holes/grommets in the firewall?

[nine01a]

I got a bunch of cool stuff to enhance my sound system which is stock excluding the head unit. . .but basically I'm aware of the grommet that allows that black cable going from the hood release through the firewall but it doesn't have enough excess space to allow my fat power cable to fit through. I'd like to drill only if that was the last resort but I'm sure won't have to because I have a buddy who modified the grommet (by drilling) that holds all of those bundled cables that go into that power box in the engine compartment. He has a '00 f-150.

Any way, I have a bunch of cool stuff and I don't want to spend any money on a pro install because I think it's unnecessary and want to know how to do this myself. Any hints would be greatly appreciated, of course. Thanks.

-Zach

 

[skoal_mint]

yes their are other holes premade in your firewall..lift you carpet and look for a black plastic piece...pull it out and you have your hole...you should only need a power wire coming from your battery if your installing a amp, the rest connects to your head unit and finding a ground

 

[wired_af]

I drilled a hole right above the carpet on the passenger side and inserted a waterproof gromet for my 1/0 awg.

Here is a link to what I used:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/STRFB0

Don't be afraid to drill a hole, just make sure you don't drill into something behind the firewall.

 

[pfeffer1728]

i ran my 4ga power wire through the rubber grommet hole or whatever in the driver's door side...ran it up to the hood through a hole just big enough to fit the wire (open hood, in the corner closest to driver's side door)...ill try to get pics, but in short...there are ways to do it w/o drilling through firewall

 

[FreeWheelin4x4]

My 95 had a grommet already on the passenger side under the carpet, lift the carpet you'll see the rubber grommet. The ***** is you'll need to get under the truck while someone pushes the wire through in order to obtain the wire, then route it from under the engine to the top. This is where I put my 0gauge for my amp, and my 8gauge for my blue lightbar, also going to put my 10gauge here (if there's enough room, i think there is) for my siren. I don't like to drill. This was perfect.

 

[Brans Freestyle]

on my 97 there was a gromet right behind the pedals, i just pulled it out and ran the cable. it would work better if you cut the gromet itsself and ran the cable, i would get water through the hole if i went through big puddles.

 

[xman98]

I have a 98 XLT. I ran the wire around my engine and thru a little gap between the hood and the drivers side fender. Open the door all the way and you can reach in and pull it out.

Also just reachable is a rubber gromet that you can pull out. you can barely see the red and green wires in the forst pic but the first gives you a sense of where it is.

Then take the inner plastic fender off and pull the wire thru.

From there is depending where you want to go. I wired to my aftermarket radio panel to a switch so I went under the stock carpet.

the hole is def big enough for your cable!

 

[pfeffer1728]

yup, thats what i was talkin about too...big enough to run 4ga wire through (thats about 1/2 inch i believe)

 

[nine01a]

Well after I read skoal_mint's post, I looked under the carpet and sure enough, there was a plug inside of this hole with about 1 mm of free space surrounding the power cable when it's stuck through there. Right now, I just stuck it through there but from what people seem to say, I'll need to stick a grommet into it to protect the cable and whatnot. xman98, those are very helpful images and would've guided me in the right direction if I hadn't found one already.

I stuck that cable through the hole and surely enough, it was on the ground underneath the vehicle, sticking out of the tire well; Lol. I stuck it back in the rubber/paper-like flap and looked under the hood and saw it sticking about half-way up the engine compartment and I simply pulled it up and used those plastic tie things to fasten it to other cables.

It seems that all of that crap is out of the way except for the location in which to mount the amp : / I don't really need that space in the back so I'll just mount it to the floor, near the subwoofer, I guess. I always leave those fold-up back seats in the up position anyways.

Thanks a bunch!
Zach