Big 3 upgrade

Hi does anyone have a picture and or know where all the under hood grounds are on an 14 gt? I'm wanting to do the big 3 upgrade since I have a system in my car the headlights or any lights don't dim when subs hit. TIA!

What is the big 3 upgrade?

Bigger/better wire to grounds supposed to help when having a system.

How To Perform The Big 3 Upgrade - Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog

Its easy...

jewc75 said:

How To Perform The Big 3 Upgrade - Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog

Its easy...

Click to expand...

I know actually doing it is easy was just seeing if someone knows where all the underhood grounds were beforehand.

Battery to chassis and back of engine to firewall.

So only big 2 lol

The big 3 doesn't reference how many grounds. It references the 3 main wires that needed upgraded.

jewc75 said:

The big 3 doesn't reference how many grounds. It references the 3 main wires that needed upgraded.

Click to expand...

Is there really any benefit to doing it?

Yes. You dont remove the factory wiring, you are adding to it. Its more consistent and if running a stereo system it definitely helps. I have over 2k watts of stereo in my car.

I have my two 10's I've had for around 15 years still hitting hard pushing maybe around 800 watts altogether. No factory stereo equipment all aftermarket kickers in doors and deck and rockford fosgate subs.

Give your alternator a dedicated ground from back of case to battery negative post and upgrade the factory 4awg alternator power wire to a 2 awg wire is only 2 things needed on a s197. Saw .6 volt improvement with all loads on at idle with this mod.

JeremyH said:

Give your alternator a dedicated ground from back of case to battery negative post and upgrade the factory 4awg alternator power wire to a 2 awg wire is only 2 things needed on a s197. Saw .6 volt improvement with all loads on at idle with this mod.

Click to expand...

Do you know if harbor freight carries the wire lugs?terminals to make the connections? Or parts store or Lowe's?

JeremyH said:

Give your alternator a dedicated ground from back of case to battery negative post and upgrade the factory 4awg alternator power wire to a 2 awg wire is only 2 things needed on a s197. Saw .6 volt improvement with all loads on at idle with this mod.

Click to expand...

+1 on that. Did the same to mine.

View attachment 79739

gray2014gt said:

Do you know if harbor freight carries the wire lugs?terminals to make the connections? Or parts store or Lowe's?

Click to expand...

I used ones similar to these from Amazon. Makes it easier if you have to tap in for power for future add ons.

Laga said:

View attachment 79739
I used ones similar to these from Amazon. Makes it easier if you have to tap in for power for future add ons.
View attachment 79740

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I don't want to cut off factory battery terminals until I have to I have couple of distribution blocks to run amp for my subs and one for door and deck speakers.

Recommend soldering the cable ends before inserting into aftermarket battery connectors/lugs. They'll stand up better over time to corrosion and resist crushing though you may have to use a torch to get the cables hot enough to solder. Be quick however, you don't want to melt the insulation too far down the cable.

If after doing all those upgrades, and you dim the lights, a 2-10 farad capacitor in parallel with the 14 vdc (typ located at the amp) will solve any remaining issues.

Another method to reduce peak current draw, would be to use drivers that are more efficient. On guitar bass speaker boxes, bigger + heavier permanent magnets are used. Then far less drive power required for a given SPL. Your typ Marshall guitar amp is a 100w head unit...and each speaker box contains 4 x 12" drivers. 2 x boxes can be driven from one amp.

That concept may or may not be feasible for a car audio setup.

Lights don't dim now just heard people into car audio say it's an good upgrade if you have a system.