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There is a right way and a wrong way to wire up head unit and control looms. We usually soldered and heat shrunk all cables and then tie them into the three distinct looms of power, speaker and ancillaries. This method allows the viewer to quickly and easily identify which cables are which without having to peel back messy tape; tape that will put glue residue over everything and start losing its stickiness after a period anyway. This often leads to bear wires being exposed which are not good in anyone’s book. We also put labelled heatshrink on the end of our looms for identification.
When running aftermarket cables they should ultimately be run with the factory looms at all times as it is generally considered the safest places for cables to run. Car manufactures perform copious amounts of research finding the safest place for cables to run so why not make use of their investment? Running larger cables with factory looms is not an easy task but with a fair amount of patience it can be done. Every now and then we come across areas where no existing cables lie. During these times the cable runs must be tied and deadened down every couple of inches to avoid any possible wandering. One thing you should not be doing is just lifting the carpet and stuffing them under there in the hope that no one ever goes looking for them. Doing this tends to lend itself to shorts and similar problems.
One would think this one is a no-brainer, but believe it or not we’ve even seen cables run all matter of places externally upon vehicles. It’s quite common to see various cables hanging down underneath to the point of touching the road however we’ve seen them run in even more startling places such as over the front guard and door and then back into the interior. If it wasn’t for the photos you’d never believe it! Please people; if you cannot find a grommet in your firewall contact us!
Just as we’ve seen cables run in some very peculiar places outside vehicles, we’ve seen some stunning examples of cable running within the confines of them too. When running cables inside your car you shouldn’t see them from any normal seated position. Sure we’ve all seen the odd cable hanging down a little from under a dash from time to time looking to get snagged by the odd foot. But sometimes we see even more stunning examples – like when shops don’t even bother running cables under carpet at all but rather just lay them on top.
When running cables anywhere in a vehicle where metal edges are going to be passed, grommets should always be employed. Whether it’s through a firewall or through the cars chassis rails under the carpet and out of sight, grommets will prevent the cables rubbing through and eventually shorting out over time which could be fatal. This also includes when you’re running cables out to the door mounted speakers. Another issue that could be faced is that as the cables shielding slowly strips away you’ll get intermittent shorts as the car bounces around – this will drive you mad long before the main fuse blows.
Sometimes we all have to join cables. Whether we’re simply joining a power cable to extend its length or if you’ve relocated your entire battery setup to your boot, you should always use a coupler for single cables or a distribution block for two or more. What you should not do is simply throw a nut and bolt in there and electrical tape the whole affair together. Not only is this a terrible eyesore, it’s also extremely dangerous if that tape ever comes loose.
If you are joining multiple cables you should use a distribution block. You should never just put the cable ends together in a great heap and simply tape them together. However this is only part of the equation though. For once you’ve employed the distribution block you need to secure it somewhere safe. This doesn’t always mean simply screwing it down – there are actually many different tricks and techniques we use here to secure them. But one thing you definitely shouldn’t do is to simply wrap them in tape and leave them just swinging in the breeze.
When it comes to the termination of cables, whether it’s just a bare end going into a fuse holder, distribution block or amplifier terminal block, or if they’re being terminated with a ring or fork terminal; they should be coated with solder and where possible covered with heat shrink or jacket. On a bare cable end the solder not only holds the individual strands together to avoids flaying, the soft solder also gives grub screws something to bite into meaning the cables cannot come out of the female block they’re connected too. Remember it only takes one single strand of wire to create an annoying short. If you’re terminating with a ring or fork, then filling it with solder once it’s crimped simply means the whole affair is welded together solid and has little chance of it ever coming apart.
The following photos make for a shining example of why we harp on so much about protecting cables, not only in regards to terminating and shielding them correctly but also why we recommend so strongly that you run them with factory looms so they do not get damaged. Below is what happens when you don’t take care of your cables and ignore the aforementioned advice. All these small nicks caused major issues in their systems, with some of them taking literally hours to find.
When mounting amplifiers, processors and other hardware you should never just throw a few self-tappers into the mounting surface. For not only are you damaging the customer’s vehicle, you’re also be exposing the vehicle to potential water damage such as rust and mold. Instead we manufacture racks and other mounting systems to hold equipment secure. Once these components are secured cables must be neatly run to them and secured, they should never just be left in a pile next to the hardware.
When it comes to Fuse holders, we always manufacture a bracket to hold them as opposed to simply drilling a few self-tappers into the shock tower or firewall like we often see others do. We also use all 316 stainless fasteners and nyloc nuts. Not only do plates look much better, they’re also far safer and avoid any damage to the customer’s car which is irreversible if they chose to remove the system.
