Certified Sounds in Wailuku, Hawaii was honored to work with the Maui Police Department in the building of their 2001 Chevy Suburban DARE vehicle. This build was an opportunity for us to give back to the community while helping bridge relationships between young people and the police department. Since we wanted this vehicle to attract lots of attention, we gave it a complete video and audio customization. Follow along as we go over the build in detail with you.
Business Up Front With Lighting, Siren, And Communication Controlled From Center Console
First and foremost, this still has to be a police vehicle, so it was outfitted will the full compliments of lights, siren, and radio. We were tasked with integrating the control pieces into the interior of the vehicle in a manner that fit with a custom-built vehicle, and not an industrial designed police vehicle. As you will see in the pictures, we built custom mounts to flush all of the controls into the vehicle, giving it a clean, classy look.
In the dash, we chose an Alpine touchscreen monitor that would be the hub for all of the audio and video equipment installed in the Suburban. A total of five 7” monitors were installed with one of them being flush mounted into a custom panel at the rear of the center console. As you can see in the pictures, we remade and remolded almost the entire console. This allowed for the monitor in the rear, the mount for the iPod, and the controls for the police electronics to look like they came from GM this way. It is one of our signature modifications, showcasing the ability to have aftermarket electronics made to look like factory equipment.
Party Starts In The Back With Ultra Sturdy Over Head Console For Four Monitors
In the ceiling of the vehicle, you can see we made a custom metal rack that bolted into the ceiling to hold the overhead console for the four 7” monitors. We are incredibly meticulous about building our vehicles with safety in mind. Many shops would have been fine just screwing the overhead console into the headliner, but that is not the Certified Sounds way. We want all of our custom work to meet or exceed the standards of the car manufacturer. To secure the monitor console we constructed a heavy duty mounting bracket made out of steel. Yes, that took much more time, but that attention to detail is how we roll. The screens were arranged to face towards the rear of the vehicle for a cool presentation at the events where it is involved. On the front side of the overhead console, you can see the detail of our panels where we gave it a clean, classy look instead of just doing a boring, flat panel in one color.
Party Continues In The Back With Signed Foose Amplifiers
The rear of the vehicle is where much of the magic happens. This is the area that gets shown off a lot and we wanted to showcase many different custom modifications to draw young people to the vehicle. All of the amplifiers and speakers in the vehicle are made by Arc Audio and are part of their Foose line. Chip Foose is one of the most famous car designers and the lead person in charge of the Overhaulin’ TV show. We have a personal relationship with Chip as we were honored to be on one of the Overhaulin’ episodes where a 1963 Chevy Nova got completely rebuilt. We were responsible for all of the audio enhancements in that vehicle. We reached out to Chip, and he autographed the amplifiers since they were for a great cause.
What’s A Party Without Bass And Lots Of Lighting?
In the pictures, you will notice there are two amplifiers, with one driving a set of Arc Audio component speakers in the front doors and a set of Arc Audio coaxes in the rear doors. These speakers supplied all of the sounds for the vehicle except the bass. Speaking of bass, we installed two Arc Audio 12” subwoofers in a custom sealed enclosure behind the back seat. The enclosure had two plexiglass windows to show off the impressive magnets on the rear speakers. The amplifiers were installed in a three-dimensional amp rack below the subwoofers that was designed to continue the clean flowing look that we started up front with the center console. It continued with the overhead console and ended with the amp rack in the rear. Custom aluminum bars were built to go in the center of the rear enclosure with specially made blue backlighting surrounding it. In our opinion that truly sets off the rear of this vehicle.
Certified Sounds, Your Local Video, and Audio Customization Experts
The Maui Police department was thrilled with the final product. It attracts lots of attention wherever it goes and gives them opportunities to build relationships with young people in our community. If you are interested in improving the sound quality, looks, and or performance of your vehicle, we invite you to stop by Certified Sounds and get to know us. We will work with you to design and build your vehicle in a way that will give you many years of enjoyment. As always, you can also contact us here for more information.
