Have any of you sec. gen 4runners upgrade your ground wires? Are there any write-ups on this? I tried searching and coudln't any. Anyways i want to upgrade the ground wires because my lights blink or twitch lightly when my sub is on. I also plan on getting an optima red top. I'm really not familiar with toyotas. I'm more familiar working with my old prelude. i did the ground wire upgrade on my prelude and boy did it make a difference. Lights are brighter, audio is much louder, headlights pop out faster etc.. So if any of you guys have write ups or pics on a ground wire upgrade for sec. gen t4r please get back at me.

 

Not familiar with the main ground wire on 2nd gens, but my 96 4r has an upgraded main ground wire bolted to the firewall. An 8 gauge w/ hightemp wire coating should do you just fine.

 

yes there is a write up here on yotatech about it. i haven't done it yet, but hopefully by the end of summer. i'll do a search for ya and see if i can find the link.

BAM!!!!!!
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/2nd-gen-mystery-electrical-problem-solved-write-up-33526/

definetly a hard thread to find.

 

thanks man! def. what i'm looking for.

 

The big 3 upgrade would benefit you even more.

 

Or check out Roger Brown's www.4Crawler.com, as he's the one who I think originally came up with it.

 

I did ground wire upgrade as well as upgrading to a redtop. I also added a cap to my system. The cap more or less fixed the problem but the redtop made a huge diferance also. Between all three upgrades the cap made the biggest diferance but the ground upgrade is worth doing cus it is so cheep. Also upgraded to gold terminal for the bling factor (as well as end to all corosion factor) and it was only like $20 on ebay.

 

Good call on the "cap" Miles (I'm glad to see that someone is listening..., and learning in the process), but the significance of "ground wire upgrade" should'nt be downplayed as it is what helps our little 90 amp altenators recover the battery's charge lost from equipment usage, i.e., both are equally beneficial to the vehicles' electrical system overall.

 

nice! i gotta get some gold terminals. i have to clean my terminals all the time. what is this "cap" your referring to? got kind of confused

 

do you have any more info on the big 3 upgrade. it's hard to search specifically for the big 3 because there are lots of results on other things. ROMAD made it clear on what it is. but i don't know the procedure in doing this upgrade. this is from ROMAD's post:
"Basically its an upgrade of the battery neg. to chassis ground, engine to ground and alternator positive to battery positive."

 

Cap= capacitor which is kinda like an extra baterie that temperarly stores some power and then rapidly discharges it when there is a drop in voltage (AKA the bass hits). This keeps the flow more consistant so the lights don't dim. It's usually a big tube about 3"x8" and can be had at any stereo shop for $100. They really do work.

 

Try jumping over to www.4Crawler.com for more specific details and pics of the "big 3" upgrade..., and be sure to pick up a "cap"acitor.

 

"I am vindicated, I am right, swear I'm right, swear I knew it all along and I am (maybe) flawed, but I'm cleaning up so well, I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself (but were afraid to admit)."

Dashboard Confessional

 

?? Not sure what is going on here. I'm not trying to overpower anyones opinions on this electrical matter but I still maintain, do the ground upgrade, 4g or better, and if you still have problems and you have a decent baterie, a capcitor should fix the problem. How much power are you pushing with your systme? Mine is 1200 watts rms and with ground upgrade, red top, and cap I have no dimming whatsoever and I had substantial dimming before the lised upgrades.

 

Heh, All I know about the "big three" ground wire upgrade I learned from this thread.

Read through that and then take a look at the wires in question in your 2nd gen - it should be pretty obvious at that point. Its not terribly difficult but it does take a bit of time to gather up the cables and such.

I still recommend my cheap upgrade of the main feed wire in this thread, its been solid ever since I first did that mod (although I dont have anywhere near the stereo stuff some of you guys have)

 

Upgrade to 2 gage wire for all the main battery terminal contacts and go to dual batteries...anything less is a waste of time IMO.

 

No Miles, no "overpower(ing)" issues or anything here.

It's just that I've mentioned the use of a "cap" several times previously and was just as many times met with rebuttals or nay sayers when I did and that's why it's nice to have someone actually try it out, find out for themselves that it does work and post the results here.

And it's not so much that I'm looking for "vindication" really, it's just that I'm trying to get people to listen when I bother to take the time to type out some info here in response to a question that's been asked. I'm not doing it for my own benefit, I'm trying to pass along advice that either I or my friends have found out about on various things that has worked for us when faced with similar problems, we're already benefitting from the knowledge and don't stand to benefit anymore so, that is, unless it's by way of recieving some good karma by helping others in need out.

 

big 3 is well on mines.


1 Ground----> from battery to chassis
1 4ga cable running from pos terminal on bat to pos terminal on alternator
1 4ga cable running from pos terminal on bat to pos terminal on fuse box
and possibly a ground to engine block.

 

Well said. I have learned a lot about my truck and I hope to pass on some of what I have learned the hard way so others may have a better chance of getting a repair or upgrade right the first time.