Anyone Done Big 3? Pics???

TL;DR I think my car may benefit from the big 3. Any Pu owners done this who can provide pics and testimonials?

Anyone done the big 3 on their Genpu? If so, have pics?

I have a 500-watt RMS Alpine sub amp and a 70x4 RMS full range amp, so I think I could benefit. Another reason I think it'd help is because my car started turning over very slowly after the Trackmasters ECU re-location bracket/8-gauge starter cable extension.

My 8-gauge starter extension melted in short order. The way I found out is car acted like I had a dead battery. Turns out that melted cables don't transmit current well, LOL. Anyways, Trackmasters fixed me up and sent me a 4-gauge extension, but the car still turned over pretty slow in cold weather.

I think maybe my grounds just aren't as good and/or it's because of my stereo. I recently replaced the starter extension cable with a 2-gauge, and it seems to work a lot better. This got me thinking, maybe I should do the big 3?

Anyone done so and have pics/recommendations/sources for high-grade cables at good prices. I found a marine supply place in Cali that gave me a ridiculous price on a 6" extension in light of my ECU relocation.

 

I did this on my previous car, and it helped a ton with power fluctuations when the bass hit hard. I used some welding wire, which should be cheaper than standard radio you get from rockford/etc. When you do the big 3, leave the current wires in place and just add more, as it'll follow the path of least resistance anyway. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the previous setup anymore.. :/

 

Previous car was a Speed 3? The reason I'm asking this and for specific pics is for ideas where exactly to do the runs, especially where to terminate them. For instance, I know the engine ground is on the back-left, above the alternator/behind the PMM, just not sure where to terminate. I know where the - on the battery is, and I know where the alternator line is. Everything else being equal, shorter runs = better. I've also heard lots of folks say 4 AWG is fine for this. What say you?

 

Nahh, I did have a speed3.. but I did it in my volvo 850 GLT. Yeah, 4 gauge is fine.

 

I have a 500-watt RMS (verified/birth sheet) sub amp, though I used a volt meter on my DMM to limit it to 300 watts due to my 12" sub's RMS rating. I have a 85-watt x 4 RMS (verified/birth sheet) full range amp too. So I'm pushing maybe around 650 watts RMS. Think I'd benefit from the big 3 at my power level?

AP shows I then to run 13.8 volts with the car on, so 650/13.8 = 47 amps current draw. Aren't our alternators 100-amp? I figure it could go either way regarding if the big 3 would help me.

 

Tbh the bigger the gauge the better. The bigger the wire the less per foot resistance present. Grounding the engine to the frame would be where i would start since all the current from the starter is grounded to the block (what goes in must come out). 1/0 from battery to frame. 4 or 2 from alt to battery. Stranded flexible wire is recommended since rigid wire will not flex well and may fail. The only way to tell is there is a issue is to put your dmm across the run of the wire it self to see if the wire is dropping any voltage when you run a large current. Unless the audio system is maxed out at full volume you are not using all the rated wattage of your amp's.

 

I got a hook-up on high-quality marine-grade wiring that's multi-strand and flexible. I don't know if my system would really benefit from it, though. I'd definitely have to spend some time figuring out where I'd ground the battery and the engine. I peeked under there already, and I didn't see any simple/easy pre-existing spots to use.

 

The big 3 will benefit any power level, better grounding will give you less voltage drop when the bass hits.

 

BTW, do you have any pics of your install? I have this on the backburner right now as I'm focusing most of my attention on an upcoming GC coilovers install. You're an MS6, so it may not help as much, but my primary concern is trying to figure out which are the best connection points for the various runs. Ideally, I'd use existing bolts/nuts, but I realize drilling/tapping new points may be a possibility. Any Genpu's out there who've done this and have pics too?