Aftermarket Amp Install Question

[KillJoy]

For those of you who have added an aftermarket amp, did anyone run the Power Wire from the Battery to the back of the car down the passanger side? Or did everyone cross over in the engine compartment , and pop through a grommet?

If you did go the passanger side route, where did you enter the cabin at?

KillJoy

[Sully008]

There should be a big grommet on the passenger side somewhere, but I could be wrong. If you pull the carpet and insulation on that side you should see it. I went to the driver's side only 'cause I drilled a hole for my alarm already.

[shakes_26]

Passenger side,

right under the fan motor housing, there is a large grommet, easier seen from under the car. Might be visible with the psgr carpet pulled up

[rvaldez1]

Ya, pull it down the passenger side, try to never cross the wire across the engine compartment. If you get on the floor and pull of the kick panel on the passenger side, then move the panel just beneath the glove box, you will see a huge grommet. be very careful, these wire are extremely important, and make sure to get a tight seal or you will have alot of noise in the cabin. Oh ya, and be careful with the pillar between the front and the back, the side air bag sensor is there.

[SID210SA]

Drivers side for me....alarm hole already there

[KillJoy]

Good. Than's for the replies.

Now, for you folks who ran on the passenger's side, how much wire did it take to get to the spare tire?

KillJoy

[magindat]

It'll take 17 for the passenger, 24 for the driver to get to the spare tire.

Run down the passenger. Use the big grommet shakes described.

[KillJoy]

Cool. Thank ya!

I have a Multi-Amp Kit that has 18' of 4 Gauge. Was wantin' to make sure it was going to be enough.

KillJoy

[magindat]

Passenger side or you're screwed.

[ctrlraven]

If you run RCA wires from an aftermarket headunit make sure to run on the driver's side if you already ran the power wire down the passenger side. Dont want to pick up any noise and ensure a clean signal is being transfered. When I do my install I'm going to pull the everything out (seats and carpet).

[KillJoy]

If you run RCA wires from an aftermarket headunit make sure to run on the driver's side if you already ran the power wire down the passenger side. Dont want to pick up any noise and ensure a clean signal is being transfered. When I do my install I'm going to pull the everything out (seats and carpet).

No RCA's for now. Perhaps at a later time. Just adding a few sub. Also replacing the Rear Speakers at the same time.

Will hopefully have everything installed this weekend :D

Killjoy

[magindat]

If you run RCA wires from an aftermarket headunit make sure to run on the driver's side if you already ran the power wire down the passenger side. Dont want to pick up any noise and ensure a clean signal is being transfered. When I do my install I'm going to pull the everything out (seats and carpet).
Why?
There's tracks running down both sides each with empty sections.
You only have to rip carpet out and flatten all the wires in ricers.

Of note, the factory (alpine) used a balanced signal (above ground) in order to avoid noise altogether. It is nearly impossible for a true balanced signal to pick up noise.

[rookie1]

Ya, pull it down the passenger side, try to never cross the wire across the engine compartment. If you get on the floor and pull of the kick panel on the passenger side, then move the panel just beneath the glove box, you will see a huge grommet. be very careful, these wire are extremely important, and make sure to get a tight seal or you will have alot of noise in the cabin. Oh ya, and be careful with the pillar between the front and the back, the side air bag sensor is there.


If you run RCA wires from an aftermarket headunit make sure to run on the driver's side if you already ran the power wire down the passenger side. Dont want to pick up any noise and ensure a clean signal is being transfered. When I do my install I'm going to pull the everything out (seats and carpet).

Excellent advice, with channels down both the drvr's and pssngr's side it would be just plain silly to run power and signal feeds down one side only.

[Vortech347]

I got pissed and made my own hole with a drill and grometed it. Passanger side.

[magindat]

I got pissed and made my own hole with a drill and grometed it. Passanger side.

Nuthin wrong with that.

[jayro]

I ran my 6 Ga. down the passenger side, the big gromet behind the glove box was easy to (carefully) drill through) for feeding my 4 wires through and still be sealed. A little trick I learned from some EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) classes was to take both the ground wire and the hot and twist them together. Of course with 6Ga., this was a fairly gentle twist. This prevents a hot only feed from creating a ground loop path back through the body (noice induction), and the twist prevents the 2 wires acting like an antenna (just like network Cat5 wiring). With 2 amps in the trunk, I needed 4 wires. This arrangement has always made for a very clean sound system for me.

There's a fuse box just behind the battery, I pulled one of the feeds out from the underside of the fuse box and copied it with some sheet metal and a tin snips. Made 2 new fuse box contacts and crimped them on, then found 2 vacant spots in the fuse box and slid them in from the underside. My amp feeds have 50amp fuses on them each. The wires hide fairly well under passenger side fender lip over the top of the wheel well.

Now, if there was just an aftermarket head unit that worked with the in trunk CD player and steering wheel contols!! I'm currently converting the speaker feed from the stock head unit to line level, which induces a bit of hiss at very low volume (drives me nuts, I want a CLEAN system).