Amp Wiring, Big 3 upgrade; opinions on new setup

jjminch · Jan 5, 2014

I'm going with a larger amp For my sub setup. It's a CT Sounds 900.1. The dealer and other car audio guys said I should do a Big 3 upgrade and run 1/0 or 4ga to the rear of my truck, and distribute power to both sub and door speaker amp(Phoenix Gold 75x4) from there.

That sounds like a bit of overkill, but still I think some upgrade might be in order.

What I currently have is two dedicated runs of 6ga to each amp direct from the battery. It looks cheap (Walmart kits) and cluttered with both on the battery post. I've also down the grounding kit using 4ga wire.

Is there any tutorials on a Big 3 upgrade specifically for the titan? Is that even needed with a grounding kit?

Lastly any suggestions on how to wire amp power? I was thinking 1/0 to a distro block on the firewall, then a 4ga and 6ga run to each amp would be sufficient.

osiris10012 · Jan 5, 2014

I have actually been doing some research on the big 3 upgrade myself and found that we can only run up to a 2 ga. for our ground. The reason being is we have an inductive load sensor on the ground and you can only fit 2 ga. through it. Here is a link to the video I found that explained a little bit about upgrading the alternator and do the big 3. Sorry I don't have anymore info for you, but I will be sure to let you know if I find it.

jjminch · Jan 5, 2014

Hey I saw that video two, was pretty interesting. My question is, any harm in just leaving that one alone and doing the Big 2? Reason being, myself and plenty of others have already done grounding kits. So my 4gs wire running from neg battery to the fender, and the OEM 4ga would equal the additional sized wires from the other upgrades, right?

osiris10012 · Jan 5, 2014

To be honest I am a learning amateur when it comes to this stuff but considering you essentially replaced the ground with a bigger one I would assume your thoughts on the big 2 would be ok. I wouldn't suggest going any larger than your upgraded ground cable.

Nissanloyalist · Jan 5, 2014

jjminch said:
I'm going with a larger amp For my sub setup. It's a CT Sounds 900.1. The dealer and other car audio guys said I should do a Big 3 upgrade and run 1/0 or 4ga to the rear of my truck, and distribute power to both sub and door speaker amp(Phoenix Gold 75x4) from there.

That sounds like a bit of overkill, but still I think some upgrade might be in order.

What I currently have is two dedicated runs of 6ga to each amp direct from the battery. It looks cheap (Walmart kits) and cluttered with both on the battery post. I've also down the grounding kit using 4ga wire.

Is there any tutorials on a Big 3 upgrade specifically for the titan? Is that even needed with a grounding kit?

Lastly any suggestions on how to wire amp power? I was thinking 1/0 to a distro block on the firewall, then a 4ga and 6ga run to each amp would be sufficient.

The grounding kit coupled with an odyssey pc1700 I have no voltage issues running a helix A4B 4 channel amp and a pdx-m12. I'm upgrading to a saz-1500d and should not have any dimming issues. The helix and alpine amps together where rated at 185 amps max and I never had any dimming issues. The lowest my voltage ever dropped was 12.9 and that was with full volume, a/c, and headlights on. The grounding kit and a good AGM battery makes a huge difference in our trucks!!

Nissanloyalist · Jan 5, 2014

Also run a 1/0 ga wire to a distro block close to the amps and try to keep your 4 ga runs no longer than 24 inches and you should have no issues. I used a Knukonceptz knu-60 distribution block and love it. Checkout this site: http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/fp/SFV/30046/view_page/Car-Audio-Wiring_Power-Wire_Speaker-Wire. I roughly followed the chart there.

osiris10012 · Jan 5, 2014

Great info. Just curious but how do you figure out what large battery to go with? I have always been curious about that. Obviously if you do a product search you can't find what larger ones work.

Nissanloyalist · Jan 5, 2014

osiris10012 said:
Great info. Just curious but how do you figure out what large battery to go with? I have always been curious about that. Obviously if you do a product search you can't find what larger ones work.

Here is a reference wattage chart: Wattage Chart | XS Power | Real Power, Unreal Performance. I've found the odyssey pc1700 is the biggest I could fit without any real modification. So just use that size as a reference. It can be found here: ODYSSEY Batteries - Battery Specifications

osiris10012 · Jan 5, 2014

Awesome. Thanks for hooking me up with that info.

jjminch · Jan 5, 2014

Good lord that's a pricey battery, and I thought Optima was the cats meow.

