harrymay

im bout to do an amp setup in my car, i was wondering where the best place would be to run the wiring. i was thinkin about just running throught the firewall for the battery, and under the carpet for the amp. i bought a fosgate wiring kit, so i should have good length to do that. i was thinking about runnin my rca jacks through there too. if my amp has a speaker level control built in do i still need to wire it up with that.

im really new to this, so if anyone can help, id really appreciate it. i do have an aftermarket hu with preouts. i really dont have a clue what im doing.

thanks in advance

KLoWnPR109

iTrader: (9)

power wire on left, rcas on right side of car, both under the carpet

thats how mine was setup

maxima 94

it is easier to run the wires under the bottom door trim back

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

i ran mine under the driver side door trim, then under the rear seat into the trunk

harrymay

i was gonna do that, im still very confused, surfing around trying to find a good how-to site for that stuff.

MrGone

iTrader: (30)

use the hood release cable gromet for the power, its on the drivers side.

power left, signal right.
you should not have to use a drill at all if done right.

harrymay

aight, sounds good. my friend and i were gonna do it tonight, but it was too cold. if i still have the bose amps hooked up, do i still have to run the remote amp turnon wire to my hu, or can i just hotwire it into one of the amps. i used the modulator harness from crutchfield that was made for our maxes.

nubiannupe

iTrader: (9)

Well, I ran a remote turn-on wire to MY amps, but everyone has their own preferences in that aspect. I pretty much did the 'lemming' route and did what everyone else did (except that I pulled my entire carpet, put peel n seal on the floorboards) and ran 2ga power on the driver's side - going inside the car from the same point where the harness for the car itself enters from the wheelwell, RCA's on the passenger side, and all my 10ga speaker wires running straight down the center console.

I did it this way because the radio I had in the car before I went multimedia didn't have an internal amp and it gave me a single point-of-reference in case I needed to troubleshoot the system.

Your results may vary!

Brad92SE

iTrader: (9)

My turnon wire is spliced into the bose as well. It has worked well for me, plus you dont have to run a long wire up to the head unit.

Evil_Twin

With the remote wire remember to wire it with the RCAs... If you run it with the power wire, it will make a funny sounding buzzing sound.

My friend and I did mine, and we ran it along the drivers side door, and the passengers side door. My neighbor (who works on cars) said that if you can't find a hole in the firewall, and you're sketchy on drilling the hole, to drill one through the steering wheel boot, where the steering knuckle is.

Goodluck.

MrGrone, what is this hood release way that you speak of?...

aeubank

I ran the main power wire to my amp down the right side of the car. I went through the firewall at the grommet that's not being used on the passengers side of the car and ran some 4 gauge through it. Then down the rocker panels into the trunk. Pretty simple to do even though I needed a little more than the 17 feel provided in my kit (monster cable). That wire's expensive..

One thing to keep in mind and keep separate is do NOT run the wiring for the sound and the current down the same path. Interference can result.

Happy hunting..

harrymay

well i know all about the interference with power and a/v signals. i work with tv's and home systems all day. so if i cant find the hood release grommet, go through the steering wheel boot. gotcha!

Golden Ice

I ran my amp power wire under the car along the brake lines and in through the spare tire well..I ran 4 ga fine strand welder cable to a 1200 watt amp (40 amp peak load), and I took my speaker wires that I ran to my rear speakers from H/U and my RCA cable and remote bass boost for my amp along the left side under the carpet and the remote turn on along the right side..this worked really well..I checked the cable under the car several times over the first year I had it and it always checked out fine, and I checked it before winter this year and its still in good condition..

harrymay

sounds even better, i really dont want to have to tear apart the inside of my car too much, so i think ill run the power cable like that, i have fosgat 4gauge thats only goin to a 800 watt amp, so it should be fine. i never thoguth about goin through the spare tire hole, i think ill run the ground cable throught there down to the main chassis.

87MustangGT

I've been running the power wire next to the remote-turn on in 3 different cars for about 4 years now with no problems or noise ever... As long as the power and turn-on aren't run with the speaker and RCAs you'll be all set.

And not to downplay whoever's run wires underneath the car (I've thought about it myself), but double think it. Sure, it's easier, but there's always that chance that you'll run over or kick up something right into the wire and slice it, and then you've gotta go buy and run new wire... It doesn't take that long to pull up the kick panel, door sills, and rear seat bottom and run the wire under the carpet...

Golden Ice

No, but it takes ME 5 min just to get under the dash to drill a hole or use an existing gromet..and another 5 min to get back out from under it unless I take the front seat out..the brake lines are shielded by a plastic guard and the wire tucks under that for about 85% of the run anyway. Trust me, I have 2 wires running to my trunk, one thats not hooked up and my 4 ga wire..if you can't find a place to tuck the wires away safely in the underside of a 3rd gen, then your car has had some stuff hacked out of it..my cable shows more than 1/2 an inch in 2 places..toward the front of the car where it comes out of the engine bay (here its run through a piece of anti-crush garden hose for protection) and theres a foot or so exposed where the cable runs across to the center of the spare tire well.. (if I could do it over, I would have brought it through the side instead of the middle) and here its protected by heavy duty split loom wrap..and since I'll never lower my max, I'm not worried..