due to the Mac sub setup and because of that, the shelf didn't really want to get that bend and twist action going to come out from under those side trim bits.

There were two of us there and I just figured we'd follow the recipe as things tends to go a bit smoother, we did try but thought better of it.