Got any photos of your amp wiring setup? I thought it was a pita snaking 6ga through the cab.

Nissanloyalist · Jan 5, 2014

jjminch said:
Good lord that's a pricey battery, and I thought Optima was the cats meow.

Got any photos of your amp wiring setup? I thought it was a pita snaking 6ga through the cab.

I drilled a hole through the firewall roughly where Sammy sandbag did in his sticky thread. Here is a link to my build: http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-visual-audio-discussion/162675-my-first-build.html.

I ran OFC 1/0 down the passenger side hump to the distribution block where the jack was. I grounded to the body with 1/0 and then ran 4 ga power and ground to the amps.

Nissanloyalist · Jan 6, 2014

osiris10012 said:
Awesome. Thanks for hooking me up with that info.

You are very welcome! Hope it helps you as much as it has helped me

tech12volt · Jan 6, 2014

Odyssey makes one of the best batteries around. Optima I would not use ever . I have had issues with them in the past

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Nissanloyalist · Jan 6, 2014

Checkout sears platinum die hard batteries. They are made by odyssey, they just don't offer the larger ah batteries and yet they are a lot cheaper than the odyssey branded batteries.

mbquart1 · Jan 6, 2014

osiris10012 said:
I have actually been doing some research on the big 3 upgrade myself and found that we can only run up to a 2 ga. for our ground. The reason being is we have an inductive load sensor on the ground and you can only fit 2 ga. through it. Here is a link to the video I found that explained a little bit about upgrading the alternator and do the big 3. Sorry I don't have anymore info for you, but I will be sure to let you know if I find it.

Nissan Titan / Frontier MechMan 270 amp alternator - YouTube

I have 1/0 ground. Its easy. Its a ground so Insulation isnt the most important thing. You take the 1/0 and strip the insulation and replace it with heat shrink. It will fit thru the sensor fine and will look good. you also should upgrad the charging lead from the Alternator to at least a 4ga. I would run a 1/0 from the battery to where your amps will be and use a fused Dist block there to reduce down to the amps. ALSO YOU REALLY NEED TO INSTALL A FUSE WITHIN 18 INCHES OF THE BATTERY !!!!! ALSO ON THE NEW ALTERNATOR WIRE!!!

I dony go thru the fire wall. I use Flex conduit and go along the frame. Go thru the floor with a 90 degree Flex connector near where you put your distrubition block. There are studs on the frame (or at least there are on my t
2 Ts) that you can use to bolt down conduit clamps to hold it in place. you just have to go to the parts store and get some metric nuts to fit it..

osiris10012 · Jan 6, 2014

Great info I really need to upgrade my wiring. I still have all the crappy stock grounds. Looks like this will be one of my next projects. Thanks op for starting this thread and everyone else for there great info.

jjminch · Jan 6, 2014

Any harm in installing my new amp, keeping the gains low, and just running it off my existing 6ga lead temporarily? Reason being is all new wire, distro blocks, and other stuff is a cool 100 bucks I don't have at the moment. So any harm is slightly undersize for a month or two?

gweasel77 · Jan 6, 2014

Just FYI, When i had my 3 Amp Setup i had 0 gauge going from the battery all the way to the rear of the truck.

(1) 100X4 (doors) / (1) 100X2 (tweets) / (1) 600X2 (Sub)

I had a primary fuse block @ the battery. Plus a fused distribution block before the Amps.

My voltage gauge would drop really bad when the bass hit & my headlights would dim. :rofl:

I needed an extra battery or a stronger alternator.

osiris10012 · Jan 6, 2014

I believe it that is a lot of power being pulled. lol. Bet it sounded wicked though!

mbquart1 · Jan 7, 2014

If you don't crank it to much it should be OK. Remember if the wire is to small and the amp doesn't get enough power it at best will sound bad but it could fry the amps.

BTW 100.00 for 1/0 isn't bad I just paid almost 400.00 for mine had to but 50' rolls tho. 1 blue and 1 black.

If the lights dim when you get the 1/0 in try a big capacitor..

Amp Wiring, Big 3 upgrade; opinions on new setup

jjminch

osiris10012

jjminch

osiris10012

Nissanloyalist

Nissanloyalist

osiris10012

Nissanloyalist

osiris10012

jjminch

Nissanloyalist

Nissanloyalist

tech12volt

Nissanloyalist

mbquart1

osiris10012

jjminch

gweasel77

osiris10012

mbquart1

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