running wires

[thewishkah]

I want to run new wires from my radio to my doors for the speakers and also want to add 1 speaker to each rear door now i dont know how to run wires to the doors from the dash and another question is would i be better off using a thicker gauge wire? like a stereo wire(the braided stuff) instead of the isulated copper? wire thats there now and if so what kind (not too expensive) and will the extra speaker in each door take away from whats there now? cause the radio only has 4 channels and i would be running 2 speakers per each rear channel any probs u can see with that (im pretty new to the audio stuff thanks for any help u guys can give me im trying to do this with out buying an amp cause i just dont have the $$ to spend right now with all the repairs i have been making on the truck lol

 

[have2goski]

I recently ran new wires to my doors

I actually had the interior except for the dash and headliner out. Makes it easy to work when the seats are out of your way.

anyway, you are gonna want to use some wire coat hangers to get you thru the door jam grommets. Basically snake them in there best you can. I put some in from the door side and some in from the body side. you just have to feel it out. I also pulled the ECU out of the way. Didn't un-hook the electrical but got it out of the mounting strap so i could work behind it.

The rears will be easier if you unhook the factory wire harness just inside the B-pillar and then free the grommet containing the whole bundle from the body. once you have the hangers run thru, just tape the speaker wire to it and pull it thru. Its not really that hard of a project. It took me about an hour to actually run the wires once i had the trim out of the way.

As for the wire, i think it really depends what your other equipment is. I have a pretty nice HU and just pioneer 3-ways in my doors. Good stuff but not top of the line stuff by any means. I used some regualr 14g speaker wire. I think it was a good choice. I had a 50ft roll that left me with enough to be comfortable. you can get a 50ft roll of automotive speaker wire at walmart for <$10. They had 18, 16, and 14g but not all the stores really keep a good stock of it so you might have to check a few stores. its not high end wire but again thats were you need to be realistic if your other compnents require high end (aka $$$) wire or not.

Once i had all my wires thru the door jams i ran them along the rockers to under the dash. I came across the front floor and then ran them up to the HU in the center of the dash. You will want to again fish something thru there to help you pull the wires up. You can also take your ashtray out as it gives you a little more visibility when you are working the wires up.

Now i had the seats, console and carpet out when i did this, so i'm not really sure how difficult this last step will be if you are just pulling the carpet back to run the wries over to the center of the dash.

As for your 2nd set in the rear. are you planning to put them in that lower hole in the door? Few things i have thought about with dong that...

1) there is no grille there so unless you are cutting up your door panels it may not really help the sound at all and may actually hurt it.
2) you may want to check with somebody more knowledgable about what running 4 speakers off that rear channel is going to do with the ohm load. Don't really know if your HU is as flexible with loads as some amps out there. but i know it can come into play with subs so i don't see why it wouldn't with door speakers
3) lots of people often say that the rear is for "fill" and not to over dominate the sounds up front. I don't know if you are chasing a loud system with 4 speakers out back and 2 up front, but it may "shift" the sound in your truck to the back.

 

[thewishkah]

thanks for the help so i take the trim off and just run it under the plastic molding on floor? then up under the dash? and yeah as far as the rear speakers i would be running pioneer 6x8 4 ways and 3ways and up front 6x8 4 ways again pioneer i just want a louder sound basically my back isnt as loud as the front but like u said its just for fill maybe i can make it equal as up front with this and i would cut out the door pannel IF i can find a screen to cover the speakers cause the pioneers didnt come with any and i dont want it getting kicked if its exposed

and the ecu?

 

[have2goski]

ECU, vehicle computer, EEC, brain, etc.

its the vehicle control computer whatever you want to call it. Just controlls everything in your car. It is under the passenger side kick panel. You will see it when you get to removing that panel.

i say run the wires for just 1 set in the rear and then try it out with your HU. You may be surprised how the wiring helps. IF you still want to run that extra set then go and do that. I just don't really think it is gonna have a big impact one way or the other.

What HU are you running? maybe play with the fade to make up for the difference. I know that when i did mine i could go way louder than when i was running from my HU thru the stock amp and then to the speakers. I couldn't track down a by-pass kit when i was installing my stealth sub and amp, so i just ran the new wires to the doors and said screw the factory wiring all together. I can really crank my speakers now. and they are just running off the HU at like 22-23wRMS.

