Wire Run .. Why?

[Stephan 0]

What's the disadvantages of running your power wire through the firewall? I already have a 4ga run that's keeping me from dropping volts, but want to make the run of 1/0 I have. I will obviously need to drill a bigger hole if I use the previous hole, and I'd prefer that over running under the car, but what are the advantages and disadvantages? The firewall is not as easily accessible as under a rear seat I am guessing.

[ABXX49 20]

Don't run it under the car, it's exposed down there.

[Stephan 0]

Don't run it under the car, it's exposed down there.

You're the first person to say don't run it under the car lol, so we'll see, I have heard to run it under the car, but I feel exactly as you, and it's exposed to water and heat more so than the 4 feet in just the engine. Thank you for your quick response though brotha!

[ABXX49 20]

You can do it, just make sure it's run well and protected.

[Stephan 0]

You can do it, just make sure it's run well and protected.

Must just be a personal preference then ... that little white girl is going to get the big black hose shoved in her weather she wants it or not!! lol

[Duran 387]

You can do it, just make sure it's run well and protected.

Must just be a personal preference then ... that little white girl is going to get the big black hose shoved in her weather she wants it or not!! lol

Ugh...

[Stephan 0]

You can do it, just make sure it's run well and protected.

Must just be a personal preference then ... that little white girl is going to get the big black hose shoved in her weather she wants it or not!! lol

Ugh...

Duran, how do you like the crossfire amps? Have you used them on your mids or highs yet? Ever tried a SD? I am not sure if I want to get a 100.4 or grab another crossfire

[jonbearsmt 919]

i run under the car then up into the car before the back seats. its not exposed... it covered in a coating... as all wire is..... it will be fine.. just make sure the run has no cuts in it... and that its fused on both ends.

[Stephan 0]

I am going to see what is easiest, if I need to drill at all, I will just run under the car and make sure there is hang. One reason for running under the car is to keep power wires away from speaker wire. It is also a lot easier to conceal under the car as well, 0/1 and bigger can get pretty hard to hide. Running under the carpet I imagine raises a good portion of the carpet, including around the cable.

[KU40 173]

I've ran wire both ways. There really isn't anything wrong with either if done properly, and both can be done wrong. The time I ran the power wire under the car I bought some extra plastic sheeting and put it over the wire, just for extra protection.

[helotaxi 46]

There's usually no reason to drill to run cable through the firewall. I had 2 runs in my last car and 1 in the current one. Never drilled the firewall. There is a large grommet where the main wiring harness comes into the cabin from the engine bay. It is pretty much always much larger than the wiring harness leaving you plenty of room to make a small slit in the spare space and fish the cable through. The grommet is usually on the driver's side and comes into the cabin above the carpet line. Take the driver's seat out and pull back the carpet on that side. Most every car I've worked on has a channel down both sides of the car right near the sill plates that can easily accommodate at least one run of 1/0.

Nothing wrong with running it under the car but I would definitely enclose the cable in something to protect it from road debris and make sure that you secure it well either with rivets or screws and brackets. Doing it right is a pain the butt.

[KU40 173]

Doing it right is a pain the butt.

But necessary when dealing with power wire that could start a fire or leave you stranded on the road.

[Stephan 0]

There's usually no reason to drill to run cable through the firewall. I had 2 runs in my last car and 1 in the current one. Never drilled the firewall. There is a large grommet where the main wiring harness comes into the cabin from the engine bay. It is pretty much always much larger than the wiring harness leaving you plenty of room to make a small slit in the spare space and fish the cable through. The grommet is usually on the driver's side and comes into the cabin above the carpet line. Take the driver's seat out and pull back the carpet on that side. Most every car I've worked on has a channel down both sides of the car right near the sill plates that can easily accommodate at least one run of 1/0.

Nothing wrong with running it under the car but I would definitely enclose the cable in something to protect it from road debris and make sure that you secure it well either with rivets or screws and brackets. Doing it right is a pain the butt.

