Muti007

I still have my Polk sitting in a box, which I promptly had to replace with the Kicker sub. The Rockford Fosgate is rated at the same ohms. It will not work. They are both an incorrect ohm level for our cars, and will sound great but then cut out over and over again The Kicker is perfect, its 8 ohm which is what you need. I have now been running my Kicker for approx. 2 years, it performs flawlessly. The Polk and RF will likely work well for a couple of days and then kick out.

To do it right, you really should pull out the entire back seat. I did.

BMW7_LS430

You say "The Kicker is perfect, its 8 ohm which is what you need.".
The one I linked, Rockford Fosgate, is also 8 ohm. Is there some typo in what you are trying to tell?

Muti007

My apologies friend, of course you are right and I was wrong here on the RF. I was thinking of a different RF amp from a while back that was a 4 ohm, one that many others have tried to run and had issues with. The one you posted should work well.

Sorry about that

BMW7_LS430

No apologies needed. This thread is confusing as hell.
Thread started with OP replacing ML sub with 4 ohm sub.
Then someone figures out ML sub is 2 ohm.
Then others recommend dual coil 4 ohm sub with terminals in parallel to get to 2 ohm.
Then I your thread that 8 ohm is better as 4 ohm ( and I am gusessing any lower) would cut off sub.
lol

I am just glad that you have an 8 ohm sub working fine for 2 years. That gives me confidence that I can replace mine when time comes and will not have to redo anything after. Thanks!

cyclehead

8 years of threads, 2 ohms, 12 ohms, free air, toasted amps - whew my head is spinning. The silicone fix worked great for a few months but it's buzzing again, so I'd like to replace with an equivalent subwoofer. Could somebody please summarize for me!? WHICH aftermarket speaker is an equivalent replacement?

Many thanks!

Lynzoid

Ok. Just replaced my ML sub.
So, here's my tips. And yes, i would NOT replace it with anything other than Toyota OEM unit.
It cost me about 260usd at local parts place.
Been waiting warm weather for almost 6 months and today was the day.

Ok. This job is rather HARD if you're higher and wider than average japanese girl. I am and i had hard time.
My priorities was to:
- do it proper and slow
- DO NOT DAMAGE ANYTHING
- inspect anything out of place while i was there
- DO NOT DAMAGE ANYTHING again

Now, the car: euro 'POTUS', adjustable heated rear seats, sunshade, rear A/C unit.
The job:
- started with pulling seat bottoms. easy. don't forget about the plugs/tubes!
- raised readrests, pulled out middle trim piece
- (!) BE CAREFUL (!) the nuts that are at the top right and left behind the plastic covers are angled away from the holes! use magnetic socket OR start ratcheting the nut off but not completely, you will then have space to access with hand from above the seat to the nut and hold it while ratcheting it off completely. do not lose these nuts. i didn't.
- the middle nut is easy
- BE aware, that (at least on my car) these nuts hold the whole upper 'carriage', not just the seat backs. be aware of the thin tubing that connect the 'carriage' to the seat backs.
- now the fun starts.
- i decided NOT to remove bottom nuts! it is DOABLE and possible that's why i had so much f.......fun...
- pull the seat backs toward yourself and put some soft towel or smthng to hold it ajar. do not worry, it's not that fragile and youre not pulling bottom nuts by doing this (that was one of my worries). you pull the backs, but carriage stays somewhat attached.
- on my car i saw, that gray trim piece over the sub is fixed by two vertical plastic clips.
- pull these out. at this point you should understand the remark about japanese chicks.
- remove grilles. my car have 3 - sub and 2 vents. TIP (!) the vents have clips on the BACK side (closer to the window), so pull THERE! you have to pull rather hard. yes i know. quite hard. the sub grille comes out easy. BE CAREFUL about the SUN SENSOR! i broke cap off mine.. superglue fixed it.
- carefully pull the trim up. the trim. carefully. up.
- you will have to unplug and unscrew old sub, while being in VERY peculiar pose, noting that at that point there's no seat cushions to rest your legs. i 'sat' in the middle of the ... thing! otherwise 'carriage' can be damaged!
- now remove the old sub. you should feel joyful and this point. i did.
- put the new one back in the bolt in on. still in 'that' pose. i know. plug it into the socket.
- now position the trim piece back. note, that it can get unstuck from the sides etc. check that it's properly seated and looks even etc. i had to fiddle here a little.
- put the clips back in. i hope you havent lost track of these.
- recheck that everything looks 'lexus ls'
- start putting seat backs.. back. a bit fiddly, but if you got here you'll know what to do.
- ratchet on the nuts. magnetic socket is highly recommended. put covers on, lower headrests.
- put seats back in. put grilles back in/plug in the sensor.
- TEST IT OUT.

Took me 1h30m including some vacuuming in there and around.
This job is not walk in the park, but not timing belt replacement either =)

Anyone needs the mounting frame from my old sub?

biga27110

iTrader: (1)

Does the mounting frame come with the oem socket? I threw away my sub a long time ago i dont know how to splice the 4 wires from the oem socket to the +- of the speaker.

Lynzoid

i think it does

biga27110

iTrader: (1)

Do you have a picture id like to buy it from you asap paypal ready.

Your PM box is full.

Lynzoid

emailed you

bobbyg49

Thanks for taking the time to post. Great job

bobbyg49

Very informative on the Subwoofer.

Brewmyown

I cant believe how long this thread has been going on! Anyway I want to shed a little info on what I have that's been working for over two years. I'm in the process of researching what I can replace all of my door speakers with. I started losing volume and base and found every speaker had separated foam. I used an automotive grade silicone (ultra black) for now while I'm researching what to replace them with. They actually sound good but you can tell they are "tight" as they are not flexing where they used to.

While I was at it I thought maybe I'd replace the sub for the heck of it. I bought my 2002 LS430 about 1 1/2 years ago and I remembered that the previous owner gave me a huge folder full of all of his maintenance records and there was one in there from an audio store. I looked up what was installed and when and it was an "Alpine Type R 8" Sub Woofer Model SWR-8D4" I have cranked all sorts of music and for the 18 months or so that I've had it, The sub has never failed and never cut out. I don't know what the original ever sounded like but this sounds pretty good.

Since the sub seems to be a decent quality I'm now researching how to install an amp for it as I'm sure its way under powered and will thump with the right amp.

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

Ive this 430 for a couple weeks now....what ive learned:
The Mark Levinson amp is well built...and poorly placed. the speakers are a not very good but efficient...including the oddly ohm'd sub

soooo, I ripped out the entire ML setup
- replaced every speaker in the car. (for sale BTW)
- removed sub (for sale BTW)
- built a custom wire harness
- removed the 6disk cd changer (for sale BTW)
-added an aftermarket Video/MP3 player

Hope to have sum free time (this weekend) to wire in my sundown amp for the subs to come...
I'll also build a 6th order sub box after my aftermarket air suspension parts get here in the mail.
Factory air is cool...but its too slow for me.
I jus need to figure out how much space im willing to give up

G'luck guys!

Brewmyown

What did you put in the doors?