Installing a sub and amp?

-westy- · 11 May 2006 at 15:30

Hey,

I'm helping a friend install a sub and amp into her Fiesta on friday, got a couple of questions:

1. Where's the best place to run the wiring? down the middle of the car, so we have to take the seats and carpet out?

2. Anything else I need to take into consideration?

Thanks

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:32

+ Wire & REM down one side / RCA down the other, do it down the plastic inside sills then you don't need to take the seats out.

Short earth wire in the boot, seatbelt mounting point is usually a good one, if you have metal rca leads wrap some tape round the ends once connected to avoid bad earths.

-westy- · 11 May 2006 at 15:36

Firestar_3x said:
+ Wire & REM down one side / RCA down the other, do it down the plastic inside sills then you don't need to take the seats out.

Short earth wire in the boot, seatbelt mounting point is usually a good one, if you have metal rca leads wrap some tape round the ends once connected to avoid bad earths.

SO run the wiring down the sides of the car, and earth wire inside the boot? coming from where, the amp?

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:37

+ from the batt through the bulkhead and with an inline fuse, get the right gauge wire.

- from a fixing point in the boot to the amp, usually the shorter the better.

Both wires must be the same gauge.

Nathan · 11 May 2006 at 15:38

-westy- said:
SO run the wiring down the sides of the car, and earth wire inside the boot? coming from where, the amp?

amp earth to selt belt point.

Power and remote lead down drivers side. RCA down passanger side. Job done

Nathan · 11 May 2006 at 15:39

Firestar_3x said:
+ from the batt through the bulkhead and with an inline fuse, get the right gauge wire.

- from a fixing point in the boot to the amp, usually the shorter the better.

Both wires must be the same gauge.

..make sure you put the fuse end in under the bonnet

dont want a car fire now do we.

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:39

Nathan said:
..make sure you put the fuse end in under the bonnet dont want a car fire now do we.

Yep closer to the batt the better 15" or less.

-westy- · 11 May 2006 at 15:47

Would an inline fuse come with a wiring kit? and does anyone know the location of a hole in the bulkhead in a '98 Fiesta?

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:48

It should indeed, and i think its either near the steering column or behind the glovebox.

james.miller · 11 May 2006 at 15:48

Firestar_3x said:
+ Wire & REM down one side / RCA down the other, do it down the plastic inside sills then you don't need to take the seats out.

Short earth wire in the boot, seatbelt mounting point is usually a good one, if you have metal rca leads wrap some tape round the ends once connected to avoid bad earths.

down the middle for the RCA's if possible - shorter lengths. Run the power cables down the side from the battery again, shorter runs are prefered

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:53

james.miller said:
down the middle for the RCA's if possible - shorter lengths. Run the power cables down the side from the battery again, shorter runs are prefered

True but she aint going to be running in any SQ competitions and the bother of stripping the insides of the car out far outweighs the advantages it offers in this car, imho

tickle me elmo · 11 May 2006 at 15:53

i ran everything down the left side of the car under the plastic trim.

djbenjo · 11 May 2006 at 15:53

Nathan said:
amp earth to selt belt point.

Power and remote lead down drivers side. RCA down passanger side. Job done

Doesn't really matter were its earthed, nearest clean earth you can find

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 15:54

tickle me elmo said:
i ran everything down the left side of the car under the plastic trim.

Just asking for trouble imho, but if that works for you

monkeyspank · 11 May 2006 at 15:58

In theory it's best to run the phono leads on the opposite side to the power leads but a lot of people just run them together with no problems. If you have the time it would make sense to run the phono leads seperately.

When you choose a grounding point in the boot or whatever, try to sand the paintwork down where the connection will be made. You want a really good connection here. Well, you want good connections everywhere but this one is worth noting. Make sure all crimps that you do are really good.

james.miller · 11 May 2006 at 15:58

Firestar_3x said:
True but she aint going to be running in any SQ competitions and the bother of stripping the insides of the car out far outweighs the advantages it offers in this car, imho

you'd have to stip it anyway to hind the cables, surely? sorry, im used to installing that way. it doesnt take much longer, but it saves a little on cabling, especially if your using some expensive stuff

your right it dones make much of a difference, ut if you have the time its worth doing it

monkeyspank · 11 May 2006 at 15:58

I'm guessing he'll be using the 5m one that comes with the wiring kits.

megakid · 11 May 2006 at 16:02

Firestar_3x said:
Just asking for trouble imho, but if that works for you

Why's that, I've heard myths about people believing the power cable affects the RCAs but they are just that, myths. I run a 4awg power cable from the battery (fused 3" from the battery) to a fused distro-box under my passenger seat - a very small length of 4awg to my component amp under my passenger seat (grounded at seat mount) and another length going to the boot.

All RCAs are down underneith the same trim (along side 2*thick speaker wire for the dash to the front seat etc) - ok so it was a tight squeeze getting the trim back down but it works perfectly and sounds awesome.

I'm not planning on doing anything more with it so hardly asking for trouble is it?

agw_01 · 11 May 2006 at 16:05

When I did mine in the GSi, I ripped the rear seats out and ran the RCA's down the centre console and under the carpet along the centre of the car.

I used the seat mounting bracket as the earth point, which is right at the front of the boot (towards middle of car) hidden underneath the carpet. As I removed the seat anyway, I sanded down an area under the bracket (as has been said above) to provide a good earth.

My cabling is a bit of a mish-mash at the moment. I bought 5 metres of what I thought was 4AWG last year. My fuse holder is held down via sticky tabs and cable-ties to one area of the engine bay, about 10cm of cable length from the battery.

I bought a metre of 4AWG cable from eBay to bridge this gap and when it turned up, noticed it was a lot thinner than the stuff I had before. So I have either 2 or 0AWG cable running through the car.

Be good for my battery to boot conversion then

In the boot, I have the power cable running to a distrib block which then has a 10AWG cable running to the amp, and also a 10AWG earth cable from the amp to the earth point.

Firestar_3x · 11 May 2006 at 17:19

megakid said:
Why's that, I've heard myths about people believing the power cable affects the RCAs but they are just that, myths.

Running wires parallel to each other can induce voltage in the other wires which can = alternator whine or degraded sq, thats why.

james.miller said:
you'd have to stip it anyway to hind the cables, surely? sorry, im used to installing that way. it doesnt take much longer, but it saves a little on cabling, especially if your using some expensive stuff your right it dones make much of a difference, ut if you have the time its worth doing it

Oh its deffo worth the extra effort if you have the time, all i did in the clio was pull the internal trim up and pushed the wires under, easy peasy

Installing a sub and amp?

Gangster