The issue being addressed in the photos below is the upgrading of the earth cable. If the connection between the battery and body are not upgraded to equal or exceed the main stereo power cable, then current will not return to the battery, thus making your massive power cable near useless in delivering current to the amplifiers. More often than not though it’s the point where the earth is attached that creates the bottleneck, not the cable itself. This is where multiple earth runs come in. For larger systems you should use a dedicated earthing kit, see below. But for smaller systems double or triple earthing is adequate. These earths should also run to factory bolts just to avoid drilling any holes and damaging any cars.
When it comes to the damaging of vehicles, we suspect we may have seen it all. We’ll address major damage later but for now let’s have a brief look at the more minor damage done to customers vehicles, the most common of which is the result of drilling. If at all possible you should always manufacture brackets as we’ve discussed previously but it’s just a little beyond us how someone managed some of these efforts.
Now if you thought the minor damage was bad, just have a look at the lengths some people will go to in order to fit various items to their vehicles that clearly shouldn’t be there. As that old saying goes; you cannot fit a square peg in a round hole. However this simple law of physics certainly won’t stop some people from having a red hot go anyway. People; do yourself and your vehicle a favour and research what equipment will actually fit in it, rather than just ‘making’ stuff fit, commando style.
When mounting baffles and speakers many people tend to overlook one of the simplest laws of nature; element path. For subbass and midbass to be strong and punchy we need one side of the speaker to remain completely sealed to the other side. This is because when the cone moves suddenly it creates a high pressure cell on one side of the cone while a low pressure cell is created on the other side. Getting back to the law of nature; like water, air also takes the easiest path. This means unless you have sealed your baffles into your door and installed a gasket around your speaker your air, and hence bass; simply disappears through the air gap around to the other side. The other main reason for creating a custom baffle is so the speaker mounts via the factory holes and prevents the need to drill metal. Click here to view many more speaker pods and door trims, sorted by budget.
When it comes to installing speakers and more to the point; actually securing them, there are many different techniques we employ here to undertake this. Sadly we also tend to see many methods utilised which are not acceptable at all. This includes but is not limited to securing speakers with cardboard, sealant, glue and the king of all fixes; gaffer tape! If you do manage to make to past all this and onto actual hardware such as bolts or screws, please make sure you don’t tighten them up to the point you bend the frame with excessive force.
Construction is one area where many let themselves down. Accuracy and tight tolerances are an absolute must when creating speaker baffles, panels, mounts and enclosures. All Fhrx Studios creations are almost completely airtight from the first cut, well before any sealer or deadening has been applied inside and out. To achieve this we employ high quality hand tools, CNC machines, 3D printers, lasers and more. This ensures everything is constructed to meticulous tolerances. Materiel wise our creations are normally made from structural or marine ply, polymers, metals or fibreglass. That said we’ve made objects from more exotic materials over the years; everything from multi-panel and porcelain through to actual stone and even marble.
When mounting crossovers out of sight remember that those little terminals are all live and uncovered on many a crossover design. Therefore we tend to wrap each crossover carefully with carpet, plastic or insulation depending on the application; before placing them out of harm’s way. When actually securing crossovers we usually just deaden them down; firstly so we’re not drilling any holes in your door and secondly so we don’t risk bending the comparatively thin circuit boards within. Numerous times we’ve seen systems have shorts caused by bent crossovers due to over-tightening. Nor should they ever just be stuffed into the bottom of the door. The lower section of your door features multiple drain holes for good reason; you’d be amazed how much water accumulates there during heavy rain.
Ever heard of a radio studio, television studio or recording studio without deadening? Maybe you’ve seen a movie cinema with carpet on the walls? Starting to notice a pattern? Even on cheapest of speakers including the factory ones will benefit immensely from sound deadening on the inner and outer surface of panels, giving you much stronger midbass and midrange without resonance. Following this we install sound diffusion tiles, placed directly under the speakers to prevent wave reflection. Just make sure that when you’re having you doors deadening, you’re getting your entire doors deadened.
So you’ve installed all your new gear into your doors and with a big smile you grab your door trim in order to put it back on, only to find that your new equipment is getting in the way and stopping the door trim going back on flush. So what to do? Whilst most normal people would simply move their equipment around to allow the door trim to go back on, would you believe we’ve seen some shops just throw a self-tapping screw right through the factory trim into the door! While we’re on the subject of screws; if you cannot help yourself and start screwing stuff in, please ensure you use the right length of screw so you don’t screw into your seats or through something important like a fuel tank.
