hooking up system with stock head unit

**kxracer411** · 07-20-2008, 10:44 PM

hey i am new here and to systems but i have a pretty decent knowledge of electricity, wiring, etc.
okay so i just bought my truck, 1996 ford ranger i dont have the $$ right now to get a deck (i am only 17, im not rich like the old guys haha) but i have a like 200w amp my buddy gave my and a 12 RF punch my girlfriend gave my. i took out the rear speaker and split the wire to go to the amp and hooked everything up and i cant get power to the amp. i did a little research and found out its b/c i didnt hook up an antenna wire?! so is there a way to do this w/o taking out the deck? i read you could just use any accessory.... what do you recomend??
thank you for helping sorry if i didnt put this in the right place, my 1st post. i hope this is simple and i can get replies QUICK!!!

Thanks
mike

**blackcobra487** · 07-21-2008, 05:08 PM

It does sound like you didn't hook up the remote wire on your Amp. It's the wire that tells the Amp to turn on and off. You don't want to go with an antenna wire. It's designed for operating a power antenna and if you hook your remote wire on the Amp to that, the Amp will only turn on while your using the radio. Meaning, you won't get sound when you play CDs. You can use an Acc line in your car. This would turn the Amp on and off with the car. The only problem would be the "thump" you're most likely going to get. This is probably your only option because I would guess that your factory HU doesn't have an Amp remote line. What I would do in this situation is use a switch. That way you can manually turn the amp on and off. This would avoid the loud "thump".

**HiJackZX1** · 07-22-2008, 02:17 PM

Is this just a regular head unit or a CarPC? If its a Car PC its easy to get rid of the thump. The radio doesnt have ports for a AMP? If yes, then it should have a port for a lead wire. If not buy a PAC TR-4, that should fix the issue.