looking for 4 gauge wire

[QueBert]

I'm short on wire to finish my system up, every store I've been to sells it in amp kits, I don't need fuses and all that extra crap and don't need 25 ft of wire. Not looking to spend 40 bucks either. I'm looking to get about 6 feet and that's all. I went to a few mom and pop stereo shops and one said they don't sell it outside of a full system and the other wanted 6 bucks a foot. I don't know what the going $$$ is on 4 gauge wire but $6 sounds crazy expensive.

 

[EightySix Four]

Home depot. It will be ugly and a bit harder to work with, but they'll have it.

 

[zoiks]

That stuff can run really expensive. Your best shot probably is buying it online or off ebay.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
Home depot.

GREAT suggestion! I remember years ago I needed some cat5 and they had it, which surprised me. I'll be heading there today 😀

Originally posted by: zoiks
That stuff can run really expensive. Your best shot probably is buying it online or off ebay.

I think with shipping and waiting and the fact I only want 6 feet buying it online would not work out well. If I needed bulk I'd jump at Ebay for picking it up

 

[MixMasterTang]

Also check out Welding cable. I believe Rubycon mentioned that in another thread a weekor two ago, but I've heard of plenty of other people using it as well.

Something like this. would work and you should be able to buy it by the foot. May check your local welding supply store as well.

 

[Vette73]

go to a parts store/wal-mart and look for grounding battery cable. It comes in 4 and 6ga. Starts at I think 19" and goes up from there.

 

[bruceb]

If all else fails, just go to your local electrical supply company. That is where all the electricians get there materials from. Home Depot stuff is sometimes on the low end of quality and their prices on some items, will be higher than an electrical supply place.

Such as:

A A Electrical Supplies
5539 Mission Boulevard,
Riverside, CA 92509
(951) 786-0669

City Electric Supply
1535 Marlborough Avenue,
Riverside, CA 92507
(951) 680-1925

 

[brblx]

home depot or a welding supply place should definately work. lamp cord from home depot also makes excellent speaker wire. 😱

for the power wire, it will have a lower strand count than something from an automotive manufacturer, though. the shielding might also be thinner and less pliable.

if you can wait, you can buy good 4ga wire online for $2 a foot or less. i usually order from knukonceptz.com (stupid name, decent affordable wiring stuff).

if you go to some place like best buy or a stereo shop, they'll probably want $80 for a basic amp kit.

 

[LTC8K6]

Lowe's will have it as well.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: brblx
home depot or a welding supply place should definately work. lamp cord from home depot also makes excellent speaker wire. 😱

for the power wire, it will have a lower strand count than something from an automotive manufacturer, though. the shielding might also be thinner and less pliable.

if you can wait, you can buy good 4ga wire online for $2 a foot or less. i usually order from knukonceptz.com (stupid name, decent affordable wiring stuff).

if you go to some place like best buy or a stereo shop, they'll probably want $80 for a basic amp kit.

Nice site man thanks for the link! I was about to go to Home Depot tomorrow but looking at the site I'm realizing I need more than just the wire, they may or may not have the other shits I need. I suppose I can go see what they have, and worse comes to worse I order off the internet. I think I need a fuse holder and those U Terminal thingies you put on the end of the wire.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: brblx
home depot or a welding supply place should definately work. lamp cord from home depot also makes excellent speaker wire. 😱

for the power wire, it will have a lower strand count than something from an automotive manufacturer, though. the shielding might also be thinner and less pliable.

if you can wait, you can buy good 4ga wire online for $2 a foot or less. i usually order from knukonceptz.com (stupid name, decent affordable wiring stuff).

if you go to some place like best buy or a stereo shop, they'll probably want $80 for a basic amp kit.

Nice site man thanks for the link! I was about to go to Home Depot tomorrow but looking at the site I'm realizing I need more than just the wire, they may or may not have the other shits I need. I suppose I can go see what they have, and worse comes to worse I order off the internet. I think I need a fuse holder and those U Terminal thingies you put on the end of the wire.

I just put a stereo in my sister's car - I had enough wire kicking around, but I bought the spade connectors (the u shaped things) at Best Buy - four in a package for $4.99. Wiring is really expensive there..glad I already had enough. :Q

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: brblx
home depot or a welding supply place should definately work. lamp cord from home depot also makes excellent speaker wire. 😱

for the power wire, it will have a lower strand count than something from an automotive manufacturer, though. the shielding might also be thinner and less pliable.

if you can wait, you can buy good 4ga wire online for $2 a foot or less. i usually order from knukonceptz.com (stupid name, decent affordable wiring stuff).

if you go to some place like best buy or a stereo shop, they'll probably want $80 for a basic amp kit.

Nice site man thanks for the link! I was about to go to Home Depot tomorrow but looking at the site I'm realizing I need more than just the wire, they may or may not have the other shits I need. I suppose I can go see what they have, and worse comes to worse I order off the internet. I think I need a fuse holder and those U Terminal thingies you put on the end of the wire.

I just put a stereo in my sister's car - I had enough wire kicking around, but I bought the spade connectors (the u shaped things) at Best Buy - four in a package for $4.99. Wiring is really expensive there..glad I already had enough. :Q

My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

...12 ring terminals? WTF? Power from battery, ground to chassis.. 😕

Regardless, they should still sell them in 4-packs.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

...12 ring terminals? WTF? Power from battery, ground to chassis.. 😕

Regardless, they should still sell them in 4-packs.

