This audio feature is not an SPL-competition-built, eardrum-punishing, all-out sonic weapon, and that's why we like it. Polk Audio has a knack for building trucks that showcase its products in practical applications and using installation ideas that make us wonder why we didn't think of them first. We've featured its demo vehicles before, and this F-150 is every bit as well done.
Once again, Thom Voisinet and Josh Claar were the guys behind the interior fabrication, as Polk components were integrated throughout the cab. Starting at the top of the dash, a Polk MMC650 coaxial speaker was mounted as the center channel in the paint-matched center stack. Taking the place of the factory head unit is an Alpine CVA-D300, which was mounted in an aluminum faceplate that also holds a voltmeter to keep tabs on the charging system. The Alpine receives power from Momo Carbon Series amps, three C500.1 amps were mounted across the rear of the custom center console, and two C400.4 amps were mounted overhead and mimic the factory Ford modular overhead rail system. Speaking of the center console, Thom and Josh built the console to hold three 12-inch Signature Reference subs, more than enough bass for the crew cab. Carrying the rest of the audio load are MMC6500 components in each of the front doors and MMC525 coaxials in each rear door.
The lowered stance is not a sagging suspension weighed down by the additional audio components. Instead, Tommy May from May Alignments in McComb, Mississippi, used Belltech springs and spindles to drop the Ford over a set of 22-inch American Racing RT-S wheels and 275/45R22 Cooper rubber. If you look closely, you can see the SSBC calipers peering out from behind the new rolling stock, ready to drag the heavy truck to a halt at a moment's notice. Everything else on the truck's exterior was handled by John Thames at Smith Brothers Collision Center in Brookhaven, Mississippi. John shot the Street Scene bumper cover and rockers and ARE tonneau with factory Ford Red from Sikkens. E4 is the code, in case you were wondering.
The result of the build is a truck that's not too cut up to drive every day, so there's no reason to park it and leave the audio behind. In fact, Dean Alexander, one of Polk Audio's Regional Sales Managers, drives the truck to shows all across the Southeast, which is how we found it. Even though it's driven everywhere it goes, the installation quality is second to none, and everyone who sees how seamlessly the audio is integrated into the stock surroundings walks away wondering how they can make their truck look and sound so good.