Anybody Contemplating The Big 3 Upgrade

[sdmtnbiker420 10+ year member]

^^ yeah hes probably talking about a sony xplod LOLOL

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

The stereo place kept telling me to get a capacitor and a new battery, idiots.

Congrats on using your brain and thinking for yourself. Researching something, learning it, and doing it even when the local yokels tell you otherwise... DIY at its best.

 

[Civic_boi334 10+ year member]

i did the big 3 and i still have dimming. 2nd batt is a redtop with a cap. what could this be? drivin while playin it @ high volumes, 11.8... it reads 13.6 on a good day...

 

[jkulysses 10+ year member]

i did the big 3 and i still have dimming. 2nd batt is a redtop with a cap. what could this be? drivin while playin it @ high volumes, 11.8... it reads 13.6 on a good day...

It gets to the point where if you have more current draw then your alternator can handle then just the big 3 alone isn't going to fix your problem. I have a decent sized alternator for stock but had wimpy wiring so the big 3 was perfect for me. How many amps is your stock alternator? If it's only like 70 amps then that would be your problem.

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

i did the big 3 and i still have dimming. 2nd batt is a redtop with a cap. what could this be? drivin while playin it @ high volumes, 11.8... it reads 13.6 on a good day...

If you have a Civic as your name suggests it is your alternator, they are tiny //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[sdmtnbiker420 10+ year member]

Ya the stock civic alternator is weak, and hes pushing 2 L7's

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

only thing that holds me back from doing this is the wire I would need to do it for both my factory batteries and keeping it looking stock, also I just don't feel like hacking into my truck, guess I am always worried about reselling it or whatever. Any good place for getting battery terminals and ring terminals and wire for this project? Maybe some OEM looking red and black wire to keep it looking stock?

 

[jkulysses 10+ year member]

only thing that holds me back from doing this is the wire I would need to do it for both my factory batteries and keeping it looking stock, also I just don't feel like hacking into my truck, guess I am always worried about reselling it or whatever. Any good place for getting battery terminals and ring terminals and wire for this project? Maybe some OEM looking red and black wire to keep it looking stock?

I'll take pics of my install. Looking at it you wouldn't even be able to tell that it's not stock. In fact my wiring looks better than stock. I got red power wire from the stereo store for the hot wire and black wire for the ground wires but I also put wire loom on all of them so it turned out really nice. I'm still using the stock battery terminals and stock battery too. The only thing I had to cut was the little plastic thing that covers my positive battery terminal. I just had to use a dremel to grind enough plastic away so I could fit the 4 gauge wire in it.

 

[Civic_boi334 10+ year member]

yep i do have a civic. so i guess getting a stronger alt for the car... do you guys kno where i can get a stronger or mines rebuilt for a good price???

 

[bryce-man 10+ year member]

yeah i know im at the point where i need a new alt and the big 3 isnt enough.. i just hanent talked to a local place about rewinding it for more amperage

... another thing on the to do list for the winter break haha