Audio Systems: Trunk rattle, buick century, vibration mode

Question
I am going to a compitition next month and i was wondering what i could put on or in my trunk to make it stop rattling i have 2 12's in it and their about 3000Watts so it rattles pretty bad and the car is a 1998 buick century

Answer
This is one of the biggest problems in show cars or high power stuff.

The best solution, of course, is to have the subs mounted in rock solid cabinets that push the air out of the cabinets only and do not excite nearby mechanical parts of the car.

However, if the system is already done and you are getting vibrations and rattles they must be attacked one by one.  Find out what is rattling and nail it down; use mortite or screws or shims or anything that can stop the rattle.  It can sometimes be a painful process that takes hours to hunt them down and then find the cure.

I don't think the problem is necessarily car/model specific; the Century is no worse than any other vehicle.  But with the power you are pumping out, you must expect anything loose or not tightened down will go into its vibration mode when excited.

Here are some ideas to consider:

http://www.installer.com/tech/rattles.html

http://www.ackthud.net/z3/2000/Subwoofer/subwoofer.html

By the way, sometimes the rattles you may here are inside the box OR can even be the surrounds of the speakers.  So, you must be a careful detective.  The key is finding the rattle.   TO help do this you can often use a stethescope or a long screwdriver that touches the area of the rattle and the handle end up to your ear..... and so on.

Let me know how it goes.

Cleggsan