PLEASE HELP,,, everyone says its so easey to do but no one has any idea how to do it???? i have looked everwere, please can someone post step by step instructions on how to install one in a explorer? amps for idiots!!! PLeasE u will help alot of people or if you know of a sight that shows u how to do it it would be a huge help PLEASE take 5 minnutes and HELP
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HOW DO I INSTALL A AMP??????
- Thread starter 4x4in
- Start date
mtxexplorer
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first of all, you need to explain what your hooking it up in. what kind of head unit are you using? factory or after market? what year explorer do you own? does it have the "premium" system in it? answer some basic questions, and maybe youll get a good answer.
In a nutshell, here it is. buy about 20 feet of 4,8, or even 10 guage wire (depending on the wattage of the amp) less than 100 watts 10 guage, 100-400 8 guage, over 400 4 guage or 0 guage. buy a 12 guage remote lead, roughly 10 feet, to go from your head unit to the amp. buy RCA cables to go from the head unit to amp. take the afore mentioned amp and screw itinto whereeverr you want. take the negative end of the amps power supply and attach it to a piece of afore mentioned 4,8,or 10 guage wire, size to fit and connect it to something connected to the car body. then more of the 4,8,10 guage wire to the positive lead of the battery. Make sure to put a fuse in the line, less thana foot away from the battery. you need to buy a heavy duty fuse holder, htey sell them in best buy and the like. put the wire through your firewall (the easiest spot is the rubber grommet, near, not surrounding, the firewall)
run the wire down the door jam under the plastic ****. connect that to your amp. run RCA cables and a power lead from your head unit to the amp. plug them in. attach speakers. press play.
In a nutshell, here it is. buy about 20 feet of 4,8, or even 10 guage wire (depending on the wattage of the amp) less than 100 watts 10 guage, 100-400 8 guage, over 400 4 guage or 0 guage. buy a 12 guage remote lead, roughly 10 feet, to go from your head unit to the amp. buy RCA cables to go from the head unit to amp. take the afore mentioned amp and screw itinto whereeverr you want. take the negative end of the amps power supply and attach it to a piece of afore mentioned 4,8,or 10 guage wire, size to fit and connect it to something connected to the car body. then more of the 4,8,10 guage wire to the positive lead of the battery. Make sure to put a fuse in the line, less thana foot away from the battery. you need to buy a heavy duty fuse holder, htey sell them in best buy and the like. put the wire through your firewall (the easiest spot is the rubber grommet, near, not surrounding, the firewall)
run the wire down the door jam under the plastic ****. connect that to your amp. run RCA cables and a power lead from your head unit to the amp. plug them in. attach speakers. press play.
riffman
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- City, State
- Bloomington, IL
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- '92 XLT
ok....now were talking my specialty!
The materialy that you need will really depend on what kind of reciever that you have in the truck. If you have an after market CD or tape playre w\ RCA outputs (the cable that has red and white ends on it) Then you will need a pretty good length of that cable, plus power wires, speaker wires, etc.
If you want to run it off of your stock radio, there is a way to do it, but its kinda weird. There is an adapter that can be pruchased at a local radio shack, or from somthing like crutchfield, that converts a powered singnal to a line level signal, which is what most amps and crossovers take. For that, you simply splice off of your speaker wires (best place to do that would be under the plastic lining under the doors, that holds the carpet down) attach the adapter, and plug RCA cords into the other end of the adapter. Some people might buy amps that come with an input for the speaker wires, but I've found that if those are used, the life of the amp is reduced pretty badly. So, basically the line level converter is a better way for the stock stereos.
Once you figure out the input, you need to know where you want to mount the amp. I have mine in the cargo area. I chose there, because I keep my oversize spare outside on the roof, and I also have too much gear to fit all of it under seats, etc. Another advantage of having it back in the cargo area, is the air movement. Under seats, there is not a lot of air movement, and the seats themselves trap a lot of air. If you have a high performance amp, (I do) they will also get very hot, and therefore reduce the life.
Regardless of where you choose to put the amp, you need power there. Now, at any store that has car stereo equiptment, they will have wiring kits, too. Those will usually have enough cable to wire up your amp to the battery with a fuse. (A fuse is STRONGLY recomended!!) I actually did my own wiring, but that a big part of my current job, but the kits are very good. Ok, so since you have chosen your spot to put the amp,you know exactly where you need to run the power. depending on where it is in the truck, will determine how you will want to run your cable. Since mine is in the back, i figured that it would be just as easy to run the power cable underneith the vehicle. I got some really heavy duty cable and tie wrapped it to the frame along the way. Under the cargo area mat (a piece of thick cardboard) there should be a rubber stopper type thing. I just poked a hole through that and ran my cable up through it. Then I cut a small hole in the carpet very near the amp placement, and tied it off there.
I pretty much got lucky choosing that spot int the vehicle. As far as I have seen, there are no other places that have that rubber stopper thing around it. So you might have to drill through the body. Anothe possibility for it, is running the cables through the fire wall, and under the carpeting. This is what I did with my RCA cable. Basically, all you do is pull up the plastic kick panels that hold down the carpet, and run it under those all the way to the spot that you have picked out for the amp, getting through the carpet again by a small hole.
