Amp power cable newbie question

[malibujason79 10+ year member]

I'm looking to add some new speakers and a amp to my 97 silverado. The components 6.5 are rated at 100w rms and the single 8" sub is rated at 200w rms. Even though i do not have an amp yet i would like to get all my cables ran so everything will be ready to go. Ive been told that an 8 ga cable should be enuff to run my future amp but i'm thinking of running a 4 ga just to be safe.

On my truck the battery is located on the front passanger side and has a 6 ga battery cable running from it all the way over to the factory fuse block located near the the drivers side fire wall. (aprox 8' long) I was thinking of replacing the 6 ga wire with a 2 ga or even a 0 ga cable and then running a 4 ga cable from the factory fuse block into the cab for my amp. I think doing this would look much better than just running a 4 ga beside the 6 ga already going there. My goal is to have everything to look as if its all stock. Would doing this be ok, or is there something i'm over looking?

Here is my factory fuse block.

Click to read more...

 

[MkKin420 10+ year member]

You might just be better off running a 0g directly from the battery to the back and leaving the factory as it is so you dont have to run all the cars electronics plus oyur amp through that one single cable. With the 0g you will be able to run up to 300a which gives you some room for other future amps and such. Its all up to you, thats just how I would most likely do it. Another thing is if you somehow overload the fuse, say the positive run going to the amp shorts it could blow that main fuse and basically shut off the positive conection from the batt to your vehicle entirely.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

yeah just leave the stock wiring as it is

 

[bigaudiofanatic 10+ year member]

Agreed with what was said above I do know what you mean though on my first day at best buy the "pro" installer ran a 4 gauge power wire from the bolt to the back and the wire was only 8 gauge tisk tisk but hey I wasnt going to argue.

 

[malibujason79 10+ year member]

Here is what the battery term. looks like. The one going over the fan shroud is feeding the fuse block. Adding another cable, making a total of 3 would look all rigged up and i would like to avoid.

 

[Big Red 10+ year member]

run 0g to the back put a dist. block in and run 4 to sub and 4or 8 to mid and high amp

up front at battery replace the studs on the battery and you can put a nice looking terminal up there

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

I'm looking to add some new speakers and a amp to my 97 silverado. The components 6.5 are rated at 100w rms and the single 8" sub is rated at 200w rms. Even though i do not have an amp yet i would like to get all my cables ran so everything will be ready to go. Ive been told that an 8 ga cable should be enuff to run my future amp but i'm thinking of running a 4 ga just to be safe.
On my truck the battery is located on the front passanger side and has a 6 ga battery cable running from it all the way over to the factory fuse block located near the the drivers side fire wall. (aprox 8' long) I was thinking of replacing the 6 ga wire with a 2 ga or even a 0 ga cable and then running a 4 ga cable from the factory fuse block into the cab for my amp. I think doing this would look much better than just running a 4 ga beside the 6 ga already going there. My goal is to have everything to look as if its all stock. Would doing this be ok, or is there something i'm over looking?

Here is my factory fuse block.

Get away from the fuse box. Run your power straight off the battery as suggested to the back amp. Make sure you fuse the wire leading back to the amp.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Here is what the battery term. looks like. The one going over the fan shroud is feeding the fuse block. Adding another cable, making a total of 3 would look all rigged up and i would like to avoid.

If you're worried about messing up the "stock" look, don't add aftermarket parts. You're worried too much about how it looks under the hood when 99.9% of the time, your hood is not going to be open when you're bumping your shit.

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

ya pick up some battery terminals accept ring terminals and youll be good.