Premium subwoofer upgrade.

[JSPEED]

I pulled the rear seat out and back interior panel off. There is a ton of room behind there if you remove the factory subwoofer.
I want to replace the factory subwoofer with Kickers new HS10 powered subwoofer. However i think i'm going to have trouble due to the fact that the factory subwoofer has 6 wires going to it. Does anyone understand the wiring of the factory subwoofer? I imagine i can't leave those wires disconnected either because i'm sure the head unit will know it's not connected? The HS10 is small enough to put behind the drivers side of the rear seat but i wanted to hide it behind the panel if i could.

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[WhatExit?]

Looking forward to this becoming a mod for those of us with the factory sub

 

[JSPEED]

Here's some pics of the factory subwoofer and the Kicker HS10.

 

[Puttyandnapalm]

I dug around on the JL forum but had no luck. I’m planning on adding a sub to mine with the alpine package, and my amp takes speaker level inputs. I was thinking of tapping into this wiring for a signal.

I’d guess 4 are speaker wires, 1 is power and 1 is ground. Hopefully someone figures it out....

 

[JSPEED]

I dug around on the JL forum but had no luck. I’m planning on adding a sub to mine with the alpine package, and my amp takes speaker level inputs. I was thinking of tapping into this wiring for a signal.

I’d guess 4 are speaker wires, 1 is power and 1 is ground. Hopefully someone figures it out....

Can't be. I'm thinking more like left and right channels plus mid range or something.

I should have the wiring diagram tomorrow. If I can't figure it out I'll just keep the factory subwoofer and add the powered sub next to it and just tap into the overhead speaker wires.

 

[JSPEED]

I disconnected the factory subwoofer and turned the radio on. The radio worked fine so we plugged the subwoofer back in and it started working. I don't feel removing the factory sub will affect anything so i removed it. Got the Kicker HS10 mounted with some left over brackets i had laying around in the shop. Now i'm just deciding where i want to run the power wire. I'm probably going to remove the passenger seat and interior panels and run it along the passenger side where i can exit underneath the floor mat with the wires from my electric steps.

 

[narcoteca]

I disconnected the factory subwoofer and turned the radio on. The radio worked fine so we plugged the subwoofer back in and it started working. I don't feel removing the factory sub will affect anything so i removed it. Got the Kicker HS10 mounted with some left over brackets i had laying around in the shop. Now i'm just deciding where i want to run the power wire. I'm probably going to remove the passenger seat and interior panels and run it along the passenger side where i can exit underneath the floor mat with the wires from my electric steps.

do you have the premium audio package? or are you adding speakers too?

 

[JSPEED]

do you have the premium audio package? or are you adding speakers too?

Yes i have the premium package with factory subwoofer. all i want to do is replace the factory subwoofer with the Kicker HS10 Powered subwoofer

 

[JSPEED]

So let's Recap here.
My Gladiator has the Premium Alpine system with Factory subwoofer.

I want to replace the factory subwoofer with the Kicker HS10 powered subwoofer. I didn't know if there would be a problem with leaving the factory subwoofer wiring disconnected. After doing some testing and finding the right wiring diagram i figured out it will work.
I installed the kicker HS10 in place of the factory subwoofer and it will be hidden behind the rear interior panel. I cut the harness off the old factory subwoofer box as you can see in the picture marked with a yellow circle.
The Kicker HS10 only needs the power wire run to the battery, it does not need a remote wire.
It also has a remote bass control which you will have to run that wire to the dash board where ever you decide to mount the controller.

There is a left and right channel on the Kicker HS10 which i took both channels and tied both ground sides together and both positive sides together. Then i choose to use the positive and negative orange wires that went to the factory subwoofer and used those for my signal. The other 4 wires that come out of the factory connector will be taped up.

As you can see in the pics i have it wired for testing and it works great. The bass from that small box is amazing. The rest of the factory speakers sound great to me so i won't be changing them. Definitely happy with the results.
Now i just need to run my wires neatly and put the interior back together.

So now you know you can replace the factory subwoofer.

 

[jebiruph]

Care to share the wiring diagram or where you found it?

 

[JSPEED]

Care to share the wiring diagram or where you found it?

Here you go.

 

[Puttyandnapalm]

Where’d you run the power wire?

 

[JSPEED]

Final resting place.

BTW i forgot to mention be very careful pulling off the rear interior panel. There are several hidden clips along the top just under the rear window and i broke all but one trying to remove it. I was pretty careful and even used my trim tools but they broke anyway however i didn't have a clue what held that panel in place so it was easier for me to break them lol. Now you know so be careful and take your time.

i added some pics. There are 4 bolts that need to come out and the rest is clips. The clips i was talking about under the rear window are the ones where i'm pointing and circled. The clips on the sides come off easy.

 

[JSPEED]

Where’d you run the power wire?

There's a small plug in the floor under the carpet ( passenger side rear floor ) i drilled a hole in it and ran the wire through it. i will tie it underneath with my power steps wiring and run it up to the battery.

 

[LukeR]

Would you say it was a significant upgrade over the factory subwoofer?

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