I was thinking 20 foot for power
5 for ground.
and and 20 foot of RCA and remote wires.

That should be more than enough. i would rather have too much than not enough.

8G should cover a 500W amp, for both power and ground.

The remote turn on wire I have plenty of, I thought about just buying the cheep install kit walmart, but wanted your guys thought.

sadly I do not have the plug in that would allow me to just plug this in my truck.

 

20ft RCA will be too much.

8ga is usually enough for a 500w amp, but better is to go based on current draw. What is the amperage draw of the amplifier?

You can go to bcae1.com and click number 16 (on the right side of the page) for a wire calculator.

Matt

 

On my install the he amp audio inputs are offset to the passenger side about halfway between center and side. The audio cables run down the driver side. 15' of RCA cabling was too short by a foot, and that's stretched snug from front to back.

My amp power input is right at the rear bulkhead centerline. The power cable runs from the battery through the passenger firewall and down the passenger wiring channel. 20' of cable was too much by about four feet but I used most of the overage for the ground strap.

5' of ground and 20' of RCA & power cabling will be a safe-but-not-wasteful guesstimate for an S-crew install with a rear-bulkhead mounted amp.

Brad

 

General rule of thumb is to try and have your ground less then 18 inches away from the amp.

 

I got a install kit instead of buying separate, I got 17 foot of 8G wire, and I think the RCA plugs was 17 foot as well.

I decided to just use the amp thats coming to me, its the factory sub setup, so I think its just a 175W amp, should be more than enough for my needs.

all i want is some nice clean bass, nothing too loud or fancy, I got a good deal on the box,sub and amp so all i need to do is wire it up.

thanks for the answers.
Mike.

 

I've always heard 36 inches. Definitely less than 60 though.

And I myself always keep it 24 or less.

Had a buddy call me last week, asked me to come look at his amp and figure out what was wrong.

He had a 4-awg power wire, and about a 5 foot long 14-awg ground wire. And it was spliced into the ground for his power seats.

The previous owner of the truck payed a place in Wetumpka, AL to do this. I forget the name, but stay away.

 

If anything, go 4awg. If ever you want to upgrade your amp, you won't have to rerun your wiring. Also, 36" ground is MAX you'll want, but is still good if you're not going competition or anything.