Project “Tomahawk”

[ghetdjc320]

Ordered up a Mechman alternator. My existing alternator was original to the engine and the regulator was staring to have issues. The mechman amperage at idle is excellent. The goal is to keep alternator voltage at idle vs dipping into battery reserve.

 

[A-man930]

On 7/25/2026 at 8:31 PM, ghetdjc320 said:

Ordered up a Mechman alternator. My existing alternator was original to the engine and the regulator was staring to have issues. The mechman amperage at idle is excellent. The goal is to keep alternator voltage at idle vs dipping into battery reserve.

 

 

That'll be a nice addition.  

Only thing that worries me about a special part like this is the availability... I guess a stock one would work in a pinch. 

[ghetdjc320]

On 7/27/2026 at 6:17 AM, A-man930 said:

 

That'll be a nice addition.  

Only thing that worries me about a special part like this is the availability... I guess a stock one would work in a pinch. 

That’s right. Since the case and connections are the same, a parts store alternator would work in a pinch. These mechmans are really nice units. High quality bearings and square copper windings. 

[ghetdjc320]

Audio system under construction at the moment. I’ve long wanted to build enclosures for some compact subs in the b pillars. It’s really an ideal location for them if done right. Started by some careful measuring the other day. Plan is custom enclosures for (2) JL 6.5 W3 subs. Will feed them with either a 3 or 4 channel amp from a customized RX173 head unit with a DSP.

 

[ghetdjc320]

Here’s the beginning of this project. 1/2” birch for the shell which is appropriate for the JL 6.5 subs. Exact dimension tbd but I’m within a narrow range. QTC will be in the .75 range

 

 

[Smokeyyank]

Will be interested to see how the audio turns out. Assuming amazing as always. 

[ghetdjc320]

10 hours ago, Smokeyyank said:

Will be interested to see how the audio turns out. Assuming amazing as always. 

Thanks! I’m also curious to see how it turns out 

[ghetdjc320]

[ghetdjc320]

Some progress made

 

[ghetdjc320]

All the glue is dry now. Going to put in some seam sealer around the inside just for the xtra insurance. For reference, I used 1/2” birch, wood glue, 1.25” cabinet screws and polyfill. Will probably finish them with some black textured bedliner. Next, I’ll cutout the b pillars and measure out the cabinet/edge supports

[ghetdjc320]

Overall dimensions are 9w 8h and 6.25d giving .17 airspace with 1/2 birch. Driver displacement of .02 give us a final of .15 and right in the money. Added 40% polyfill to dampen the response a bit. Some update pics of the finished product:

 

[ghetdjc320]

Had to make a small detour to patch a nasty water leak. Cutting out the old metal seam and getting some solid clean metal to work with. Then will weld it all up solid. 

[ghetdjc320]

Well, that was a ton of work to design build and install, but well worth it.

 

[Eagle_SX4]

That looks fantastic.

[ghetdjc320]

14 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

That looks fantastic.

Thanks! Now just need to reinstall the interior and make some bezels/grills for the b pillar trim.

[Smokeyyank]

Sweet! How does it sound in comparison? 

[ghetdjc320]

1 hour ago, Smokeyyank said:

Sweet! How does it sound in comparison? 

Will found out in the next few days. I’m finishing up with some dash wiring work I needed to get done to accommodate the Dakota digital dash swap. Going to put back in the seats without the carpet to ensure I have zero water leaks and to make any other fine adjustments with cab wiring layout before laying down fresh carpet. Will report back soon though: 

[ghetdjc320]

Wow, sound is phenomenal. The bass is super clear and deep. Still have some tuning to do. Also dropped the rear of each corbeau seat bracket 1.25” and welded them back up with proper alignment. Truly amazing how much more comfortable that small adjustment made it. I left the carpet out at the moment just to be sure I have zero further cab leaks and to do some further cable management.
 

Finished my personal RX173 with the internals significantly modded. Now I have custom automatic signal routing, full programable DSP and multiple inputs. Restored the lighting, button backing and faceplate. 
 

every audio component is now hidden with zero space taken up on the cab. 
 

The custom Dakota digital dash is also an extremely good piece of tech. I’m running the canbus signals from the original vette ecu for gauge signals.

 

 

[Smokeyyank]

Sexy! That dash and gauge cluster......

Is the amp mounted in the center console? In regards to the deck and sound quality how did you configure all of that? Can't imagine stock jeep audio components areup to task.  Little out of my element but I remember things like pre amp output, filters, etc for a high quality deck and amp set up? 

[ghetdjc320]

7 hours ago, Smokeyyank said:

Sexy! That dash and gauge cluster......

Is the amp mounted in the center console? In regards to the deck and sound quality how did you configure all of that? Can't imagine stock jeep audio components areup to task.  Little out of my element but I remember things like pre amp output, filters, etc for a high quality deck and amp set up? 

Yep the amp fits perfectly under the center console with about a 1/2” of airspace above it and plenty of venting out the back and sides. Our center consoles lend themselves very well to concealing an amp since they had the provision for the XJ rear air ductwork to pass through them. 
 

As for the radio, it now has a full programable internal DSP which makes all the difference. I am still using the powered speaker level outputs but that does help retain a good signal to noise ratio. Down the road, I’ll build another radio that deletes the internal preamp entirely and provides pre-outs. You can pull the line level signal from the RX radio before it goes to the amp stage but, the level is very low. If I was going that route, I’d probably use a good quality line level converter like an audio control unit. The built in amp for the rx series in only a 2channel but the preamp fader control splits the signals to power rear speakers. So, the advantage to keeping the the speaker level outs is that you can retain fader control which I’m using as a sub feed so I can adjust the sub level using the fader control. 

[Smokeyyank]

Appreciate the info. Never really used that stuff before so interesting to see it all. Smart thinking with the fader as the sub control. I find myself using that more in my setup than the volume. One song aounds great next, like wth. Doesn't help most music I listen too sounds like it was recorded by a racoon in a dumpster using a single along cassette player. 

[rosco11]

Just read this entire build thread over the past few days! Incredible work and inspiring! Great job @ghetdjc320! Congratulations on the little one as well!