92s10guy

Hi, I'm putting a new audio setup in my truck, it is a '92 S10 with reg cab and 4 cylinder. What I'm wondering since I'm going to be putting a 300 watt amp in this truck to power 4 individual speakers, and I've upgraded my factory style headlights to hid using projector style headlight pods. This truck doesn't have power windows, nor power locks. It does have ac, but no power steering. What I'm wondering is, will I be able to get away with the factory style alternator, or do I need to upgrade this one? I called a local place and they said they could upgrade the alternator so it would have 140 amps, and was told that the factory uses a 100 amp alternator on these trucks, is this true? Also, is there a difference in pulley sizes on these alternators throughout the years? I've thought about going to a little bit bigger diameter pulley. I will also be looking at going to a bigger alternator to battery charge wire... Was told a 4ga would do nice. Anyways, look forward to the replies, in the mean time thanks.

maxxman04

larger battery cables, both positive and negative, will help greatly. use at least 8 gauge power and ground wires for the amp, 16 gauge, preferably 12 gauge wire for larger speakers. it may sound like overkill, but it's not. it is possible your alternator is 100 amp. i would get the system in, wire it right. wire it right. with large enough wire. don't cheap out here. having been in the audio business, i've seen batteries and alternators blamed for wire that was too small. run the system with a/c and hid's on. then have a parts store or service shop run an amperage draw on your rig, with all accessories going. this will tell you how much amperage you are pulling and whether or not the alternator can and will keep up.

Thumper_ehhhhh

Do not run and power from your fuse box. Run it all from the battery Including the head unit. Fuse both ends incase it shorts out. If ya can get a capacitor for your subs I would. Yes you can get a bigger alt. I would also get a bigger battery too. More cold cranking amps.

maxxman04

i do agree with running power from the battery, but a 300 watt amp, pulling less than 30 amps of power does not warrant the need or cost for capacitors. really not even another battery, unless the current battery is getting old. 20 years of being in car audio, i got an idear or two.

92s10guy

Here's what I do have so far, I've got a full wiring kit for an amp install from scosche which includes 8ga pwr wire with inline maxi fuse holder (in this case 50 amp), 8 ga ground wire, new rca jack (enough for 2 chan so luckily I got some more rca wire assembly from an old system from another truck with one sub), remote turn on wire.... I also went ahead and got a battery terminal end also by scosche.. A buddy of mine who's into car stereo a bit helped pic out this system of head unit and speakers. For now I want be running a sub, I may put one in a little later and it will have it's own dedicated amp, but for now I'll have 2 - 4x6's in the dash, 2- 6.5's in a lil box I made, and 2 - 6x9's in another lil box I made... The 6.5's and 6x9's will be powered by this amp. As for another battery I've been thinking about getting another one, wanna keep the dual terminal posts though. I was told that I should upgrade to a 4 ga alt pwr wire to the bat. This truck is pretty basic without a doubt, but a local place had told me that the book he's got says that this truck calls for a 100 amp alt so... Dunno. Either way, guess this weekend will be a pretty good tale tale sign of things to come about. Thanks for the info so far. BTW, any recommendations on wire to use? A buddy of mine online mentioned Stinger wire products and such.

Thumper_ehhhhh

I was running a system with 535 watts of power. 200w for my 2 jbl dual voice coils. Let me tell ya when the base hit the lights pulsed. A cap would stop that from happening and it would keep the long drum solos from getting muddy. It worked for me. 535 watts in a 86 shorty astro van. 130 db at least as my meter only went up to 130 lol. I loved it. I still have the equipment. I might put it in my burb with a new head unit. hmmmmm ya got me thinkin now. btw maxx i love your truck. Cant beat a duramax

maxxman04

thanks Thumper. love my truck. sounds like a pretty good system you got. let me tell ya tho, big difference between 300 and 535 watt. i would go caps with anything over 350-400 if it was solely a sub amp. if the 300 is pushing just subs, i'd install without caps, then see. wiring plays the biggest part in a system. i've done installs with swap meet special amps, had them sounding damn good because i used the right power/ground and rca's. i've seen 1000+ watt systems held back at competitions because the owner cheaped out. spent ton of cash on equipment, but cheaped out on install. my personal comp car in the 90's had about $250 worth of quality wire and such for just two amps. took second place out of 100 cars in a 250-400 watt class, beaten by 15db. funny part is, none of my equipment was really high end, just middle of the road type stuff.

92s10guy

I forgot to mention, I also have new speaker wire, also scosche 16 ga speaker wire. When I got this truck, there as no radio, nor wiring for a radio, someone, at some point, yanked the radio and all the wiring plus the speakers and wiring for the speakers... Dunno why though, but I got a Sony kit and put in there, and ran some left over speaker wires for the 2 6.5's and 2 6x9's that came with it... Now I'm upgrading and running, what I hope, is some good stuff. And since I'm just doing something to get by with (this will be better than what's in it now) I'm sure I'll be content, just wanna makes sure all will be fine without flickering lights, and possible melting wires...

maxxman04

your setup will be fine.

Thumper_ehhhhh

What do you think of a good quiality set of jumper cables for power and ground wire? A friend of mine did that and pulled it through a oversized black garden hose and ran it in the frame and then in the back of his car. It ran it all just fine. I just not sure of the wire. I thought is was a interesting idea though.