Car repairs due to bass? (1 Viewer)

I have to repair my muffler every year due to all that bass!

Anyone have a simular situation or story they would like to share?

I doubt VERY MUCH that it's true.

Your undercarriage takes a much bigger beating driving down the road. You also have rubber bumpers that keep the exhaust away from the body.

Brent

I have been having problems with my spoiler. It has an LED break light in it and it has gone bad twice. I presume it is from all the shaking due to my sub in the trunk, since LEDs are sposed to last for a very long time and the car is only three years old.

Alternators.

In each of my last two cars I burned out an alternator (both GM's).

I've got a stock alternator in a 96 Impala SS now but I've seen 200 amp ones online for $200. My max current draw on my system is about 130 amps so it will be a good buy when I get the scratch together.

my previous systems many caused window leaks. I had a 87 turismo duster that the back glass would flex over an inch from the 4 10's that I had going. It finally let loose one day and and landed on the box..it didn't break, I just had to replace the weather strip that held it in

I believe bass could do something like that. If given enough vibration, it can rupture a sealing of some sort.

I think its possible but probably not for this. If anyone should know I would. My system rattles my entire car plus anyone in a 50ft radius. What do you have in your car sub wise?

2x 12" JBL W0 in a 3 square ft sealed box, bridged on a 350watt Zapco 350 AG series with a 1 farrot Stinger capacitor with a Pioneer DEH-8200R (4.2v output)& 12 cd changer. I also used 4 gauge wires throughout.

Not bad, but I dont think its enough to really cause any problems...


Not to brag but here's what im running:
Eclipse CD5423
Orion 800/4
Orion HCCA 6 Componenet Speakers
Orion P series componenet speakers
2 15" Orion H2's
Orion XTRPRO2400 to the subs, 2400wrms actual power not max. So far my car has held up good and I haven't had any car realted problems due to it... orioncaraudio.com

My best approximantion is that the system is hoovering around the 150db mark but wont know for sure till wednesday...

the system shouldnt do that to the car. Im not having problems with my cavalier at all. Ive got:
Pioneer deh-p9300
2 Kicker L7 12s in ported box. Each in 2cubes tuned to 37hz.
Powered off a jbl 1200.1
My component set is the is cdt audio hd62
I have polk dx for 6x9s just for people in backseat. I have those so low that it doesnt mess with my sound stage at all.
A Lanzar optidrive 500.2 powers the component set.
0 gauge wiring
I hit a 153.4 on the old meter.
I havent had any problems with the audio that could have hurt the car. Seals are all good. Nothing cracked. Its probably not ur stereo doing it.

You're probably right!? Its might just be a cheaply made muffler or maybe I drive my car harder then I think I do. Another possibility could be the winter salt they use on the roads here in Toronto. If my problems don't originate from the above then it must be the Lepracons that are still mad at when since I took their treasure!

alternator and batteies suffer.

John M. - I have a 1 farrot capacitor, so my alternator and battery are'nt under stress.

A capacitor will give your amplifiers short burst of power if that, your battery and more specifically your alternator still have to produce a constant voltage while running all the cars stock electronics. So lets say for example, you have a 90amp alternator, and with all your stock electronics on you're pulling 80amps of current. Then add a stereo which could be pulling anywhere from 10-100 and more amps during normal usage, thats an exteremely heavy load for you alternator to carry, a short burst during a short musical peak doesn't take the strain of the alt at all...

True the Altenator still is under strain, almost the exact same strain even with the Capacitor. The only thing you have done is make sure your amp has enough extra juice to hit the next bass note.

You are storing only for split seconds so the altenator is still delivering the majority of the necessary power. A cap is not a band-aid, more like carpet padding for subs.

Capacitor doesn't worth crap. Worse, it adds load to your already strained alternator. Despite what they tell you, you don't need a cap.

I have to disagree with Brian. I won't build a system anymore without using at least a 1 farad cap. I've never personally had to replace the alternator on any vehicle, but I would recommend using a high current alternator if your electrical system is under considerable strain.

On the cars where the alternator went, one had a cap, the other didn't.

I'm not sold on them. I must say I'm much happier with the 140 amp alternator on my "new" 96 Impala SS. I'm going to upgrade that to the 200 amp version shortly and be done with it.

caps only help if you have very small and short voltage drops. often enough you could fix this by upgrading your ground wires on your engine block and battery. also upgrading the alt + to batt + will help considerably.

else a cap will do nothing but dealy that huge voltage drop for a milisecond.


and i run 1800w RMS on a stock alt and walmart battery. no damage to vehicle. i did burn out an already wearing alternator though. 1500w to a 15 in a 3.5 cubes 35hz box. my whole doors vibrate. anyone saying they cracked a windshield or side glass or anything like that is full of it. unless you are in the 160db range(which would cause instantaneous hearing damage) you wont damage anything. my rear view mirror does dance to the music though.

i'd like to see what all this stereo equipment is going to do to the human body.

i have a feeling hearing aid sales are going to rise sharply soon. it's amazing when i have a kid going the other way and i can hear his stereo from 4 lanes away and over my engine, exhaust and my own stereo.