Anyone have any pics of how/where they ran their amp power cable through the firewall of their ranger? I need some ideas.

Thanks

 

No picture but i drilled a hole next to the steering shaft and put a spiffy new grommet in. Looks like its ment to be there lol.

 

Easiest method I've seen and what is done on mine is to simply fish the large gauge wire from the engine bay and pull it through the stock rubber boot in the firewall on the drivers side under the fuse box. It will stretch enough with a little force

 

I have fished small gauge wire through one of the rubber boots before but not the power cable for an amp.
If it was me I would do as vista4.0 suggested and did, new hole grommet properly sized for the wire you are using.
If the hole is too big then you can get fumes through it.

When I get time, soon I hope, to put in my new radio/speakers, I will use vista4.0’s method it will be smarter and safer in the long run.

Don’t forget to use a fuse close to the battery.
How R U go’g to ground your amp ?
I have often heard a short ground is the way to go but I like to ground at the battery and not sure if it would be a problem or not ?

luck with the install.

 

Id also go with vistas idea. I just grounded my amp to a jumpseat in my old truck

 

ran mine threw one of the existing grommets in the firewall and grounded in the rear used a jump seat bolt just sand or grind down to bare metal for best performance then prime over it to prevent rust

 

When I had 4g in my truck I ran it through a random grommet. When I ran my 1/0, it's run behind the fender, under the truck, tied to the frame, and then I drilled a hole by the rear cab mount, put in a grommet and called it a day.

 

yea i think anything bigger than 4ga your asking for trouble making it look like its not there not much room to hide wires under the carpet and trim

 

It was just easier to run outside the truck than to try and hide it in the cab.

 

Did you run it through any kind of tubing to protect it or just ran it bare inside the frame rail?

 

I ran mine under fender into the cab bolt grommet. I might be changing that soon, seems a bit sketchy to me now.

 

It's just running along the frame rail. I'd like to do something like this though:
http://www.caraudio.com/forums/car-a...q-build-2.html

 

Ah some LFMC, that's actually a good idea, (that's what is mainly used in wet locations allowable by the NEC.)
I may do that now

 

lol you its not that big a deal the cable will hold up to the elements only thing you need to worry about is leaks where your entry points are

 

Thanks for all the replys. I was hoping for an easy way to get the 0 gauge into the cabin without drilling holes. I will have to look into that conduit and figure something out.

Thanks again

 

Sorry double post

 

Just curious, what kind of equipment are you going to be using?

 

The water-tight tubing is a good idea and a couple of fittings.

Mount a fitting to the end under the hood to clean it up and secure it to a fenderwell or firewall then drill a hole behind the cab and mount another watertight fitting there, up out of the way. run the wires through and you got a watertight setup.

I have been thinking along this lines for a while but haven’t had any time to get my “Thing-To-Do” completed so new projects are just not to be considered.


Here is something else to think about… take the power and ground cables and twist them together, approx. 10 turns per foot, slide a Tubular Braided Cable over the two power cables. Attach the positive and negative cable to the battery, make sure to fuse the positive at least (some do both), and take the end of the braided cable and attach it to a good metal ground point under the hood (get to bare metal); the amp side of the braided cable, let it float, attach it to nothing.
Just thinking out load, this is a good method of reducing interference in HAM Radios, not sure if it applys to Audio AMPs but I will be doing it.

 

The water-tight tubing is a good idea and a couple of fittings.

Mount a fitting to the end under the hood to clean it up and secure it to a fenderwell or firewall then drill a hole behind the cab and mount another watertight fitting there, up out of the way. run the wires through and you got a watertight setup.

I have been thinking along this lines for a while but haven’t had any time to get my “Thing-To-Do” completed so new projects are just not to be considered.


Here is something else to think about… take the power and ground cables and twist them together, approx. 10 turns per foot, slide a Tubular Braided Cable over the two power cables. Attach the positive and negative cable to the battery, make sure to fuse the positive at least (some do both), and take the end of the braided cable and attach it to a good metal ground point under the hood (get to bare metal); the amp side of the braided cable, let it float, attach it to nothing.
Just thinking out load, this is a good method of reducing interference in HAM Radios, not sure if it applys to Audio AMPs but I will be doing it.

 

As far a equipment, nothing special. Not looking to build an SPL monster just better than stock with a boost.

I know what your'e thinking "Is 1/0 really necessary". No probably not but I tend to over build things like this just to be safe and leave room for something I might do in the future.

I also don't want to have to do this again if I do make a change later on.

 

You are going to use 1/0 Cable, I like it but forget about the twisted pair thing I mentioned...

 

4awg copper is plenty for most systems..