YACAT: How difficult is wiring?

[Ikonomi]

I'm not upgrading my car system or anything (yet), but I was just thinking about speakers and stuff, and got to wondering about wiring. It seems really difficult. I mean, do you have to run wires through the door cavities and such?

Like, to use myself and my car as an example, the factory amp is somewhere behind the glove box, so I can imagine the bundle of wires that runs through my dash. If I were to put a new amp in the trunk or something, is it customary to run the wires through hidden channels? Or what? Because that seems insanely difficult. Maybe it's not as hard as I think it is.

Just curious.

 

[Doodoo]

Its not hard at all...just takes some work. Usually the power cable runs in from the trunk to the battery by going underneath the door sills and then through the firewall. Theres usually already a hole in the firewall on most cars.

 

[minendo]

Installing an amp only uses four main wires. Power, ground, remote, and rcas. The difficult part is doing speakers especially if the amp is in the trunk and the speakers are in the front dash or doors.

Amp wires basically have the power wire from the battery down one side of the car to the amp, rcas and remote wire from the deck down the opposite side of the car as the power wire, and the ground gets attached to the a metal section of the trunk.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

the more you do it the more you get a feel for it.
helpful hints:
1. get yourself a good DMM, not one of those 9.99 radio shack ones. if you get a good Fluke or something similar it will last forever as long as you don't abuse it.

2. don't me afraid to drill, but if you do decide to drill you can seal up the holes with some silicone.
3. when in doubt use a heavier gauge wire. cheep wire is a fire hazard, and small fires are a fire dept. hazard. anyone whos ever seen what the fire dept. does to a car with an electrical fire will know what i mean.
4. learn to read schematics.

 

[Ikonomi]

What is a DMM?

 

[beer]

Digital Multimeter

 

[Pepsi90919]

you don't really need to run a ground wire; just attach to a metal part of the trunk.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
you don't really need to run a ground wire; just attach to a metal part of the trunk.

I'm not so sure that's completely effective...

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
you don't really need to run a ground wire; just attach to a metal part of the trunk.

I'm not so sure that's completely effective...

I'm sure it would be - there's a lot more metal in your car chassis than in a wire, no matter how thick.

just make sure that where you attach the ground wire it is very clean and free from paint, corrosion or grease. Then once it is firmly attached a quick spray of spray on grease to seal it.