Anyone know of a good spot to tap power from, to run a sub in the car.

I took a good amount of time and concluded that it would be a real pain to run a wire to the battery and also I am not really looking to punch holes in the firewall either.

The only place i see that I could readily access is the rubber boot jam packed full of wires, but there is just no more space to fit any more.

Some one had mentioned to me that I could tap off the power that runs the stock sub, but I am not sure if that wire is going to be beefy enough (needs to be 10 gage).

Does anyone know were the power feed is located that runs the stock sub?

Thanks in advance!

 

Its best to run it to the battery or you will jsut be draining alot of power from all your cars electical components. I usually just drill a hole and put a platic gromet in the hole.

 

run it straight down from your battery underneath the car along the drivers side.. there are lines there that run front to back that you can ziptie the power line too. once you get to the back there are 2 grommets underneath the spare tire, cut a hole in 1 of them and put the wire through it. run the wire from there to where you want it and put the spare back in.

ive done this on my xb and another members tc n havent had any problems...

 

why would you want to expose your power wire to the natural elements under the car? water, rocks, random crap popping up to puncture it. i would not install the power wire this way.

 

let a proffesional do it....you clearly have no idea what you're doing.....and i'm moving this to ice, electrical and interior

 

Running power wire in the tC is easy. I made a post on it months back when I had my tC. I'll see if I can dig it up for you. Basically, you can easily fir 4ga power wire through the factory grommet in the firewall on the driver's side.

 

Found it.. Just run the power wire off the battery.. here is the excerpt on wiring and how to run it.

"As far as running a 0 gauge, i dunno, i used 4ga so it shouldnt be THAT bad... but under the driverside dash (easiest way is to fish it from the inside out, or you wont be able to reach it) theres a big grommet with a bundle of wires going through it, just use a razor or something to cut a hole in it, and fish the power wire through. next you can route it over the big bracket up by the dash, and down the side of the car (the kick panel pops off with a little force, and the door sill trim pops right off). the part where you're gonna have trouble is the rear panel, because theres only about a hole 2"x2" where you can fish wire through without taking the panel completely off, but once again, the entire thing pulls off with a little force.. after that, it's cake, use the bolts under the seat to ground the amp and you're good to go. i didn't have to take the center console out for the remote lead since i have the stock deck, so youre on your own for that one."

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with questions.

 

First off, I would not have posted anything if I did not understand what I was doing.

I thought that if there is an exhisting powerline factory installed somewhere for the factory sub, that i could just run off that rather than going all out and spending about an hour of my time routing from the battery. (time is money, duh!!)

This post was solely to probe for ideas better than my own and then choose the best option, which from consensus tells me to do it right and feed off the battery.

I have kinda got used to planning my time, and am sorry if I offended some with such a "THOUGHTLESS" question.

That, and I do not like drilling holes in my new $22,000 (including financing) investment without a plan.

In summary, I am just trying to take the easy way out and it appears I am gonna have to invest a little time instead.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE IDEAS!

 

Hey man, it really doesn't take that long. About 20 minutes to run the power wire and hook everything up, maybe around 30-40 if you need to pry open the dash to access a remote lead wire. I just used the ACC switched 12v fuse (labeled as ACC) in the fusebox on the driver's side of the dash.

 

yes because it will all bleed out all over the ground.. rendering the cable useless

but really though if thats the case ill contact every car manufacturer and tell them to move the fuel lines that hey have running underneath the car to a better location..

just think about it.. thats like saying not to install neons under the car because of the elements

btw, tell me where you would run 1/0 gauge wire through the car where you could hide it. i installed that size wire on acid's tc and i ran it underneath because physically i wouldnt be able to hide it anywhere because its so BIG

i dont me to sound like a d*ck but he asked for a way where he wouldnt have to cut any holes in his $22k car, this would be the easiest way to install, and if he had to the easiest place to have it to remove it if necessary

 

To be honest with you.. 0 gauge wire is extremely overkill unless you have a fully competition ready stereo system. 4ga handles upto 1500 watts safely without problems. There is no need to be using wire that large in these cars unless you plan on replacing windows due to the size of your system.

 

Yea just cut a slit in the existing gromet and shove it through. Run the wire down the driver side kick panel and to the back. Took all of 30 min with some help and there was no drilling so you don't have to worry about your $22,000 car.

 

dont need to cut anything, i just shoved the 4 gauge power wire through the existing gromet with no problems...real easy stufff

 

i never said it was needed.. you can ask him, i looked at him like he was crazy when i pulled the wire out of the box. its what he wanted.

 

run it through the grommet behind where the steering wheel ends... with all the wires... if u go into the engine bay, there are two nipple lookin things on the grommet, pull on em and then pull the whole grommet out... then stick the wire through... then install the grommet again... easy stuff... takes about 20 minutes to run it all the way to the back...

do not run it under the car... or on the drivers side... first off... its ugly to look at when you open your door and there is a fat red wire sticking out... also the elements can tear that wire apart

 

It's fine to run the wire under the car. What? You don't have any wires under your car right now as it is?! There are way more dangerous things under your car than an amp wire. Besides, it's not like it gonna be hanging down, it'll be zip-tied to something else...

 

I cant believe someone suggested to run it under the car. Funniest thing Ive read all day.

 

There are right ways to do things and there are wrong ways to do thing, both will work. Dont be a hack, run the wire through a existing grommet, or drill a hole through the firewall.. 1 hole isnt going to depreciate your car, it has plenty of holes in it already. If auto manufactures thought it was so safe to run wires outside of the car, why arent all wiring harness on the exterior of the car with no grommet?? Something to think about.. Fuel lines, and brake lines are protect with shielding. Not to mention they are a stonger material then vinyl shielding.

Id love to see a power wire get snagged and rip someones battery right out of the battery tray...oh yeah, then catch on fire and burn the car down. I hope insurance covers that.

 

The "factory" way of running an additional wire into the car is to go through an existing wiring harness grommet on the firewall. Just sharpen a coat hanger the push it through both layers of rubber (inside and outside) alongside the harness. Of course, be careful not to damage the existing harness.

To run from front to back, you can go under the plastic doorsills. They just pop off.

Running along the bottom of the car is also viable. I did this with a high-power ham radio rig mounted in the trunk of my Dad's Taurus. It survived 12 years of Nevada driving with no deterioration of the insulation or damage to the wires. Just keep the wires away from the suspension and exhaust.

Whatever system you use, don't forget to fuse the wire at the battery. That way, if you have a short anywhere in the wire run you are protected from fire.

Have fun!
George

 

Ok, we all have different opinions. I can agree to disagree. But some of you guys don't have to be _______s about stuff... You don't have to agree with me or anyone else, but an opinion is NEVER wrong...