The big three ?

david712370 · 05-03-2009, 11:39 AM

Alright, so I am not too familiar with the term but a friend of mine was telling me that it would be important to replace the big three. To my understanding these are the top three wires that you should replace. Does anyone have any experience replacing these wires and is it very difficult. I took a look at the alternator and it looks like it'd be a SOB to get to. Also, at what rms levels would you think it'd be necessary to replace. The current system I plan to run is 150 watts rms to the front speakers and 650 watts rms to the subwoofer. Later on I might run a T2 which eats up 1000 watts.

Also, I was thinking I would replace just the power wire from the alternator to the battery, and the ground wire for the battery. I can see why these would be important to replace, but why is replace the ground wire for the engine as important.

thanks in advanced

Jeff Smith · 05-03-2009, 12:06 PM

David I can tell you that in my personal experience that the (2) grounds are far more important to replace than the Alternator to the battery! In every installation that we do with 4 ga or larger power wire we add a 4 ga or 1/0 ga ground to decrease the ground resistance in the power flow of the car. The electrical flow of electrons or voltage is increased with better ground potential. In most newer car replace the alternator wire is very hard to do and have special sized connections that make adding another wire or terminal very difficult. If you upgrade the alternator I highly recommend upgrade the charge wire from alt to the battery!

david712370 · 05-03-2009, 12:42 PM

Thanks Jeff. I was also wondering...can I use the same type of wire that I use for my power wire for the ground replacement. how difficult would you say it is to replace these two grounds

Jeff Smith · 05-03-2009, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david712370

Thanks Jeff. I was also wondering...can I use the same type of wire that I use for my power wire for the ground replacement. how difficult would you say it is to replace these two grounds

Yes you can. I you use 4 ga power use 4 ga ground. 1/0 power use 1/0 ground! Go back and look at the pics I added in the thread about where to run power wire into the car there is a pic of the upgraded ground from the battery to the body. It's pretty easy!

david712370 · 05-03-2009, 02:40 PM

Hi Jeff... I was having trouble finding the thread you mentioned with the pictures you were talking about. Do you recall the name of the thread?

Jeff Smith · 05-03-2009, 02:45 PM

where to pass thru the firewall

05-03-2009, 11:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
david712370 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: baltimore Posts: 104 Drives: 09 Nissan 370z PG M6 Rep Power: 16	The big three ? Alright, so I am not too familiar with the term but a friend of mine was telling me that it would be important to replace the big three. To my understanding these are the top three wires that you should replace. Does anyone have any experience replacing these wires and is it very difficult. I took a look at the alternator and it looks like it'd be a SOB to get to. Also, at what rms levels would you think it'd be necessary to replace. The current system I plan to run is 150 watts rms to the front speakers and 650 watts rms to the subwoofer. Later on I might run a T2 which eats up 1000 watts. Also, I was thinking I would replace just the power wire from the alternator to the battery, and the ground wire for the battery. I can see why these would be important to replace, but why is replace the ground wire for the engine as important. thanks in advanced

05-03-2009, 12:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jeff Smith Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 96 Drives: The ladies crazy Rep Power: 285	David I can tell you that in my personal experience that the (2) grounds are far more important to replace than the Alternator to the battery! In every installation that we do with 4 ga or larger power wire we add a 4 ga or 1/0 ga ground to decrease the ground resistance in the power flow of the car. The electrical flow of electrons or voltage is increased with better ground potential. In most newer car replace the alternator wire is very hard to do and have special sized connections that make adding another wire or terminal very difficult. If you upgrade the alternator I highly recommend upgrade the charge wire from alt to the battery! __________________ Jeff Smith Autosound Specialist Atlanta, GA

05-03-2009, 02:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jeff Smith Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 96 Drives: The ladies crazy Rep Power: 285	where to pass thru the firewall __________________ Jeff Smith Autosound Specialist Atlanta, GA

05-03-2009, 12:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
david712370 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: baltimore Posts: 104 Drives: 09 Nissan 370z PG M6 Rep Power: 16	Thanks Jeff. I was also wondering...can I use the same type of wire that I use for my power wire for the ground replacement. how difficult would you say it is to replace these two grounds

05-03-2009, 02:40 PM	#5 (permalink)
david712370 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: baltimore Posts: 104 Drives: 09 Nissan 370z PG M6 Rep Power: 16	Hi Jeff... I was having trouble finding the thread you mentioned with the pictures you were talking about. Do you recall the name of the thread?