 

[thewishkah]

so just bypass the amp then? by pulling new wiring? does it actually help
my hu is a sony xplod 52x4 with mp3,digital sound stage organizer(dso) and a 7 band equalizer wich i can asjust the low,mids, and highs

 

[have2goski]

i think you will be plesently surprised if you are currently using the factory amp and are going to run new 14g wire that runs straight from the sony HU to the speakers

your HU is probably putting out ~23wRMS even though it says 52x4 max

 

[thewishkah]

yeah thats my guess here is a pic of my old wires and my new wires

 

[thewishkah]

Ok so im having some difficultys figuring out how the hell i am going to wire the new wires to the radio when it uses a harness with out running the new wires to the harness wires which are 22g? isnt that counter productive? well im posting some pics that maybe you guys can help me out with

this is the power/speaker wiring harness how do i get the new wire to the radio with out using the harness that goes to the amp?

this shows that the power wires and the speaker wires go to the same harness i know the red,blue,black and yellow are for power and the others are the speakers soo what do i do?

Radio back inputs/plug

 

[thewishkah]

guys please help as quick as possible (im sorry) but i have it all ripped apart and i have to be able to use the car later thanks ALOT for any help

 

[have2goski]

just splice into the speaker wires. There is a plug into your HU that you can't really get around with the gauge. I went to home depot and got male and female quick connects. some red some blue. you can mix and match them to join the 22g and 14g. I know it seems counter productive but i think it is still the way to go. Yes it would be even better to use those pre-amp outs running to an amp and then running the 14g from there, but you make do with the equipment you have.

Let me see if i can get a picture for you

 

[huskyfan23]

Are you saying increasing the size of the stock speaker wire will deliver better sound? How is this? The wires on the HU harness are probably 22 gauge, and you wanna run 14 to 22? Why not just buy an amp bypass harness?

 

[have2goski]

here ya go, just pulled my HU out for ya. This is how i did it. Not saying it is the best way in the world but it works and works pretty well. You can use those twist on connectors for this too. I just don't like the way they work and like to use the quick connects that crimp onto the wire ends.

i also did it this way so that if i do decide to run an amp for my doors the wires are already there. just have to make the connections at the amp rather than the HU. Most on here can at least accept that mods in any sense are addictive and you will always have a desire to go bigger and better so even though you don't have an amp right now, don't write it off for the future

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

have2goski that is a very neat install wiring job. I am surprised that you didn't use a tie wrap or two right in there to help keep it togeather. But it looks like you took your time and they are all the same length. Very neat job, congrats.

 

[have2goski]

well BBQ not everyone has 5-6-10-15K, (what is your car up to these days?) for an install. I know there are better ways to do it but for me it works and i did it in my driveway so what more can ya ask for. I can tell you it works alot better then the mess Circuit City left in there when they got done with an insurance install after my old HU got stolen.

By the way i really like the way your ex turned out. I actually really like the exterior the most, even though your interior/audio gets alot of talk. It is modded but you kept the stock paint scheme which kinda makes it look more factory. A good balance in my book

 

[thewishkah]

thanks for the help i was concernd about this and didnt want to run all the wires to have it not work ya know? yeah right now with all the $$ i am putting into keeping it running i dont have much for an amp but i am def going to go with an amp in the feautre

 

[thewishkah]

how much are these amp bypass kits? and how hard is it to put in and can i run the 16 guage wiring to it?

 

[have2goski]

the amp by-pass kits are fairly cheap, you can order them or if you are lucky enough to find one local and in stock you can get it there.

You won't need that kit if those wires you just ran go from your HU to your door speakers. For that matter you can remove that factory amp all together. This is what i did to make room for a small MTX amp that powers my 10" in a stealth box. I did however reuse the factory amp bracket to mount the new amp for the sub. Makes it a clean install.

 

[huskyfan23]

Why not just buy the amp bypass? I bought one, $20 from Circuit City. Plugs right in. I don't think heavier gauge wire will change anything, so might as well save a few hours and guy the harness.

 

[thewishkah]

lol cause i bought the wire now i have to justify it to myself lol i hate when i buy things and then dont use them besides if i ever uped the power the heavier guage wire will make a diffrence in sound clarity or so says alot of installers ive talked to about it but for the most part i just need to do it cause i spent the $$ on it lol

 

[thewishkah]

also ive heard ur not supposed operate the radio if the speakers arent connected now how do i know which wire is for which speaker ?i dont believe they are marked unless i tag it in the door then pull them out till i get to the HU and match them like that but there has to be an easier way or so i would think?