i did try to look for these answers but i got confused to i thought i'd just ask-
I will soon be running 2 amps, a 500w MTX 4ch amp for my speakers, and a 300ish RMS amp for a single 12" sub (i dont have the sub or amp yet and im not exactly sure what i want but about 300watts should be plenty in a club cab truck) My plan is to run 4ga. wire to a distro block and run 8ga. to each amp (one under driver seat, one "on" back seat) my real question is about grounding. can i ground each amp seperatly w/ 8ga. wire? or do i need to run the grounds to a dist. block and ground to 4ga. wire and ground that? or do i need to go to 4ga. all the way back to the battery? my plan is to ground them seperated unless thats a horrible idea? this is all going into a Dodge Dakota R/T (club cab) not that that makes any difference. thanks in advance. ~Ryan
You can ground separately with 8 gauge if you desire, but the ground wires should terminate very close to each other on the chassis metal, maybe an inch apart. In my car with similar power as what you described (well, less), I've got two 8 ga. wires going to the same ground spot, and don't get any whine or noise. Using a ground distro is a cleaner install and the best way to avoid a ground loop. You can use something as simple as
this for your ground distro.
I second the ground distro. I use that same one.
Also, one tip on the ground: sand down the paint around the ground point so you have a nice connection with the metal. Other than this, see the long grounding sticky at the top of the forum for a lot of helpful tips.
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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder