Official CarAudio.com Big 3 Thread

I am a noob to this forum, but not to car audio. I am planning on upgrading my eletrical system with the big 3 upgrade soon. I've bought all the supplies and tools that I need but just have one question that I hope someone can clear up. I've searched the whole thread and seem to be confused about the positive alt wire connected to the postive battery terminal. Everyone in the thread has been saying to ADD to the stock wiring, not replace it. So am I suppose to connect my new 0 gauge wire to the EXACT same spot as the stock wiring on my alt, therefore having two power wires (my stock and 0 gauge wire) comming from my alt to battery positive? Bc every pic i've seen has only the new wire connected from there alt to battery positive. I'd appreciate any1s feedback, im just not trying to fry my battery. Thanks for your time and I hope I didnt confuse anyone,lol.
Just use a 5/16" terminal and stack the stock terminal on top of it at the alt. Then connect it to the battery POS by whatever means necessary.

 
Thanks a lot! I thought that if I had two ring terminals on one bolt that it would would be to much voltage or something. So does this mean that it is also safe to connect two ring terminals to the same bolt for my grounds? Also do I need heat shrink tubing or is that a bit over kill,lol?

 
So the big 3 consists of (1) Battery + to Alt + (2) Battery - to BLOCK (3) BLOCK to CHASSIS-

I know where the Alt + and battery + is, but What is the Block? And Block to chassis- ?

 
Thanks a lot! I thought that if I had two ring terminals on one bolt that it would would be to much voltage or something. So does this mean that it is also safe to connect two ring terminals to the same bolt for my grounds? Also do I need heat shrink tubing or is that a bit over kill,lol?
I would use heat shrink. See my post above for the results.

It looks much better than tape and it will last much longer under the hood of a car.

 
So the big 3 consists of (1) Battery + to Alt + (2) Battery - to BLOCK (3) BLOCK to CHASSIS-
I know where the Alt + and battery + is, but What is the Block? And Block to chassis- ?
You don't really need Battery - to block. Any ground will work for the block.

I did:

Battery+ to Alt+

Battery ground to Chassis

Block to Chassis

 
So where do I connect the wire to the block?
Any bolt that is connected to the main metal part of the block I think.

They say not to use anything that is directly holding any liquids, but I doubt anyone would do that if they knew which bolts were holding liquids. :p

See the pictures of my big3 a few posts back.

I just found a bolt on the block that was in a convenient place for connecting a very short wire to the chassis. You want them as short as possible for better grounds, and don't forget to sand the areas around the bolts.

 
I just finished my big 3 upgrade. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be. This car is a dream to work on compared to my old Buick.
Here are some pics of the wires I added. The gigantic blue ones are obvious. Those are the new 1/0 gauge grounds. The red one is my 4 gauge amp wire running to my trunk.

photos027sbo6.jpg
So that silver metal piece is the block? the block on my car has several bolts. Can I just remove one of those to ground to?

 
So that silver metal piece is the block? the block on my car has several bolts. Can I just remove one of those to ground to?
That's what I did. Just make sure the bolt is very tight when you're done. For obvious reasons.

In fact, I'd check all your bolts once in a while to make sure everything is staying tight.

 
ok ok, so I know big 3 are:

1. Block, or Alt to GND

2. Batt. to GND

3. Alt + to Bat. +

What is the diff in #1 and #2... both are getting grounded.. and Would it make a diff to just do Batt- to GND, and NOT Block to GND because right now I have 2 Batt- to Gnd ( I didnt do it)

 
i have - from batt to body/frame

- from batt to engine block

- from engine block to body/frame

+from alt to + on batt

all 1/0
so what is the diff in those first 2.. besides the obvious 2 diff. locations.. sounds like the do the exact same thing

edit: so now I have

Batt - to Body

Batt - To block, and

Batt + to Alt+..

is there anything else i should do that would make a significant diff...

thx guys

 
for reference:

BIG 3

alt + to battery +

engine block to - battery post

- battery post to chassis/frame

that is all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 
for reference:
BIG 3

alt + to battery +

engine block to - battery post

- battery post to chassis/frame

that is all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif
i just dont understand how bat- to chassis is diff. than batt- to block.. block is attached to the chassis isnt it

 
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