Its not a mid life crisis....but I did a "thing" to my car.
Locust Fork
Member Posts: 32,005 ✭✭✭✭
I've got a newer Toyota Highlander with all kinds of electronic nonsense built into it....and the stereo was great...but not "GREAT!"
I'm in my car sooooo much and I love music, so the choice to bump things up....literally.....was just the natural next thing to do.
I went to a car stereo place that has been around for as long as I can remember and spoke with someone that I was surprised to find was still there from back in the 80's when I first started driving and had done work for me back then as well. I had a CD player installed when they first came around along with other craziness when a paycheck could be totally blown on nothing but nonsense.
He explained that they didn't do custom installs....just equipment installations and such, but he knew a guy.
So, I drive off to meet a guy and talk to him about what were the best options. The adventure began.....
We took the third row of seats out.....put double layers of dynamat throughout the entire car....replaced all of the speakers with JL high grade speakers.....installed a new head unit with a larger screen than the factory, a wiring harness that works the insane amount of hookups required two 10" JL subs, two amps, some kind of computerized thingamajig that lets us tune it beyond what I'm capable of. Its incognito too.....you can't look in there and tell anything is different about the car. You can lift a cover off the back area to see the amps and box that the subs are in. Otherwise it appears to be standard.
Its amazing.....it took about two months of dropping it off and picking it up.....a couple hiccups with the battery, a secondary battery was installed with huge relay switches to keep it from ever being a problem again. The way the car's computer works all of this stuff "wakes up" if you walk by it with the key fob and it was causing issues. We are officially good to go.
I cannot express how happy I am with this nonsense.
Comments
I'm glad you did that for yourself Kasey
"Independence Now, Independence Forever."
John Adams
Be careful with that volume knob, or hearing aids may be your future. 😗
Joe
Very nice. I did some additions to my pickup a few years back. An amp, sub, speakers, and new head unit. It's better than factory for sure.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Might be a bit late, or the reason for that Joe.
When I was a young man I did all that kind of stuff to every vehicle, now that I'm an old fart, I don't like the distraction of a sound system, subsequently I never listen to music in my truck.
Given the amount of time that you seem to spend in your car, you deserve the upgrade. Enjoy.
Next up: 24" spinner wheels!
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Rock-on.
Cool! Next time I will ride to Memphis with you.
I guess some "jump up and down" hydraulics will be coming soon. 😋
Kasey, your post makes me feel like a late teenager again!! Thank you!!!!! 😍
Just enjoy it, Kasey! Hope you are well
Do they still have "curb feelers"?
The only time I ever listen to radio or CD in my truck is when i pass Winchester, Virginia and have a hankering to hear Patsy sing "Crazy". Top shelf Ram seems to have a pretty good sound system. Course, I have burned too much gun power and ran too many chain saws without proper protection. Sirus XM has wasted an awful lot of time and effort on me. ----------Ray
Gloria Gaynors I will survive never sounded so good, am I right?
Be happy! Good for you LF.
Great Tunes though a great sound system..... PRICELESS.. Enjoy !
I call shotgun on your next trip!!!! A little Bocephus , Areosmith and some "Sammy" Van Halen, and we are good to go!!!! Oh, and maybe some big ole bad David Allen Coe, just to lighten the mood up. 😀
Sounds like quite an upgrade. Pump pump the jam, pump it up.
Happy for you.
Good on you
Sounds like you took the right path toget a decent system without going crazy
I always enjoyed a good sound system in the cats I owned
When I started driving and working on my own cars mid 1970's And modifying every thing
I remember buying a after market Amp and equlizer combo that mounted under the dash about the size of a small 8 track player to boost the 8 track and am fm radio I had put in
i think it was 10 amp system i had installed from radio shack the add on amp it pushed the amps up to a whopping 50 Amp system way cool lol
of course added sparomatic speakers at the time was just awesome for my area and group of buddies
Now any factory system even low end would put it to shame and the 50 amp is noting in power rating Actually lafauble
I loved my Mercedes E320 2004 but it did not have a USB input
I bought a super clean low miles 14 E350 Coupe that has that. I can load a gazillion hours of music on a thumb drive literally the size of a thumb nail.
There are way too many things I do not need or want in all this modern stuff but that and nav I do like and the car is wunderbar.
Too bad Mercedes stopped building great cars and started building cars that words are banned here from accurately describing
Day I brought it home 4/2022
"Fools learn from their own mistakes. I learn from the mistakes of others"
Otto von Bismarck
Imagine how good Alvin and the Chipmunks will sound at Christmas.......
Funny side note....the guy that did the install said he could get me a deal on some new rims because I've got a few scuffs on mine. I told him the only way I'd buy more rims is if they made some that somehow would camo the curbed scuffs.....because its inevitable that I'll scrub them. I don't know how or why, but I can't seem to keep from doing it once every 6 months or so. Its not "daily" so I'm not too ashamed....but those curbs are just tricky sometimes.
Kasey, it is most certainly a mid-life crisis, and a well deserved one at that!
Me, I just wand AM/FM with emphasis on AM so I can hear talk radio as I drive.
That is the 2014 (8 1/2 years old in the pic) I replaced the 2004 with. The 2004 was not as clean but close.
Mercedes still does a great job with their body quality. Their 4 cylinder turbo motors are grenades
"Fools learn from their own mistakes. I learn from the mistakes of others"
Otto von Bismarck
my worst problem though is I get more static than talk. The AM reception is horrible around here in a vehicle, day or night. you might get decent for a mile or so then just broken static/talk. I used to listen to it all the time but lately can't find a decent station..............
So are you pleased with the sound ?
I am....but its seriously a little above what I'm able to deal with at time.
I'll never figure out how to tune it, but I'm fine with how the guy did the settings.
He's got things set so I can change it up by picking different settings....the subs have a little knob that perfectly fit in with some other gadgets on the center console. So, it has a lot of possibilities as far as how it sounds.
Does it have a setting to cancel out the ringing in my ears?
Kasey, are your neighbors enjoying the Metallica concert in your driveway???🤣
I remember when my Dad bought a new car and complained that the AM radio was a $50 add on.
I'm sure they heard Double Dutch Bus the other day.
OMG, soda just came out my nose!!!!!!🤣🤣🤣