Alternate way to run amplifier power wire

[Warden95]

Forgive me if this has been posted somewhere else but I look around and couldn’t find much.

To start take off the vent trim piece. It’s really easy you can reach down in the cavity in the engine compartment and pinch the top few spring pieces to help things along. There is sticky gasket to gently pull up with it.

Inside you can see the black rubber grommet. That circular area above it was soft but not sure on that.

Took out the glove box and it’s tough to see behind the air filter but looks like the grommet is right there for easy access into the cab

Looking up from inside cavity there were several access areas straight to battery

When I run my 1/0 GAUGE soon I’ll report back if successful.

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[Huttar13]

It is possible to run the wire through the main harness grommet on the firewall behind the fuse box its not that hard. There is a nipple on the grommet you can cut and run through. Use caution and pull the rubber grommet out from the firewall and cut the nipple and then cut the layer of the grommet behind the nipple to make sure you don't get into the main wiring harness. You can fish a wire in from the engine bay into the cab that will come out below the glove box. This is how i ran my 0ga wire but I learned the hard way and dint realize there was a second layer of rubber behind the nipple and I tore through the main harness and boke a wire. (I highly recommend not doing that lol).

 

[Warden95]

It is possible to run the wire through the main harness grommet on the firewall behind the fuse box its not that hard. There is a nipple on the grommet you can cut and run through. Use caution and pull the rubber grommet out from the firewall and cut the nipple and then cut the layer of the grommet behind the nipple to make sure you don't get into the main wiring harness. You can fish a wire in from the engine bay into the cab that will come out below the glove box. This is how i ran my 0ga wire but I learned the hard way and dint realize there was a second layer of rubber behind the nipple and I tore through the main harness and boke a wire. (I highly recommend not doing that lol).

That's how my is currently run. Just showing some interesting options.

 

[Je1279]

Forgive me if this has been posted somewhere else but I look around and couldn’t find much.

To start take off the vent trim piece. It’s really easy you can reach down in the cavity in the engine compartment and pinch the top few spring pieces to help things along. There is sticky gasket to gently pull up with it.

Inside you can see the black rubber grommet. That circular area above it was soft but not sure on that.

Took out the glove box and it’s tough to see behind the air filter but looks like the grommet is right there for easy access into the cab

Looking up from inside cavity there were several access areas straight to battery

When I run my 1/0 GAUGE soon I’ll report back if successful.

I recall someone finding this as well a while back. It's definitely nice to have options when running wires.

 

[Ham]

That's how my is currently run. Just showing some interesting options.

Are you not running a dedicated ground wire to the amps from the battery and just using a chassis ground? Asking because I only see one wire ran there unless they are both in the loom.

 

[Huttar13]

Are you not running a dedicated ground wire to the amps from the battery and just using a chassis ground? Asking because I only see one wire ran there unless they are both in the loom.

IDK about OP but I just ran a ground to the chassis. there is no need for a dedicate ground to the battery for an amplifier just make sure to find a ground location with a good connection to bare metal.

 

[Warden95]

Are you not running a dedicated ground wire to the amps from the battery and just using a chassis ground? Asking because I only see one wire ran there unless they are both in the loom.

Ground is run to the dedicated grounding point behind the rear driver side seat. I've never had any issues.

 

[Ham]

IDK about OP but I just ran a ground to the chassis. there is no need for a dedicate ground to the battery for an amplifier just make sure to find a ground location with a good connection to bare metal.

It will depend on the power requirements of the system. That aluminum body has a lot of glue points and it's a common point that factory grounds aren't the best to use on higher watt systems. The OP pic looked like it was 1/0 gauge wire (I could be wrong) so my assumption is he had at least a 2-3K watt system.

 

[TexasTruck]

Glad you found that. I did the same. Running it through the main harness grommet made me nervous ? I used wire sleeve to reduce any chafing and replaced the body grommet for my power and ground wires. Nice and clean. I ran a ground from the battery to where I needed it to ensure I have zero continuity issues. It used to be the ground strap from the frame to body was a small gauge. Maybe that isn’t a thing these days ??‍

 

[Warden95]

Hush Car Audio who I bought a lot of my original gear from specializes in F150's told me the points are good up to around 3k watts. MTI acoustics said most of their systems they commonly use the back wall grounding point. I have an SQ system and the way I listen I would be lucky to be drawing 600-700 watts full tilt.

 

[Ham]

Hush Car Audio who I bought a lot of my original gear from specializes in F150's told me the points are good up to around 3k watts. MTI acoustics said most of their systems they commonly use the back wall grounding point. I have an SQ system and the way I listen I would be lucky to be drawing 600-700 watts full tilt.

Sure, makes sense for that 600 - 700 range. I'd still do a dedicated run for anything 2 - 3k. Maybe it's overkill but if the general rule of thumb is to do the "big 3" upgrade for a 1 - 2k watt system for a chassis that has good grounding, I'd definitely want to make sure I had a solid ground on a F-150 for something running 2 - 3k. If I spent the time and money to do that kind of system, I'd spend another $200 to run a dedicated ground. Just my $0.02.

 

[ranesko1]

Warden95 your suggestion worked great! I couldn't even reach the under the hood rubber boot well enough to cleanly cut off the pass-through nipple. I followed your method and got my power line run through into the cab in 15 minutes! Thanks!~

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