I'm curious as to the difficulty of running a 4 gauge wire to the hatch in a third gen. I previously used 8 gauge in my small setups with single amps. I'm planning on running two amps now I think although nothing serious. Will it fit under the side panels ok?

I just got a real good deal on some MTX 6 1/2 components which I will put in the 6X9 holes and I plan to amp them with a basic cheap amp and then probably do a single 12 or 10 in the hatch to thump but not attract attention. I'm thinking I should step up to a 4 gauge and then distribute to each amp as the setup grows later.

 

just lift up the carpet a little bit when you remove yoru door sills, should be fine, you could run anything u want this way

 

Although you should be fine just jamming wire under the carpet you should take the time to secure it to reduce the possibility of chaifing. Also be sure that you fuse it on both ends. The hardest part of my run was getting through the firewall.

When you say small amps how small are you talking? 4 gauge can support about 130 amps of power - a decent amount but not that much. Depending on your amp size that might be fine for your needs.

If you think that at any point in the future you might upgrade your system run bigger wire now. Ask me how I know. It sucks to have to rip the old stuff out and run new wire. Not only does it take time but it also requires buying new terminals, distro blocks, rings, etc. Step up to 0/1/2 gauge if there's even the slight possibility of you exceeding 130 amps in the future.

Elemental designs sells tsunami 0 gauge for $2.50 per foot. If you call them you can still get the old price of $1.75 a foot. I'm pretty sure that partsexpress.com also has pretty good wire pricing. Welding cable is another cheap option. I got my 2 gauge for something like $1.15 or something a foot.

Food for thought.

 

if you dont care what it looks like, just use welding cable from weldingsupply.com or any local welding supply store. the outside is a solid color instead of clear like most "car audio wire" but wire is wire, doesnt really make a difference. i think welding cable is more flexible than all but the most expensive audio cable anyhow.

you'd might as well just run some 1/0 gauge. you can split it into 4 gauge or 8 or whatever at the back, and you have room to upgrade if you get a bigger amp, dont have to pull the car apart again. i have 2 runs of 1/0 gauge, one for ground and one for power, along with a 4 gauge run for my diamond amp all under the carpet, and through a stock hole in my firewall. be sure to use a grommet in that firewall hole, you dont want a power wire rubbing down and grounding out right there.

 

Well I dont plan to put any multiple woofer systems in because I want to save space and keep from attracting thieves. One 12 or 10 and one small 250-300 watt amp for the components. Probably two amps that size. I was very happy just running a bridged 250 watt Jensen amp on a Type S Alpine 12 in my Lincoln but I sold the setup with the car so I'm starting over. I'll probably grab another cheap Jensen amp for the components unless I come upon a sweet deal on a rockford or mtx clearance at Best Buy or CCity. Later figure another similar amp to run bridged on a single, quality woofer.

Basically I'm looking to get best bang for the buck and have as few bucks in stereo as possible to be stolen in the car. Had my Lincoln broken into before to steal my stereo equip...and that was for a home made box with two cheap old pioneer impps and no name amp, and they broke my pioneer faceplate and didnt even take the radio. I really wish I could even hide a cd deck somewhere.