Thread: 2008 toyota tacoma carputer and audio upgrade

you have 4 ga going into the dist block, and out to the amps? i think you should have used 2 ga.

and the 16 ga power wire going into the pc seems pretty small to me..

other then that, good luck on the install!

hi! yep i'm using 4ga from the battery to the dist block. 16ga is what the M2-atx power supply comes with, with 600v PVC jacket. So I just matched that.
I was considering going to 2ga from the battery but I checked around and saw some other installs using 4ga so thought I'd be OK.

thanks for the good luck wishes

i always prefer to have too thick of a wire then not enough. first, it helps dissipate any heat build up, and keeps enough current flowing to my devices, and it helps when i want to upgrade something, i don't need to re-do my power runs all the time.. (though, just remember, i also want to do a led reverse lamp mod that would require almost 23A of power-- look up cree xm-l led's-- i want to use 8 of them!!)

the reason most installs use 4 ga off the battery to the distro-block, is usually because the amps don't draw any more then what a 8ga can supply-- which, with 2 amps, makes up what a single 4 ga can supply..

in your case, the bottle neck would be the 4ga off the battery.

according to my nifty 'lil chart:


assuming you used about 15' of power wire to the components, you are just above the recommended max of 4ga cabling. i don't think that the install is to the point where you need to worry about it catching fire or anything, but the wire is a little thinner then what i would prefer to use in my own installs..

i was actually just looking the same thing up haha

i checked here (basically the same chart)
http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

"4ga will do 800 watts at 12 feet long
4ga will do 1000 watts at 8 feet long"

My sub amp is 200 watts and the speakers amp is 240, my computer can't be pulling more than 100watts total
this is all rough estimates of course but, I think (hope) it's ok
does my math add up?

Originally Posted by soundman98

i don't think that the install is to the point where you need to worry about it catching fire or anything, but the wire is a little thinner then what i would prefer to use in my own installs..

makes sense.

wait, the12volt.com loads fine for you? it worked fine for me yesterday, but now it won't go through anymore... i was trying to load that graph before i had to resort to my personal stash...


yeah, those numbers make sense-- the amps will rarely get used to their full 40A draw, so to figure everything as a 30A draw would probably be fine-- which is why you don't need to worry about anything starting on fire-- and why the 4ga is will work...

but if you ever start to get involved in sound level contests, then it is a different story!

well that's comforting. thank you!

when i get used to (read:dissatisfied with, lol) my system, i'll be sure to kick myself and come back to let you "i told you so" ^_^


edit; yeah the12volt.com is working ok for me.

maybe try killing your history/cookie?

well, i cleared everything, and it still won't go through.. i don't get it.. what browser are you using?

Firefox 3.6.16

Here's some shots of the screen installed.

Lilliput 7", bbybyte.com double-din adapter, Scosche tacoma dash kit

Click for Full-size