Where to run wires for amp to hide them?

K

KyleH

Registered
Where do most of you guys run your power wire/RCAs/turn on to hide them? I am running some 4gauge in my car to power an amp I haven't bought yet to power my Adire Shiva Mk IV 12". I'm a little embarrassed to say that with the amps I've installed previously looks weren't that important as they were usually $1000 cars :p

Do you run them under the carpet or trim, if so how do you remove it? I assume you went through the backseat somehow, but I am not sure how to remove my back seat.

So far I've got the headunit (Clarion) powering stock speakers/amp, and a 30GB Zune for music variety, but I want to add a sub to make my system complete. This Adire should really do well.
 
The shop that installed mine ran them under the carpet.

You start to gain access by removing the door sill trim.
 
I ran my power wire just below the brake booster through the fire wall the is a open spacethen you can drilll trought the fire wall then i ran everything under the carpet and the rear seat. be car full when you drill the fire wall and make sure you are clear of any factory wire i will take a picture and post it so you can see where i am talking about.
 
Her are the Pics

Her are the Pics

you have to drill from the inside out. the location in the on the firewall is right behind the e brake. to remove the back seat it is the same as all others you push the front in and lift reverse for install

IMG_2786.JPG

IMG_2787.JPG
 
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I already have a decent size hole in my firewall where I ran the headunit power wire. My problem is behind the backseat and under the carpet. How do you get the backseat out and the carpet up? I've never pulled them up before. Is there a written guide anywhere for how to correctly remove the interior trim? I would hate to break something.
 
I assume you mean the RCAs next to the power wire? In that case, gotcha will run RCAs up passenger side. I got my power wire (4ga) through the firewall. Piece of cake with my snake tool (coat hanger). Now how do I get them in the trunk, I assume I need to remove my backseat, but am unsure where the bolts are. In my old car they were where the car seat attachment hooks were.
 
Just put the RCAs to the back of the unit on the passengers side. All I have to do now is get through the back seat, hide the wires, then mount the sub and amp and Ill be finished. I should have brackets for the sub already, and will probably mount the amp right to the sub for easy removal. I am thinking an Alpine 400W RMS mono Amp (Shivas are dual 3 ohm so it'll be wired at 6 ohm and more like 300W) will be plenty. this seems to be a very efficient sub and my car doesnt really need to attract any more attention than it already does.

Thanks for the quick replies, it looks like Ill be plug in and go ready by the end of the day.


EDIT: I tried searching for back seat removal but didn't find anything. Someone suggested doing a gen II install professionally I can't see why so far its been easy breezy!
 
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Kyle, let front seats run all the way forward...tilt front seat forward...get your butt into floor of back seat, push (with your hip) against the bottom of back seat and lift at the same time. Tere are hooks on the floor and a bracket on the seat. When you push, it will push towards the rear ever so slightly...now when you lift, it clears that bracket and the seat will then lift out. Seat back is bolted in against the seat cross member. You'll see that when the seat bottom is out. Takes longer to tell you how to take seat bottom out than it does to do it!!!
 
Yea I ran 4 gauge wire along the drivers side floor under the sill and carpet that driller mentioned along with the remote wire, it tucked nicely under the carpet there. I ran the RCA wires on the passenger side to avoid any "hums" and the only problem I had was firewall drilling location. I have to re-visit it. I temporarily ran it around the door jam into the fender and up into the engine compartment. I need a lift for the firewall drilling I think. I couldn't see on the engine side where the hole would be. In your pics below, which side is up and which is down? I want to mimic what you did, and where did it come out in the engine compartment? I didn't realize how much insulation these cars had.
Kracker said:
IMG_2786.JPG

IMG_2787.JPG
Click to expand...
 
My neighbor just gave a me a new looking (maybe new) old school viper 6 channel amp. The good viper before they were bought out by DEI/Directed Audio and turned to crap. Should put out 250W RMS on channels 5-6 bridged. I could also add of course my 4 main speakers to it. FOr right now I am just adding the sub.

P.S> I didn't drill ****. Pics to come.
 
I ran the power under the carpet on the drivers side, near the door rocker panel and the speaker RCA under the passenger side near that door rocker panel.

You remove the back seat lower cushion by pushing it in towards the bottom (pushing from the front to the rear of the car.) As posted, there are hooks on the floor. If you still haven't gotten it out and can't figure it out, I can take a pic.
 
Kinda read through this fast, but many say to put under the carpet.

Some dont notice it, but if you pull all the carpet back you will see there is a plastic channel designed specifically for cables on both sides. That way your carpet is not bulging up on you. These channel guide will take you right into the trunk. On both sides there is a 4 inch by 4 inch port for running cables behind the rear seat back.
 
unity said:
Kinda read through this fast, but many say to put under the carpet.

Some dont notice it, but if you pull all the carpet back you will see there is a plastic channel designed specifically for cables on both sides. That way your carpet is not bulging up on you. These channel guide will take you right into the trunk. On both sides there is a 4 inch by 4 inch port for running cables behind the rear seat back.
Click to expand...

Good idea, I noticed them but didn't run the wires in there. Any interference issues? Noise through the speakers?
 
black97lsc said:
Good idea, I noticed them but didn't run the wires in there. Any interference issues? Noise through the speakers?
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I have been running with them down in there for a few years now, no problems. I also have an iPhone that taps into the Alpine head-unit. I never hear any GSM chatter either.

But as mentioned, run power on one side and RCA on the other.

By the way, last year I moved my battery to the trunk - still no problems with audio interference.
 
Well the wires still aren't hidden, but everything is in an working. Question though, how hard is it to run wires from the trunk to the 5x7s in the rear panels? I was given a 6 channel amp and I am only using two channels. I thought I might put in a set of Clarion SRC5796 speakers they seem like they would do what I want very well and I already ran an extra set of RCAs in anticipation of maybe wanting to add speakers so I'd just have to run wires to the amp.

Is there a passage from there to the trunk,or an easy way to do this? P.S. removing the rear seat is laughably easy, thanks guys. When I get this all done and presentable, I will post a completion thread with install notes and the whole 9 yards. So far this has been a piece of cake!
 
OK.... I gots my photos :D

Note: You do not have to remove the side panels, I had my entire interior out for another project.

Passenger side under back seat cushion:
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Passenger side trunk port:
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Driver's side, same as above....
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My new headunit came in today. Before my headunit wasn't providing any power to the speakers, so I replaced it and my new headunit is providing power to the speakers (checked all with a continuity test light) but I am still getting no output. I am sure the signal to the factory amp (dark blue wire) is hot, and it turns on my other amp.

I wired it according to the wiring diagram for 1998 Mark VIII sound system.
http://www.bedlib.org/ebsco.html

Any ideas what could be going on here? My signal out from the RCAs that lead to the sub work great, but I get no sound at all from the headunit to the speakers. This really sucks. Any ideas?

My headunit ground is on the factory ground, etc, power turn on is as well, etc except for the main 15A power line which is wired direct to the battery through the firewall.

This is the installation guide for my HU:
http://www.clarion.com/us/en/MungoBlobs/168/653/DXZ475MP-INST.pdf

ALSO! There are two identical wiring harnesses except one has more wires coming out of it. It doesn't appear that it holds the speaker wires I am looking for though. Did I wire this on the wrong harness? What is that harness used for? It has an identical plug but more wires coming out of it. (all holes are used in it IIRC versus one I wired it too which does not have all of them filled.)
 
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