Sorry I've been away for so long, but taxes at work held me in check 'til yesterday.

Well, good to see you got your speakers. The wiring question that you have?? Is this for the speakers or power? I would not use 10 gauge wiring for your power. It may be okay, but you may want to at least bump it up to 8 guage. Some may say to go all the way to 2/0 gauge, but that may be overkill.

I think 12-14 gauge for the speakers would be adequate.

When you wire up the tweeter in the middle upper rear section. Remove the stock tweeters by removing the base for the tweeter and then remove the tweeter from the base by unscrewing the center screw on the back. Put the base back up in its spot in the car and then attach the Polk tweeters to that base. I found that the only way I came up with attaching the tweeter to the metal bracket was tape. Double sided foam tape should work fine. Before you attach the tweeter to that metal base you should cover the back of the tweeter with electrical tape and the connections for the speaker wires on the back of the tweeter. I did not do this and I kept shorting out and getting nasty feedback. I finally figured out the problem and covered the rear of the tweeter with black electrical tape and have not had a problem since.

Joe

oh okay cool i have some left over double sided foam tape from a whiteboard i bought a while back. so that works.
im guessing the lower the guage the better?

the reason that i asked about the 10 guage wiring is because i saw it at pep boys. if they have 10, id imagine they have 8 and 12.

once i get my wiring and start taking stuff off, ill definately be on here 24/7..
im going to have my friend come over and help me connect up his amp and sub hes giving me.
(this will probably be next weekend of the weekend after..)
until then, is there any easy way to connect the front speakers? im saying this just because the ones i have in now, dont work at all. they are blown...
but, i think since i have to connect all 4 speakers to the amplifier.. i guess i shouldnt do that?

as far as wires go, how long do i need? like 20 feet?
okay im reallly new at this. i have power wires, and speaker wires. i got that down. the speaker wires run to the amp only? do they also run to the stereo itself? (im guessing so...)

Where are you going to put the amp? Under the passenger seat? If it will fit there, then you have a pretty easy set up. Really, it is not too difficult to do, but there are some tedious tasks to do and it just takes time.

Depending on where you are going to put the amp will determine how you run your wiring and how long your wires will need to be.

If you have it under your passenger seat, you will need 6-8 feet of red power wire. Ground will be under 12". Your RCA cable with remote turn on wire will be around 4 feet, up to 6 feet max. And then you will need 40 feet for speaker wire. Get a 50 foot roll and cut your specific length for each speaker after measuring. I just ran my speaker wire and when I got to the amp or speaker with the roll, I cut the wire at the right length and hooked it up.

If you put your amp in the rear of the car, then you will need to get a 20 ft. power cord and 20 ft. rca cord with a remote turn on.

Buying a single amp wiring kit may be the cheapest route. It is $20 for a single amp kit. Check out one of my earlier posts here for the website of accessory and wiring kits.

Hit lowes, home depot, radio shack for speaker wire in bulk or check that website with the wiring kits.

Joe

Osiris,
Could you put on some pictures, or tell me how you ran the wiring from the battery to the amp. I've got the same vehicle ('95 4Runner). I am wondering what the best way is to run the wiring from the battery to the back. Are there any holes in the firewall that you used? Did you drill a new hole? If so, where?
Thanks, BLP

Cans somebody post some pics?

so, whats the status of everyone's builds? how have they held up in the last year? I'm doing an install on my 94 4runner. I intend on using the JL audio 300/4 4 channel amp, and if it'll fit, mount it under one of the front seats. I want to basically stay stock looking, but I cant stomach installing coaxial speakers, especially in the 4" size. I'll either be installing boston acoustic 4" RC420 components or MB quart RVF210 depending on availability in the front, and I'm installing the tweeters in the doors by the mirrors. For the rear, I already have a set of 6 1/2" boston acoustic components laying around, and I'll be bypassing and removing the stock amps (if I can find the damn things). For the head unit, I am looking at the Kenwood KDC-MP538U. When I get around to it, I'll be installing a pair of JL audio 6.5" subs in the front doors with the JL 300/2 amp pushing them, and supposing the other amp fit under the other seat, that 300/2 will be sitting opposite the 300/4 warmin the other seat! If I ever get the cash, I'll be getting a JL pro wedge boxed sub like the 13" JL Audio CLS113RG-W7 or the 12" model the JL Audio CLS112RG-W7. The amp that pushes that sub will be mounted like yours, taking up one of my cargo pockets. I may find myself getting a less-than-two-thousand-dollar option for my sub setup in the interim, but I swear by JL's power and definition in the low end.

Your install is a big help in preparing for doing the work I'm setting out to do. The only advice I have to give you on the sub amp you installed is maybe you would like to run the positive power through a kill switch mounted in the pocket by the amp, thereby letting you turn off the power to the amp if you take the subs out. I also agree with the advice given to rethink the wire going to the box. I would (and will on my own) put a connection socket in the side of trunk trim like banana plugs. Keep up the good work and any and all advice would be appreciated.

Also - does anyone have any opinion as to the importance of added soundproofing on the 4runners? I'm always inclined to add a layer or two of dynamat extreme to every surface I can cover with upholstery, but that has a lot to do with the fact that my day job is as a sound engineer, and coming from the sound isolation of a recording studio, I cant but begin to imagine how much of my wattage goes right out the window when I'm driving. My truck has a magnaflow exhaust and a cold air intake, so there's no way around hearing it - and I wouldnt have it any other way - but if anyone has specifically soundproofed the floor or the doors, let me know. I dont want to have to rip up all the carpeting and replace it if its not really worth it. I'll post pics or link to another thread when I get my hands a little dirtier with the project.

how much did the budbuilt skid and belly pan run you... doest say the price of the belly pan on the site?

Bringing this thread back from the dead, eh.

Well, the power cables, if you haven't done it already went from the battery and through the opening on the right side of the firewall with the main wiring harness and ended up in the upper portion of the passenger side dash and then came down to the floor under all the carpet along both door and behind the right rear panel to the rear.

The bud built skid plate was $500 or so. I don't remember. You would have to call him. He is a great guy and well worth it.

BTW, my system is just fine and I have had no ill effects from having the amps hidden away within the cargo boxes.

Obviously it's about 3 years too late, but assuming you haven't put in a set of terminals for the subs, what about just using a terminal cup that you would use on a sub box, and mount it in the side panel?

amp install
 

so to install your amps you used the black box already in the cubby and just afixed the amps to the black box? Im asking cause i going to be doing the same thing to save space in the cargo area and was wondering if i need to make a make-shift mount for the amp or what.....thanks!

amp install?
 

when you installed the amps to the plastic pocket area did you just set them in there or bolt them to the plastic boxes? cause im worried about :fire: and possibly melting the plastic box....