Which wiring kit is best?!

[devinr94]

In my ford explorer sport im installing 4 kicker 75w speakers run by a 4-channel 400w amp along with a new kenwood headunit and 3 12' kicker comp series subs run by a 500w mono amp and im having difficulties on picking the wiring kit that would be best. Which gauge wire should go to what? and is their any prefered wiring kits or brands that have better quality than others (if it matters)?

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

There's a huge difference between WIRING (notice I didn't say wiring kits) comapanies. The stuff you can buy at Walmart vs. the stuff you buy by the foot at Best Buy are a lot different. One phrase I've picked up lately is "Do it right or do it twice".

You can't go wrong though with anything from this website:
http://www.knukonceptz.com

Might seem pricey for just wire compared to some stuff, but get good quality stuff and you wont' have to worry about it. But as for "what size wire for what", this is what I would do:

Do a run of high quality 0 or 2 gauge wire from the front to back in the Explorer, then use a quality distribution block to split the power to the amps. This way you aren't doing multiple runs of wire and you have a few options for how you wire/place everything in the back.

 

[devinr94]

Do u think i could use high quality 8 gauge wire throughout without the distribution block?

 

[devinr94]

And would this be ok for everything...speakers subs etc.

 

[tgreene92]

no use a higher gauge then 8, 4 at minimum for power and ground wire. personally i would just buy a spool of 0- 4 gauge wire then some 10 and 16 gauge wire as well as the distribution block and necessary fuses, Ive found its cheaper to buy everything separately in bulk then to buy a kit which sometimes does not come with enough wire. make sure you ground both amps to the same spot with same gauge wire. also make sure you run the power cable from battery to amps on opposite sides of the vehicle than the signal wires(head unit to amps) use the 0-4 gauge for power and grounds, the 10 gauge for the 12 volt wire and wire from amp to subs, and the 16 for amp to speakers. it may cost more to buy it all separate in bulk up front but will definitely save you in the future if you find yourself needing it for something else. i find myself needing it alot since i hook up alot of mobile electronics for friends and such. most of this stuff can be found in good quality at a radio shack or similar electronic store.

 

[devinr94]

How many feet of each do u think i would need in a ford explorer sport? Its pretty compact but i still have no idea how much of each wire i would need total.

 

[tgreene92]

well it depends on where you plan mounting the amps, the spools you can buy have plenty on there, don't buy the shortest amount but id imagine the next size up should have enough

 

[devinr94]

Alright then. Thank u for your help