wiring kits

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

Planning on getting a new amp and subwoofer, according the amp's specs, 4-gauge power and ground leads recommended, paired with Thunder4500.

I checked a few places for wiring kits, like crutchfield, but they are almost as expensive as the amp itself! (Streetwires)

Can anyone recommend 4g wiring kit, or something similar that'll help me get the amp wired safely and cost effectively?

durangotang · **Posted:** Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:17 pm

It's simple... calculate the length you need and just go buy the bulk wire. Any shop will have spools of any of the wire you need along with the connectors. It will be quite a bit cheaper than the kits.

Frostednutz · **Posted:** Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:41 am

i agree however the amp kits going to come with with everything if you don't already have wires running to the back. for an amp as small as that an 8 gauge power and ground would suffice unless the amp is extremely inefficient. streetwires are good wires with a decent amount of sleeve thickness. i know i got the 0/1 gauge and had em for about a year and no sign of wear (on the outside +harsh hot humid conditions). another thing about a kit is that it will come with an rca cable, fuse block, and some additional smaller gauge wiring to wire up the sub. in my opinion a kit would be cheaper.

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

Thanks for the help, guys.
Has anyone had any problems running power cables and speaker cables on same side? ie Pass side?
I want to run everything from pass side, since it looks much easier to penetrate firewall from that side. Wide open and spacious.

shaggy591a · **Posted:** Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:09 pm

I ran power cables on the driver side since that is where the battery is. I had no problems getting the 4 gauge wire through the fire wall, i found a hope there big enough. I ran the rca's and remote wires on the passenger side. U might get some interference running all wires on the same side.

kolesy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:19 am

You always want to run the speaker wires away from ANY power feeding wires. You will get some inteference if you run them together.

Mike

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

I see. Thanks for the pointers.

madlarkin · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:13 am

Honestly, as long as the wire isn't an el-cheapo job and all insulation it will do the job. My top two are KnuKonceptz and Stinger, but that is just because both are amazingly flexible with good strand count and they are actually the gauge they advertise.

jinstall · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:44 am

I have no issues at all. Everything is run together down the drivers side. I normally would seperate them but not this time. I use Ohlbach cables for 12 years with never a problem. I run alot of cable, never cut anything, and leave everythig OEM for later reinstallation.

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

My next question was regardless of which side we run the power wire from, there is already a speaker wire going to the door speakers, wouldn't they get interference from it as well?

jinstall · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:06 pm

OEM is pretty good at RF radiation at low wattage. Normally you get your RF radiation from the RCA cables. I try as hard as I an to ground everything at the same location. Makes sure you get a good ground, scrape the paint away to get to bare metal if need be. Also be sure you do not run power wires near any type of sensors for ROPS or airbags. Sometimes the RF Radiation will set them off. Also as always, disconnect the battery CABLES(+ and -) to make sure there is no current in the car. We found this out the hard way on the shops MB SL320 when the ROPS roll bar got a surge and went off in the shop with our heads 1" away from the up position. It could have killed both of us and cost $2800 to replace the system. We were so happy it was not a customers car. Even after 20 years you still can learn things. Some easy some hard.

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

I don't think KJ has any type of rop, so we are safe at that.

That sounds pretty scary.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 1:29 am

Believe it or not, I got all my wiring at Walmart. They have wiring 'kits' which is what I got but I mostly used the wire. Just be careful if you use the fuse holder, its not the best in the world.

Mine is 4AWG wire and it came with a 100amp fuse! That way to much since I would only be using a 400watt amp so I downed it to 80amp.

I ran my RCA cables for the subs amp up the middle under the carpet. I ran the power cable down the drivers side and if I ever ran new speaker wire I would run it down the passenger side. Thats how I did it in my bro's Jeep and it worked out great.

What kinda amp you getting hyedipin? 4AWG wire is pretty big.

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

Blake, it was in the first post
RTP202 amp paired with Thunder4500.

A lot of expenses popped up, and I never put the wires into consideration, which brings up the total way over my budget now. This will have to wait for now, (once again).

dgeist · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 1:09 pm

kolesy wrote:

You always want to run the speaker wires away from ANY power feeding wires. You will get some inteference if you run them together.

Mike

Another good rule of thumb is intersection. If they DO have to cross, make it at a 90 degree, and don't run them parallel within 6" of each other for more than a couple feet if you can avoid it. The EM field extends a good bit outside the wire on high-power systems.

Many of the same principles apply to home theatre. You typically don't want signal cables (coax, cat5, etc) near power cables. 60 Hz in the power will interfere with the picture/sound internal to the circuitry. In speakers, it's not QUITE as important since they operate as a lower frequency, but if you have inconsistent grounding, you'll get stray power being reproduced audibly (yes, 60 Hz out of a subwoofer is really annoying). I think the auto industry calls that one a "ground loop".

jinstall · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:28 pm

Hence my speakr cable for the house cost $350 for 6 meters and the Jeep cost $40 for the same length. Anything B&W costs a fortune.

struggle07 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:21 am

To answer your original question, I would try www.knukonceptz.com. I have used several of their kits. The KLM 4awg kit is not the highest quality, but still good, and in my opinion its the best value for the money.

jinstall · **Posted:** Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:18 pm

Most kits here are not avalible in the US.

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