How to Hook Up Subs to a Stock CD Player
- 1). Raise the vehicle's hood and use a wrench to loosen the bolt holding the negative battery cable clamp to the negative battery terminal. Lift the cable from the battery and set it aside. Loosen the bolt on the positive cable clamp and remove it from the battery.
- 2). Place the ring terminal from the amplifier wiring kit onto the positive battery terminal post. Place the positive battery cable clamp onto the terminal on top of the ring terminal and tighten the bolt with the wrench.
- 3). Remove the fuse from the fuse holder on the ring terminal. Plug the power cable (usually blue) from the amp wiring kit into the ring terminal. Feed the cable into the interior of the vehicle through the firewall. Find the path from the engine compartment to the passenger cabin. Drill an opening in the firewall with a drill and six-gauge drill bit if no avenue is available in the firewall. Place a rubber grommet into the new opening to protect the power cable from the sharp edges of the hole in the firewall. Move to the interior of the vehicle.
- 4). Remove the vehicle's head unit from the stereo dock in the dashboard. Consult the vehicle-repair manual for stereo removal instructions for your specific vehicle. Disconnect the stereo wiring from the outlets on the back of the unit.
- 5). Plug the vehicle's stereo wiring connectors into the wiring harness adapter leads. The adapter will allow you to connect the patch cables to the outlets on the back of the stock head unit while leaving the stereo wiring connections intact. Plug the wiring harness adapter lead connectors into the outlets on the back of the stereo deck.
- 6). Route the patch cables through the back of the stereo mounting dock and down to the floor on the passenger's side of the vehicle. Slide the stereo back into the vehicle's stereo dock and replace any dashboard panels that were necessarily removed to extract the unit. See the vehicle repair manual for specific installation instructions for your vehicle.
- 7). Place the powered subwoofer in the trunk or rear cargo area of the vehicle. Connect the sub to a screw or bolt in the rear cargo area of the vehicle with the grounding wire from the amp wiring kit. Choose a screw or bolt directly connected to the frame or chassis of the vehicle, no farther than 20 inches from the location of the subwoofer for proper grounding. See the subwoofer manual for the location of the grounding lead on the sub's panel of inputs and outlets.
- 8). Route the power-supply cable from the driver's side of the vehicle to the location of the subwoofer. Plug the cable into the power input on the sub. Route the patch cables from the passenger's side foot-well to the sub and connect them to the signal and turn-on lead inputs on the subwoofer. Return to the battery.
- 9). Return the negative battery cable clamp to the negative battery terminal and tighten the bolt with the wrench. Place the fuse back into the fuse holder on the ring terminal and close the vehicle's hood.
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