I picked up an 04 Liberty a few months ago and was disappointed to find I had to make a decision between storage and adding some subwoofers until I thought of combining both.
I got a footlocker from Walmart for $40, which was made of light pressboard covered with vinyl and comes with a flimsy key lock and hasp for a padlock. It’s a little flimsy, but sturdy enough for cutting holes for a couple of 10” subwoofers and good enough for light storage. I added a shelf as a buffer between the junk in the trunk and the sub’s magnets so nothing would stick to them. There’s not a whole lot of clearance between the bottom of the speakers and the shelf, but it sounds fine to me and adds lots of bass to the sound system. One warning if you do this, don’t put any type of electronics in the footlocker, the magnets will destroy them.
I added a couple of female RCA connectors on the side along with some thin stainless steel cabling attached to carabineers to all corners to hold the trunk securely and I can also detach everything and remove the trunk in less than 30 seconds. I tapped into each rear door’s speaker lines and added another couple female RCA connectors to the small alcove in the side above the netting so they are protected and can also be detached or add a different speaker to them.
I also added a rear camera to the roof trim inside at the middle of the rear window and tapped into a switched line so it’s full time on and switches on and off with the ignition, not just when in reverse. Since it’s mounted so high, the perspective is a little off, it projects an image higher and further back than what a usual license plate camera would, but it really adds a wide perspective that shows things in the blind spots on both sides that my rear view mirrors don’t, so it’s actually better than a license plate mounted camera, especially since the plate is mounted off center.
Here’s the front command center with the rear camera monitor, GPS, satellite radio, iPod and radar detector. All are connected to switched power lines and turn on and off with the ignition, so I can always leave them switched on and don’t have to worry about power drains. I ran the GPS and radar detector power lines under the small top dash plate; everyone thinks the GPS is factory installed since they can’t see any power lines or the mount that’s secured with a small bolt into the dash plate.
For the satellite radio, I used a flexible mount bolted into the alcove by the power outlet, it looks like it’s floating since you can’t see the mount from the top down. Plus, it’s fully adjustable to height and angle; I can move it wherever I want within the mount’s range. I added an auxiliary input to the radio for the iPod and installed it right next to the power outlet so it also looks like a factory install. I put the power outlet on a switched line also so I can leave the iPod permanently hooked to power without draining when the car is off.
I also added 4 switches right next to the power outlet in the top of small shelf that can’t be seen. I attached the camera, radar detector and auxiliary input FM transponder to them so all can be turned on and off as wanted. You need to be able to turn off the FM transponder to the auxiliary input when you aren’t using it or the radio is full of static.
There was only one option for the always on rear camera monitor – it looks a little out of place, but there was no other choice since the dash area is so tiny. I drilled a small hole into the dash and the camera mount and secured with 1 small bolt.
All told, between the footlocker, subwoofers (cheap but sufficient), camera/monitor and incidental supplies, I have a little over $100 invested. Hope this gives someone some ideas for their own installs.
I got a footlocker from Walmart for $40, which was made of light pressboard covered with vinyl and comes with a flimsy key lock and hasp for a padlock. It’s a little flimsy, but sturdy enough for cutting holes for a couple of 10” subwoofers and good enough for light storage. I added a shelf as a buffer between the junk in the trunk and the sub’s magnets so nothing would stick to them. There’s not a whole lot of clearance between the bottom of the speakers and the shelf, but it sounds fine to me and adds lots of bass to the sound system. One warning if you do this, don’t put any type of electronics in the footlocker, the magnets will destroy them.
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I added a couple of female RCA connectors on the side along with some thin stainless steel cabling attached to carabineers to all corners to hold the trunk securely and I can also detach everything and remove the trunk in less than 30 seconds. I tapped into each rear door’s speaker lines and added another couple female RCA connectors to the small alcove in the side above the netting so they are protected and can also be detached or add a different speaker to them.
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I also added a rear camera to the roof trim inside at the middle of the rear window and tapped into a switched line so it’s full time on and switches on and off with the ignition, not just when in reverse. Since it’s mounted so high, the perspective is a little off, it projects an image higher and further back than what a usual license plate camera would, but it really adds a wide perspective that shows things in the blind spots on both sides that my rear view mirrors don’t, so it’s actually better than a license plate mounted camera, especially since the plate is mounted off center.
Here’s the front command center with the rear camera monitor, GPS, satellite radio, iPod and radar detector. All are connected to switched power lines and turn on and off with the ignition, so I can always leave them switched on and don’t have to worry about power drains. I ran the GPS and radar detector power lines under the small top dash plate; everyone thinks the GPS is factory installed since they can’t see any power lines or the mount that’s secured with a small bolt into the dash plate.
For the satellite radio, I used a flexible mount bolted into the alcove by the power outlet, it looks like it’s floating since you can’t see the mount from the top down. Plus, it’s fully adjustable to height and angle; I can move it wherever I want within the mount’s range. I added an auxiliary input to the radio for the iPod and installed it right next to the power outlet so it also looks like a factory install. I put the power outlet on a switched line also so I can leave the iPod permanently hooked to power without draining when the car is off.
You must be registered for see images attach
I also added 4 switches right next to the power outlet in the top of small shelf that can’t be seen. I attached the camera, radar detector and auxiliary input FM transponder to them so all can be turned on and off as wanted. You need to be able to turn off the FM transponder to the auxiliary input when you aren’t using it or the radio is full of static.
There was only one option for the always on rear camera monitor – it looks a little out of place, but there was no other choice since the dash area is so tiny. I drilled a small hole into the dash and the camera mount and secured with 1 small bolt.
You must be registered for see images attach
All told, between the footlocker, subwoofers (cheap but sufficient), camera/monitor and incidental supplies, I have a little over $100 invested. Hope this gives someone some ideas for their own installs.
