Official CarAudio.com Big 3 Thread

[fourstar 10+ year member]

has anyone done the big three on a durango from 00-03?, im just wondering how to connect everything to the battery as in the existing wires and the new ones

 

[crazy4ozs]

ok...dumb question, lol, but its my first time doing this...if the wire does not run THROUGH the fuse holder...then how is the electrical current passed through it?

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

ok...dumb question, lol, but its my first time doing this...if the wire does not run THROUGH the fuse holder...then how is the electrical current passed through it?

I'm not understanding your question... If no fuse is there for the electricity to run through, it just runs straight through the wire... Am I missing something here? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

Oh wait a minute, I think I get what you are saying. See, you aren't understanding the concept of fuses. Electricity DOES run through the fuse in the fuse holder, but if too much goes through, then it pops the metal piece in there, so no more electricity can run through the line. Get it?

 

[crazy4ozs]

got it! thanks alot!

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

has anyone done the big three on a durango from 00-03?, im just wondering how to connect everything to the battery as in the existing wires and the new ones

Get yourself some crimpable ring terminals and go at it. Add the rings to the stock battery terminal.

 

[fourstar 10+ year member]

i would but the ring terminals don't fit on the stock battery terminals and i dont want to buy two aftermarket ones

 

[crazy4ozs]

ok...last question from me...

heres the game: Find My Alternator!

 

[ssbogger 10+ year member]

2003 tacoma

the alt has a wire running from the (-) terminal on the battery to it but no positive from alt to battery. The positive terminal has 2 wires coming off of it. One goes straight to a fuse box and the other has a plastic connector on the end and plugs into a connector under the fan belt. Any help with what i should do here?

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

I'm thinking it may be that, but why don't you just follow the positive cable from your battery to the alternator? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

it's hard to follow in a small foriegn car...that doesn't look like it in the pics disturbedfuel posted, but follow the belt it should be easy to find

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

follow the belt it should be easy to find

May I enquire about what belt you are talking about? There's more than one belt in a car, and this may confuse him (no offense crazy4ozs). If you meant follow the positive wire coming from the battery, I already said that, and I don't understand why you needed to post. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif When I say it, it needs to be confirmed by someone with a higher post count than me?

 

[crazy4ozs]

i looked at at it and ya disturbedfuel...u got it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

i would but the ring terminals don't fit on the stock battery terminals and i dont want to buy two aftermarket ones

Too bad so sad then. The Big 3 is not for you, and you need to sell all your equipment for cheap. Buy some new battery terminals. They're cheap.

ok...last question from me...
heres the game: Find My Alternator!

Knowing what it looks like will help you find it. Google "Alternator" in the images section and that should help out.

2003 tacoma
the alt has a wire running from the (-) terminal on the battery to it but no positive from alt to battery. The positive terminal has 2 wires coming off of it. One goes straight to a fuse box and the other has a plastic connector on the end and plugs into a connector under the fan belt. Any help with what i should do here?

Keep following the guide. Remember, you're not removing the stock wires... your adding more to them.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

My question is though, wouldn't this work better if it just went from battery (-) to chassis, and then another battery (-) to engine block? If anything, it would provide the same results, theoretically, correct? That's actually the way I have it set up right now, and depending on the answer I get, I will decide whether or not it is worth the time to switch it around or not //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I have a GM double post as well and felt this was a "factory" way to complete the big 3. Did it work out well? Did you ever try it another way?

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

^^^

It did work out well, I haven't had any dimming issues, and I noticed my alternator belt doesn't sound like metal against metal as much anymore because it's running more consinstently. The volts never drop below 13 any more, and my windows actually go down fairly quickly, even with the sub and amp booming //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[ssbogger 10+ year member]

Keep following the guide. Remember, you're not removing the stock wires... your adding more to them.

I read it all the way through. I re-read my post and I don't think I was really clear on my problem.

The + on the battery has a female plastic connector that connects to something under the fan. The alt is no where near this connection. The only wire i see coming from the alt connects to the - terminal on the battery.

I dont have a problem with the - terminal to ground and engine block to chassis, those are fairly simple. It's just when i looked under the hood and expected to see the + battery cable going to the alt and it wasnt. This halted my install and left me confused.

Any help?

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

I'm about to do big 3 on my car and my GF's car. We both own Subaru's, notorious for the worst electrical grounding system manufacturers have. I am doing both of our installs with 4AWG wire.

I believe less AWG than that is slight overkill, as both of us have 85 AMP alternators with less than 500 watts RMS at full volume.

My confusion is, what size fuses should I have gotten? I ordered a pair of 100 amp fuses, with 4awg holder, will this be sufficient?

 

[negativezeroz 5,000+ posts]

I'm about to do big 3 on my car and my GF's car. We both own Subaru's, notorious for the worst electrical grounding system manufacturers have. I am doing both of our installs with 4AWG wire.
I believe less AWG than that is slight overkill, as both of us have 85 AMP alternators with less than 500 watts RMS at full volume.

My confusion is, what size fuses should I have gotten? I ordered a pair of 100 amp fuses, with 4awg holder, will this be sufficient?

If you mean you got the 100A fuse for the fuseholder INLINE with the wire going from alt positive to battery positive, then yes that is good enough since your alt is only 85A.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

If you mean you got the 100A fuse for the fuseholder INLINE with the wire going from alt positive to battery positive, then yes that is good enough since your alt is only 85A.

Pimp! I did something right! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[aeronautica86 10+ year member]

alright I didn't want to read through all the pages of the thread to find my answer, so I'll just ask: I'm about to do the big 3 and want to put a fuse on the wire from the batt positive to alt positive, my alt is rated at 115a. Should I get a 120a fuse or slightly higher?