Thank you, I did a run under the car, the cable is hidden away and pulled pretty tight, it hangs maybe 1/4th inch off the bottom of the vehicle which is not noticeable at all. I will need to pin it up still, any suggestions on what to use? I went under the car so I didn't have the wire under the carpet showing where the cable is.

My 0/1 grounding is done only in the rear, it seems a little more difficult to replace the front grounding because the engines grounding cable isnt long enough for me to reclamp it with another 0guage wire. Is there anything to worry about here?

Edited October 8, 2008 by Stephan

[Duran 387]

You can do it, just make sure it's run well and protected.

Must just be a personal preference then ... that little white girl is going to get the big black hose shoved in her weather she wants it or not!! lol

Ugh...

Duran, how do you like the crossfire amps? Have you used them on your mids or highs yet? Ever tried a SD? I am not sure if I want to get a 100.4 or grab another crossfire

I love my Crossfire amp, it has phenomenal performance. It is also rated at 12.8 volts, so it's actually putting out 20% more power in my car. But its running my subwoofers. At the shop we do have a Crossfire XP360.2 running on some German RS Audio Components, they are orgasmic and take the power like a champ! The new Crossfire VRA series is worth looking into also.

[dblover 0]

i am gonna use pvc piping to protect my wires or loom wire will work to

Edited October 8, 2008 by bigt

[bball09124 0]

I have run 0 ga underneath 2 different vehicles, relatively unprotected, and never had a problem. (Over the course of 3-4 years). Just make sure all your wires are fused properly and if the wire does happen to get damaged or something you will just have a blown fuse rather then a fire.

[Stephan 0]

Well amp went up in smoke yesterday. Won't have money for a week or two to get it repaired. This pucking sucks.

[KU40 173]

what'd you do

[iamamp3pimp 34]

There's usually no reason to drill to run cable through the firewall. I had 2 runs in my last car and 1 in the current one. Never drilled the firewall. There is a large grommet where the main wiring harness comes into the cabin from the engine bay. It is pretty much always much larger than the wiring harness leaving you plenty of room to make a small slit in the spare space and fish the cable through. The grommet is usually on the driver's side and comes into the cabin above the carpet line. Take the driver's seat out and pull back the carpet on that side. Most every car I've worked on has a channel down both sides of the car right near the sill plates that can easily accommodate at least one run of 1/0.

Nothing wrong with running it under the car but I would definitely enclose the cable in something to protect it from road debris and make sure that you secure it well either with rivets or screws and brackets. Doing it right is a pain the butt.

Thank you, I did a run under the car, the cable is hidden away and pulled pretty tight, it hangs maybe 1/4th inch off the bottom of the vehicle which is not noticeable at all. I will need to pin it up still, any suggestions on what to use? I went under the car so I didn't have the wire under the carpet showing where the cable is.

My 0/1 grounding is done only in the rear, it seems a little more difficult to replace the front grounding because the engines grounding cable isnt long enough for me to reclamp it with another 0guage wire. Is there anything to worry about here?

if you can find zipties that have a screw mount hole, i would use that and a small self tapping screw...

[helotaxi 46]

if you can find zipties that have a screw mount hole, i would use that and a small self tapping screw...

I've got some of those and I wouldn't trust them under the car.

[bigbruno 0]

They make some clamps that are meant for fuel and brake lines that are rubber lined that woul work better and won't break real easy either.

[Tmax98 3]

i used wire loom and pretty good size zip ties to secure mine under my car

here is a pic

[topgun 262]

If it was me running under a car, I'd probably run the wires in conduit and use conduit clamps and sheet metal screws to hold it up...

[Tmax98 3]

i personally didnt want to put holes in the bottom of my car.

[JIF 0]

I've run under the vehicle in the past. Had a chunk of snow/ice fall off a truck and damage the wire in my ex's old Taurus. I move capet now