I figured I'd get some smaller ones for the speaker wire too. BB has 8 gauge ones, but elsewhere I've seen 14-18 gauge ones. Would be perfect for securing the speaker wires down. Never was much a fan of tightening the screws over the bare wire it to keep it in place.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

...12 ring terminals? WTF? Power from battery, ground to chassis.. 😕

Regardless, they should still sell them in 4-packs.

I figured I'd get some smaller ones for the speaker wire too. BB has 8 gauge ones, but elsewhere I've seen 14-18 gauge ones. Would be perfect for securing the speaker wires down. Never was much a fan of tightening the screws over the bare wire it to keep it in place.

You're looking for spade terminals then, not ring.. 😉

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

...12 ring terminals? WTF? Power from battery, ground to chassis.. 😕

Regardless, they should still sell them in 4-packs.

I figured I'd get some smaller ones for the speaker wire too. BB has 8 gauge ones, but elsewhere I've seen 14-18 gauge ones. Would be perfect for securing the speaker wires down. Never was much a fan of tightening the screws over the bare wire it to keep it in place.

You're looking for spade terminals then, not ring.. 😉

OK, stupid question the ring terminal is a spade terminal with an O ring for the head instead of the U shaped right? So why couldn't I use ring terminals made for 18ga wire for my speaker wire? Maybe I'm not really understanding the difference between a spade and a ring terminal.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: JLee

Originally posted by: QueBert
My local BB had nothing in stock except amp kits. The audio dude there said they usually have 6 ft of 8 gauge wire for 13 bucks, not exactly cheap. But I don't think any B&M would be any cheaper on it. I just was on their web site and the one that's about 13 miles from me has the wire and the spade connectors in stock. But the wire is 65 cents a foot online and I can get the O shaped spade connectors for 65 cents too. Hell I haven't had a stereo in my car since they stole mine last summer. So I guess I can go a few more days without one lol.

Did you talk to an installer? These were not on the sales floor. The guy I talked to hooked me up with an extra ring terminal that was kicking around..so I didn't have to buy a 4-pack of those too. 😛

Nah, the installers are outside on the side, I'm going to need a bunch of the ring terminals. I doubt they'd give me 12 of them if I asked.

...12 ring terminals? WTF? Power from battery, ground to chassis.. 😕

Regardless, they should still sell them in 4-packs.

I figured I'd get some smaller ones for the speaker wire too. BB has 8 gauge ones, but elsewhere I've seen 14-18 gauge ones. Would be perfect for securing the speaker wires down. Never was much a fan of tightening the screws over the bare wire it to keep it in place.

You're looking for spade terminals then, not ring.. 😉

OK, stupid question the ring terminal is a spade terminal with an O ring for the head instead of the U shaped right? So why couldn't I use ring terminals made for 18ga wire for my speaker wire? Maybe I'm not really understanding the difference between a spade and a ring terminal.

Spade

Ring

Most amps are designed to accept spade connectors - you slide it in, tighten the screw and you're good. Ring terminals often used for power off the battery and ground to chassis.

 

[QueBert]

that's what I thought, so if I get the right size I can use rings for all my hookups on my amps. Yeah I'm gonna need 14 18ga and 6 8ga ones. They're super cheap at Radio Shack and I got one 2 blocks from where I'm at, they might even have the 8ga wire by the foot. I never think about Radio Shack but they're pretty good for this kind of shit. Spade or Ring won't make a bit of difference though if they fit, I just hate being ghetto and wrapping the exposed wire around the screws. LOL sadly I've done that more than once on my older car stereo setups 🙁

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: QueBert
that's what I thought, so if I get the right size I can use rings for all my hookups on my amps. Yeah I'm gonna need 14 18ga and 6 8ga ones. They're super cheap at Radio Shack and I got one 2 blocks from where I'm at, they might even have the 8ga wire by the foot. I never think about Radio Shack but they're pretty good for this kind of shit. Spade or Ring won't make a bit of difference though if they fit, I just hate being ghetto and wrapping the exposed wire around the screws. LOL sadly I've done that more than once on my older car stereo setups 🙁

I did that with the remote wire & speaker wires on the last install I did - it's very secure and you can't see it anyway. My amp has plates under the screws, though, so it squashes whatever is in there. I can't fit rings - apparently your amp has a different design.

 

[Black88GTA]

Last time I needed a few random feet of wire, I went to Best Buy install bay. They had a whole box full of used wire remnants of all gauges that they had left over from installations in customers' cars. I told them my situation, and they let me rummage through it and take what I needed. If the installer guys are cool (they are most of the time) you may have luck doing this.

 

[QueBert]

Picked up some 8 gauge wire at Lowes for uber cheap - thanks LTC8K6 for the suggestion. It feels like it's solid copper in the middle so getting it to bend into the shape I want is gonna be a lot of fun lol. Best Buy had 25 feet of remote wire for 3 bucks. WOO for finding everything I need local and cheap. Silly question, but Lowes has regular wire and wire with a ground in it. Since both my amps will have a dedicated ground wire I wouldn't have needed that 8 gauge with the ground in it for power right? My logic tells me no, but my logic also tells me I'm just guessing it's no and don't know beyond what I think sounds right.

 

[brblx]

you're not going to run a ground through the car. you should have a dedicated ground to the bare chassis somewhere near your amps, and you should have a positive wire, fused at the battery, with some kind of distrobution block to split for your two amps.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: brblx
you're not going to run a ground through the car. you should have a dedicated ground to the bare chassis somewhere near your amps, and you should have a positive wire, fused at the battery, with some kind of distrobution block to split for your two amps.

I have a 8 gauge dedicated ground for each amp. I made a new thread about a possible problem that came up. If you're interested in reading it you seem to be very knowledgeable here so I would love some input.