** Just a note, if you do end up running the cable and the RCA cord under the carpet, make sure that you run them on OPPOSITE sides of the vehicle!! If you don't every time that you accelerate, it will sound like a jet engine is winding up.
Once you have your power and input calbes ran, its time to put in the amp. What I forgot to mention earlier, is to make sure that the cable that you get is marked clearly between each cable, so that when it is hooked to the battery and a metal piece(the ground wire) , you can tell the difference when it comes time to put it on the amp. You wouldn't want to fry it!!
On the amp, (most of the time) there will be 3 terminals by themselves. Two should difinately be marked, the other might not be. One is + the other is - and the last one is the remote switch. Of the power cable, put the one that comes from the red on the battery to the + on the amp. Put the one from the ground to the - one. I have a jumper wire form the + to the remote switch. This will insure that the amp is always on.
This is usually what most people have troubles with. The rest, most can get....the speakers. they are just run like the rest of the wires.
Ok, now im tired of typing for tonight....i feel like i wrote a frickin novel....i hope it was of some help!! If I left somthing out that you noticed....please e-mail me!! If you have any questions..please e-mail me!! If it is completely incoherent, sorry.....its been a very long day.
I would be happy to help. I pretty much live for this stuff.
Scott Colba
riffman80@aol.com
'92 XLT
The materialy that you need will really depend on what kind of reciever that you have in the truck. If you have an after market CD or tape playre w\ RCA outputs (the cable that has red and white ends on it) Then you will need a pretty good length of that cable, plus power wires, speaker wires, etc.
If you want to run it off of your stock radio, there is a way to do it, but its kinda weird. There is an adapter that can be pruchased at a local radio shack, or from somthing like crutchfield, that converts a powered singnal to a line level signal, which is what most amps and crossovers take. For that, you simply splice off of your speaker wires (best place to do that would be under the plastic lining under the doors, that holds the carpet down) attach the adapter, and plug RCA cords into the other end of the adapter. Some people might buy amps that come with an input for the speaker wires, but I've found that if those are used, the life of the amp is reduced pretty badly. So, basically the line level converter is a better way for the stock stereos.
Once you figure out the input, you need to know where you want to mount the amp. I have mine in the cargo area. I chose there, because I keep my oversize spare outside on the roof, and I also have too much gear to fit all of it under seats, etc. Another advantage of having it back in the cargo area, is the air movement. Under seats, there is not a lot of air movement, and the seats themselves trap a lot of air. If you have a high performance amp, (I do) they will also get very hot, and therefore reduce the life.
Regardless of where you choose to put the amp, you need power there. Now, at any store that has car stereo equiptment, they will have wiring kits, too. Those will usually have enough cable to wire up your amp to the battery with a fuse. (A fuse is STRONGLY recomended!!) I actually did my own wiring, but that a big part of my current job, but the kits are very good. Ok, so since you have chosen your spot to put the amp,you know exactly where you need to run the power. depending on where it is in the truck, will determine how you will want to run your cable. Since mine is in the back, i figured that it would be just as easy to run the power cable underneith the vehicle. I got some really heavy duty cable and tie wrapped it to the frame along the way. Under the cargo area mat (a piece of thick cardboard) there should be a rubber stopper type thing. I just poked a hole through that and ran my cable up through it. Then I cut a small hole in the carpet very near the amp placement, and tied it off there.
I pretty much got lucky choosing that spot int the vehicle. As far as I have seen, there are no other places that have that rubber stopper thing around it. So you might have to drill through the body. Anothe possibility for it, is running the cables through the fire wall, and under the carpeting. This is what I did with my RCA cable. Basically, all you do is pull up the plastic kick panels that hold down the carpet, and run it under those all the way to the spot that you have picked out for the amp, getting through the carpet again by a small hole.
** Just a note, if you do end up running the cable and the RCA cord under the carpet, make sure that you run them on OPPOSITE sides of the vehicle!! If you don't every time that you accelerate, it will sound like a jet engine is winding up.
Once you have your power and input calbes ran, its time to put in the amp. What I forgot to mention earlier, is to make sure that the cable that you get is marked clearly between each cable, so that when it is hooked to the battery and a metal piece(the ground wire) , you can tell the difference when it comes time to put it on the amp. You wouldn't want to fry it!!
On the amp, (most of the time) there will be 3 terminals by themselves. Two should difinately be marked, the other might not be. One is + the other is - and the last one is the remote switch. Of the power cable, put the one that comes from the red on the battery to the + on the amp. Put the one from the ground to the - one. I have a jumper wire form the + to the remote switch. This will insure that the amp is always on.
This is usually what most people have troubles with. The rest, most can get....the speakers. they are just run like the rest of the wires.
Ok, now im tired of typing for tonight....i feel like i wrote a frickin novel....i hope it was of some help!! If I left somthing out that you noticed....please e-mail me!! If you have any questions..please e-mail me!! If it is completely incoherent, sorry.....its been a very long day.
I would be happy to help. I pretty much live for this stuff.Scott Colba
riffman80@aol.com
'92 XLT
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