I have a 12" sub connected to an amp in the rear of my box. What I did was run the wiring from the amp along the driver side siding and in the driver's door jam, which runs into the engine compertment. The wiring looks super tacky when you open the driver's side door, but i didnt know where else to put the wiring.

 

I believe I know what you are describing but a picture would help quite a bit.

As for running the amp power wires... make sure you are using the grommet in the firewall. Then you can run the wire under the carpet and in to the wire channel in the door sill. If what you have described means you have run the wire on the outside of the car in through the door jam, you should disconnect that immediately due to fire hazards. Closing your door the wrong way once can cause a pinch against metal and fry the amp/battery/car if you are not careful.

 

yeah i know, mechanics do not like it when they service my engine. anyway, how hard is it to run through firewall? i know where the bypass is, but it looks super difficult to remove and run through. got a diy?

 

I'm not totally familiar with the xB1's construction, but here goes:

You can run the cable under the carpet next to the door sill by removing the plastic trim at the base of the door opening. If there's room, you may also run the cable in the wire track there. The cable can go through a number of existing wiring boots in the firewall; find one you can get to from both the engine and driver compartments. Use a sharpened metal tube (3/8" diameter from a model/hobby shop does well) to make a neat hole in the boot. Do this on both sides of the boot. Once done, thread your cable through, wire tie to existing cables. Mount your fuse holder close to the battery. NEVER, EVER run a cable direct from battery to amp without a battery side fuse holder. ALWAYS use a fuse holder near the battery. For looks, you can get braided wire sleeves off the net (check out cableorganizer.com) which look more professional than split loom tubing.

 

You pretty much just have to ram the wire through the grommet in the firewall. I duct taped my amp power wire to a small screwdriver, and carefully pushed it through.

Of course, things got really hairy when I installed my cruise control last year; that's an additional 4 or 5 wires through that grommet, but I made it work without destroying anything or electrocuting myself.

From there, ran the wire to the amp hidden under the door sill and carpet (my amp is under the driver's seat; I put the jack in the cubbyhole next to the spare).

 

Easiest way to push through the firewall, locate the primary grommet. Take a wire coat hanger and tape your primary to one end of the untwisted coat hanger. It should go through almost like butter if you have done it right. If you want, you could do a practice run through with little effort. If you were close to where I live, I could easily show you how it's done. There are also quite a few examples online that follow the same principle.

 

i like the idea, should i prep the grommet with a larger hole before running a coathanger through. seems like a whole wire would need more assistance than just the coathanger hole

 

You'd be surprised, the grommet is pretty soft material. Once you get it started, you can just kind of yank everything through. The toughest part is, of course, getting started. I used a screwdriver instead of a coat hanger, because it's rigid - that helped a bunch.

 

sweet, i will definitely try it out. thanks

 

Few pics on running the wire: http://www.clubxb.com/forums/f18/diy...ing-25943.html

 

use this for how to run a wire but don't do that weird flip through the engine bay. just through the carpet like everyone else has said. my amp's under my seat and no one ever notices.

 

I have to agree with Mrfuzzy4. Use the grommet on the drivers side... not the other.