Upgrade battery cable?
 

A friend of mine just bought a 2004 4Runner. He's running 2 amps - one for 2 subs and one for a pair of components up front. He says his headlights dim when he has his stereo full blast. He was told to increase the size of the battery cable. I know nothing about car audio. Which cables are they talking about (battery to alternator or ground strap) and how much larger would he need them?

On a related note, I'll be running one 10" sub and a pair of components up front. I'll be running 2 amps. Will I need to increase my cable size, too?

Thanks!

they are referring to the big 3 under your hood.

1. Alternator to battery charging wire
2. Battery to block ground
3. Battery to chassis ground
4. Battery to frame ground

All of these wires should be upgraded to 1/0 preferably. Welding cable will work just fine.

Depending on the power he is attempting to pull from the alt/battery, it may or may not help the dimming. It WILL help on the recovery time on the battery garunteed, and it will facilitate the install of a high output alt.

www.hoalternators.com

I have a 190 ampre unit, and I love it!

Thanks for the response!

Where's the best place to get those?

http://www.wranglernw.com

for welding 1/0 cables. They also have battery accessories as well.

Not sure on where to get an aftermarket alternator though.

Good luck

just find a local welding supply shop.

last time $1.75 for a foot 2/0 welding cable.

used it to connect front winch battery to rear winch attachment point.

www.hoalternators.com

tell em I sent you.

would anyone be nice enough to comment on the relative difficulty of doing this themselves?

my 'technical knowledge' under the hood is pretty much limited to changing my oil...

but i'd love to do this myself if possible.

You can do it...just take your time. It is not too hard. I upgraded all of my battery terminal connections to Marine Brass ones that resist corrosion. :)

Yeah totally easy. I left all of the OEM grounds and power wires in place and just added 1/0ga with them in parallel. Huge improvement overall. Toyota definately skimped on the wiring a bit...nothing dangerous, but enough to induce a voltage drop...

Bumpin' Yota, how much did u pay for your HO alt? im running 2 JBL1200.1's and a kicker 600.4 off my stock stuff rite now, xcept an optima yellow top and i have major dimming, and have been looking at alts, but theyre all suuuper expensive. thanks

Im a sponsored competitor for them, so I didnt have to pay standard pricing. I think it was something like 450 or so for a 190 direct bolt on and 500 or so for a 210 that directly bolts up....