subwoofer install noob

[louie1086]

Hey everyone, I was thinking about putting in a subwoofer in my gen 3 but I've never done it before and I'm basically asking for a DIY if there is one, or any help with what components are involved and what hardware I need for the installation.

I've already looked at the crutchfeld site as well as several threads in this forum, but I'm still not confident enough to start my own installation.

So, any help at all will be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[justchillinjefe]

Well it is pretty straight forward if you know what needs to be done.

First you need an RCA cable that will reach from the back of your deck to the trunk (keep in mind that this is not a straight shot)

You also need power and ground wires, mine is a 4 guage power wire from the battery to the 700 watt amp. You can usually get these wires as a set from walmart, seems to be one of the easiest ways.

You also need an 18 guage wire to run from the back of your deck to the amp. This wire is what signals the amp to turn on and off with the deck.

Once you have all your supplies, pull the deck out, locate the RCA outputs, plug in the red and white and attach your 18 guage wire to the accessory wire coming out of decks wiring harness.

Then you must run all your wires so they can get to the trunk. All of my wires run behind the steering while, down behind the kick panel and along the floor to the back seat, where they run under the seat and to the amp.

The amp is grounded with a short piece of 6 guage wire to a grounding point.

[95PimpingCamry]

Be sure to run your RCA and power wires on opposite sides of the car. The power wire can cause interference with the RCAs if too close.

[feliks]

If you are using 4 gauge power wire.

Then you need 4 gauge ground wire.

Why would you only use 6 gauge for the ground???

[MisterArdovino]

Don't forget your inline fuse for your power cable from your battery to your amp. The size and type of the fuse depend on how much power you will be drawing from the battery. General recommendations are to have the fuse 6-10" away from the battery, but not further. Also, you may want to invest in a capacitor if you are planning on pulling some serious power to your amp. In my Gen 4, I had a 20ft. RCA cable running back from the stereo to the amp, and i had little to spare. You may want to just buy a wiring kit which would include the cables, fuse, and any hardware needed for wiring your gear. Crutchfield offers some good kits for reasonable prices, and their customer service will go as far as to talk you through installing your system.

[touringcamry]

Is this on a stock or aftermarket radio? The install is somewhat different depending on what you have.

[louie1086]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. It sounds like a lot of hardware is involved. Where can I get these Crutchfield kits, and do they include everything needed as far as hardware is concerned? And if I cannot find these kits, what is ball-park costs for all the hardware?

Also, my deck is an aftermarket Sony Explode CD Player.

[Curry]

First off do you know what type of sound you're looking to get? Clean and clear bass or just really loud and out of control bass?

You then need to find out if your head unit has Pre-amps.

Pick out your equip

Pick out your wiring, fuse (or buy an amp installation kit) and make sure you have the correct tools! (Electrical tape, crimp connectors, pliers, wire strippers)

Wiring should match the amp you get. If the amp says it requires at least 4 gauge then you make sure you get 4 gauge.

As far as what you do, ill try to keep it short and simple for you.

1. Run your power wire from the front to the back on the driver side, leave extra on BOTH ends, dont connect anything yet.

2. Run your RCA cable from the front on the passenger side to the back.

3. Install the fuse no more than 8 inches AWAY from the BATTERY. Don't connect the power yet.

Battery --- Fuse ------------------------------ Amp

4. Once you have the fuse in, connect the wire to the amp, plug in your RCAS and wire the sub up.

5. Ground the amp using a cable of the same gauge no more than 8 inches long. Sand the area down properly

6. Mount the amp

7. Double check everything

8. Connect the power line to the battery

9. Test the system and tune it.

EDIT:

Don't bother with crutchfield, unless you feel like shelling out extra cash.

All you really need is the amp, sub and wiring all of which you can get locally or online. I believe millionbuy.com has a few deals. You can get full amp wiring kits with nearly everything you need cheap on ebay.

[MisterArdovino]

Pretty much, just follow what Curry said. It's true that you'll overpay for Crutchfield stuff, but you pay for the support too. Here's a kit with almost everything you'll need for wiring up your system:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...ng+kit&tp=2919

Same kit on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rockf...spagenameZWDVW

You pretty much just need to buy your amp, sub, and box after that.

[WhiteRabbit]

what sub you getting?

[Ravie_g]

ball park is about 120 for wiring kits, depends on brands and material you get. thers all kinds of cables and connectors, gold, silver, platinum plated...all diff prices. wires that normal, some braided/twisted etc. stinger kits are not bad at all. best buy for them i think. and yeah follow curry's (love the name) instructions and you good to go. and dont forget Connect Power Last!

[WhiteRabbit]

i think braided twisted wire does nothing but looks, even oxygen free means nothing really

whats more important is the gauge and strand count

i say 4 gauge for power and ground
16 gauge for the sub
18-20 gauge for speakers and remote wire (you can actually go maybe 22 for the remote)

[Ravie_g]

yeah agree on that, i just got normal rca wires for mine.

[Black95Cam]

Originally Posted by Curry

First off do you know what type of sound you're looking to get? Clean and clear bass or just really loud and out of control bass?

You then need to find out if your head unit has Pre-amps.

Pick out your equip

Pick out your wiring, fuse (or buy an amp installation kit) and make sure you have the correct tools! (Electrical tape, crimp connectors, pliers, wire strippers)

Wiring should match the amp you get. If the amp says it requires at least 4 gauge then you make sure you get 4 gauge.

As far as what you do, ill try to keep it short and simple for you.

1. Run your power wire from the front to the back on the driver side, leave extra on BOTH ends, dont connect anything yet.

2. Run your RCA cable from the front on the passenger side to the back.

3. Install the fuse no more than 8 inches AWAY from the BATTERY. Don't connect the power yet.

Battery --- Fuse ------------------------------ Amp

4. Once you have the fuse in, connect the wire to the amp, plug in your RCAS and wire the sub up.

5. Ground the amp using a cable of the same gauge no more than 8 inches long. Sand the area down properly

6. Mount the amp

7. Double check everything

8. Connect the power line to the battery

9. Test the system and tune it.

EDIT:

Don't bother with crutchfield, unless you feel like shelling out extra cash.

All you really need is the amp, sub and wiring all of which you can get locally or online. I believe millionbuy.com has a few deals. You can get full amp wiring kits with nearly everything you need cheap on ebay.

as simple as it gets.

but if you need/want pictures for visual aid, i would be able to get some.

[illuzionx]

it would probably be useful for future refrence