JDWalton

Ok, first off some of this is similar to other years but when I asked in another thread, there was not much info, so I decided just to document my doing it and put it up for you guys to see.

Tools needed:
Cross-tip screw driver
pliers
wire cutter / stripper
electrical tape
scotch locks
Wiring diagrams
http://www.iihs.net/fsm/?dir=710&vie...Navigation.pdf


Quick note on scotch locks: Some people do not use them ever. I use them sometimes but only if a few criteria are met. Is it easy to get to if I ever had to repair? (for example I would not bury it in the dash.) Aside from that, the worry is that the lock is going to cut through your wire over time, so that leaves my next two points. Immobilize the wire going in and out of the lock as best you can (electrical tape them together and to the edge of the lock so it won’t jiggle and cut your wire.) Never cover up the scotch lock. If I ever did have a break, even though I am not anticipating one, it would be the first thing I looked at. I don’t want to go searching for them.

Enough about that. If you really don’t want to use them, then pick your own method.

I start my install with some prep to make it easy to run our power wire. With my install I did not even lift the car or remove the wheel. Start by turning your wheel all the way to the left. This will make some room for you to work. I'm a big guy and was able to install it this way. If you for some reason can’t get your arms at the right angles then go ahead and jack your car and remove your passenger side tire. My way is easier, but you have to be willing to deal with the space.

With your wheels turned, look in your passenger side fender well. We need to remove the cabin side plastic fender well liner. There are 4 pop in retainers holding it in place. Simply take your cross-tip screwdriver and turn them counterclockwise to pop them out. Once they pop, pull them out.








With this piece loose, we are easily able to see everything you need to make this install happen. I have to say, someone at Ford was really thinking, and adding this electrical was very easy. This next pic you see a rubber nub on the grommet for the wiring harness. Simply cut this nub. I did not cut it all the way through. I did this for two reasons, one to make it tight. Two, so that if I ever pulled everything out I could still close that hole.



I then took advantage of a hole already going through the fender, up to the battery area. I did not pull the battery, simply angled the wire and pushed until I could fish it up the rest of the way from the engine bay. Once I had some slack pulled up by the battery, I pushed the wire through the grommet I had just so nicely cut. Pro tip here. Use your favorite lube (so long as it is rubber safe) to make your cable slip through with ease. Even spitting on it will make the wire fly through the grommet. Also, don’t worry about the back side of the grommet. Ford has already nicely opened that for you and once you get your wire to feed, it will come right out your passenger side floor board. Once I have the wire through the firewall I pull all the slack I can get, then wrap the wire with some wire loom and push some extra loom through the hole under the battery, as that is a metal ring were pushing power wire through. Finish it off with some electrical tape to hold it all in place.



With the “post fuse” section in place, I like to fit the fuse section of the wire to finish up under the hood. DO NOT INSTALL YOUR FUSE. You do not want to have a live wire while you are working, I never put the fuse in until the last step. That said, here is where I mounted the fuse holder. Also, I there is a post on the positive terminal with a 8mm nut. This is where I attached my ring terminal for power. It is self-explanatory so I did not get a picture of that.



Now the next part is hiding your power wire in the cabin. My goal with a system I install is that I do not want you to see a wire unless I intend for you to see it. Attention to details like that is the difference between looking hacked in and professional. My method takes a little bit of finger strength but no tools. Lay your wire in your cabin along your floor to approximate its position. Then I simply start from the front, with the passenger kick plate, stick your finger under the bottom edge and pull up slightly. While doing this, use your other hand and push your wire under the seam. You can do this for 90% of the molding you need to get under. Once you get the hang of it, you can “run the seam” with your finger and the wire flies in. I have done this up to 4ga. But even some 4ga with some thick insulators may not work. In that case you will have to pull the door sill up and run the wire along the carpet, but if you can get it in and all hidden at the seam, try that way first.



Once you get to the rear seats you will see this:



Simply grab the edge and pull it out. You will need it out to hide your wire going under the rear seat.

Next step is to pull the rear seats. This is easier then it sounds. All you need to do is find the two push in holders. They look like this:



Push them in while pulling up on the seat. The seat will tip up, once tilted up about 30 degrees, pull out the whole rear seat.

This is where I noticed a nice bundle of wire already running under the seat. I love stuff like this, easy to attach my wire to and everything stays hidden:



I did not take a picture of my ground going in, but if you notice the nice shiny non painted screw going into the child seat lock. I used that as my grounding point. The bolt is very thick and goes directly into the body through a non-painted welded and re-enforced nut. I did test it with my meter and got VERY low resistance, I like it.

The only thing left for power is the remote. I pulled my remote from here:



No seriously I did. The antenna on our cars is powered. You can easily steal you switched 12v right from here. It's the BLUE wire:



This is what it looks like tapped. You can see how I do the scotch lock. This is also why I said pliers, you can squeeze the crap out of the lock, but it is just easier to get pliers on the post and squeeze. BE WARNED, if you do use pliers, make sure the wires are lined up or you will cut them in half.



All that is left is to get your signal. I stole it right the rear speakers. Shaker equipped cars can get it from the shaker signal, I however have a BOSS that comes with the base radio. This way does also work with the shaker, its just not a dedicated woofer signal.



I ran this into a line level converter. You can see it here in a test fit picture I took for my new box. It is taped on the top of the cross member.



That should be everything you need to complete your project. Here is what mine looks like completed:





Thanks for having a look!

Here is a few tips I have picked up over the years.

Have a plan:



Seek professional help when appropriate:



And always make sure your box will fit.

whosniffedme

Nice how-to! I'll reference this then I do mine

dmhines

Very nice and very similar to how I did mine .. wish I knew about the 12V at the antenna!! I used a swtiched 12V in the harness under the center console to turn the amp on and off.

Since I have the shaker 500 I did install the line-out convertor on the pre-amp subwoofer output instead of a speaker.

JDWalton

thanks guys, hope it helps. pictures are fixed!

JDWalton

From my experience if your using a line out converter you would go from the post amp side of the shaker amp. If you take your signal from the preamp side you should not need a converter. How ever a bass controller like an MX3 isn't a bad idea.

dmhines

Working fine hooked up pre-amp.

JDWalton

Do you know what converter you have? I'm interested to know as the signal being sent from the radio to the shaker amp is a low volt signal.

Patrick Paget

Where should i get my sound source from? I have a shaker 1000 in
a 2013 gt.

JDWalton

you have three options and it really depends on how you want to do it and what (if any) equipment you have.

You can pull it from the signal side of your shaker amp. From there you can build your own RCA cable with some speaker wire and connector from radio shack.
- With this approach your relying on your amplifier to take a weak signal. Depending on your amplifier you might not end up with great sound. If you go this way you may want to run it through a bass recunstructor or a bass controller like a HiFonics MX3.

You can go from the output side of the amplifier.
- If your amp has high level inputs your all set. If your amp doesnt, you need to go through a line level converter. These are generaly adjustable so you can make the signal as strong as you need to work with your amplifier.

You can also do it exactly as I have done.

No way is wrong or right. They will all work, it just depends on how you want to do it.

Patrick Paget

(Bear with me, haven't cracked open the shaker sub box/amp)--Ok, so you are saying i can tap into output side of amp? Take that signal to my amp and reamplify? I think i might just keep the stock shaker sub in and run these 2 10" woofers i have tapped into rear deck. Shaker 1000 is pretty decent, but lacks that thump i have loved since high school.
Of course I lost the high input plug for my amp, but contacted manufacturer for a new one. I only see four wires on the hi input plug is that correct? Power ground + and -.
Thanks for your help.