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I know there are many different ways to wire your amplifier if placed in the trunk, but this may give some of you a good start. I'm no pro and there is probably a better way of doing this.

Power Wire:

There are 3 plastic panels that will need to be removed. The first is right above where the passenger's feet are. There are 3 spots towards the back of the vehicle that snap on. Pop these off by pulling down.

The other two plastic pieces to remove are the one at the bottom of the passenger door opening and the one just next to it towards the front of the vehicle. These simply pull off.

Once removed, you will have to pull back the carpet a little just below where you pulled off the first plastic panel. There's just a piece of velcro holding it in place.

Behind that, there is a rubber grommet. Using a completely straightened wire coat hanger, poke it through the grommet where there is an opening. You may have to try a few times to get it to go through.

Once through, look in the engine bay where it came out and pull it up enough so that you can tape about 5 inches or so of the power wire to the coat hanger. Make sure you don't pull the coat hanger all the way through. You will want to tape it so that it can easily go through the first small hole created, expanding it with just the wire to expand it.

Pull the wire back through, and there you go. One of the hard parts done.

Now route the wire behind the carpet (stay under the velcro piece), and over to the other two panels that you removed. You can tie the power wire directly to another wire running along the same path.

When you get to the rear passenger panel, simply push the wire underneath the panel and up to the seats. You may have to pry it up just a bit.

Run the wire next to and just under the back seats. You can then push it under the folding part of the seats and grab it in the trunk.

The remote wire can be ran along the same path.


RCA Wires:

The lock for the gas cap and trunk presented a problem for me. So all I did was run it the same way as the power wire, but just cram it underneath, making sure to not damage the wire.




And that's that. I haven't done the rest yet, because my new Kenwood X717 isn't in yet, so I still have to suffer for a bit with the stock tape deck.

 
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thanks i really need that

 
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Dmitri, what are the lengths for the power and rca wires?

 
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Dude, a few things, always run your wire from the outside in, don't run your wire from the inside of the car, then try to get it through the firewall, you may not have enough wire if you do it that way, then you just have toi run it all again
DON'T run your rca's down the same side as the power wire, big big mistake, you will get road noise out the wazoo, people say you won't, but trust me you do
an easier way to get it through the firewall, try this, ram some needle nose pliers through the grommet, open, put wire in opening, pull back through

cheers [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

 
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That's right .........always outside in not inside out ...

 
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If you read a little more closely, I ran the RCA's down the driver side and power down the passenger side. And it's not too hard to measure the length of cable you'll need and get a little extra.

 
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Oh, BTW.. I did the wire from inside out cause I had no clue where it was going to come out in the engine bay. Someone had posted some pics on here, but I couldn't tell from those where it would be. Just takes less effort to do it from the inside, too.

 
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You can also run the RCA's through the middle of the car, underneath the middle console, carpet, and seat. Not that hard since the back seat just pops up, the carpet is easy enough to get under. That's how I did mine.

 
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How easy was it to get the back seat out? Maybe you can me where to look to get it out.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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Removing the rear seats is a snap, and there is a great DIY in that section under the rear speaker installation. It only takes a few minutes.

 
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general a rule of thumb .. we tell our FNG .. F$#@in New Guys .. to try to get teh power wire ran down the same side as the battrey... path of least resistance .. and that will also try to help In anycar now ... if something is going wrong with the spark plug wires or alternaor whine .. depending on the car of course...

Rca's shhould be ran i believe IASCA rules state they shoulld be 36 inches apart MIn... and there should be a fuse with a foot of the battery ... what length cables do you need .. well get 16.4 feet .. yeah its a little long but do you know where your gonna moutnt the amp and exactly how much you will need.. not even most installers know that... doggin myself out i know . just get the prefab kits .. unless you need 2 ga. or 0 ga .. then buy the exact ..

 
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16ft of 4 guage wire leaves you with about a foot of slack...

16ft Rca's leave you with some slack.. Slack is always good..[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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if you take the seats out it makes you feel like a real pro doing the install.. cause everyone knows if you get a hot install job done they take out most of the interior of your car...lol

 
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Having problems.

1) if you were to go from outside in, how or where do u poke the hole to get into the passengers seat?

2) if I were to go inside to outside, is this the right place to be poking through?


3) I need to rip these two things under my passenger's door off? I tried pulling a little, but not coming off easily, just want to make sure if I'm pulling on the right thing.




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1) I used a thick bait threader to get through the passenger side grommet. I started from the inside.
2) Looks right to me.
3) Yeah, I took off the kick panel and the side panel and ran my power and remote wire under there. Just give them a good tug and they'll come off. They're held in by clips.

 
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I noticed something when I was putting in my cd player, under the center console there is a rubber peice that you could easily put a small hole in, it looks like it would be the ideal way for putting an amp in, you could run the rcas power and remote wires without drilling and or pulling up everthing on the side, it is the rubber peice that the shifter cord or the parking break cord goes through.
Thanks
Mystic Crunk

 
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As an installer for over 8 years, I rarely ever run it from outside in, I almost always start from the inside. If you know what you are doing you don't have to worry about coming up short.

 
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Yeah, I had never installed an amp before I did mine a few months ago and I had absolutely no problem going from the inside out. Why would you? Just pull more cable through...whats the big deal?

 
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Please run that wire through the fire wall. that looks real bad running on the outside of the car and is also dangerous.

 
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yes and i did rewired lol

 
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I did mine from the inside out through the grommet on the passenger side. Piece of cake. getting ready to do it all again though. Going from an 8ga. power wire to a 4ga. power wire. Going to run some better RCA wires as well. Want to do a three amp system with a passive head unit. I am thinking 3 two-channel amps would give me good, loud, clean sound.

 
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The problem with the gas cap lock can be easily resolved. Use a small screwdriver and pop off the small cap on the lock. then there is a small screw remove that and then the locking cylinder comes right off.... then the entire panel is so easy to remove... It took me about 2hrs. to do my complete system...Sony xplod head unit two xplod 10" subs and a 500W jensen amp which are all located in the trunk. I ran the power wire down the driver side and rca cables down the passenger side. It is easy to install just pay attention and be patient.

 
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Thanks for the tip. I'm getting ready to hide my cables for my new system. I remember that last time I did it, it wasn't fun going under that panel

 
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Do you have a diagram or know where I can get one to begin my amplifier installation started?

Holla!

 
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i ran my rca's down the drivers side and the power and ground wires down the passager side and i have alot of engine noise and it gets worse when i turn on the ac. plesssssse help someone

 
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Where do I ground my amp if I have it installed in my trunk? (picture would be helpful) Thanks!

 
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Sheesh, what's with reviving old threads recently?

James: Where did you ground, and do your RCA/Speaker/Power wires cross at any point?

SPK2RA: You can ground on a bolt somewhere, or for the best connection, sand some primer off the floor pan, and bolt the ground right to the floor.

 
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i have the amp in the trunk and i have 4 guage wire ran all the way to the batt. the rca's doesn't cross with the power wires at any point

 
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in the DIY of removing stock head unit, thats a diff model from my car, my car is a lx-sport so does ne one know how to take out the head unit cause i need to run my remote wire to it.

 
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Yeah in the 2003 lx-sport it's a bit different.

You gotta remove the huge center console. There are the two grey button clips in the front. There is one screw inside the center console (you gotta lift the rubber piece inside to get to it). And also you gotta use your fingers or something and pop the carbon fiber piece in the center console where your shifter is to get access to the two screw underneath. Then you tug the whole thing off and follow the instructions in the DIY.