the "Big 3" question
If I hear one more person talk about "The Big Three", I'm going to reach through my internet connection and slap them.
Not aimed at you, Stephen, but on countless boards, people talk about the big 3, like it's some magical mod that improves your stereo performance
Generally, it refers to the positive charging lead from the alternator to the battery, the ground cable from the chassis to the battery, and sometimes either the engine to battery or engine to chassis lead, which ever applies to the car.
In my show car firehawk, I have upgraded the wire to the alternator to 4 guage, the ground to chassis to 0 guage, and the power cable to the under hood fuses to dual 8 guage (battery terminal did not have another 4 guage out).
It was done purely from the aspect of being a complete system upgrade, for maximum points in stereo shows.
I'm getting ready to do a nice system in my daily driver, a Buick Regal, and I can tell you now, the factory wiring will not be upgraded. In 90% of all cases, there's simply no need. The length of the wires used under the hood are short enough that they can easily handle the extra current of the system without a noticable voltage drop. Sure, there are those 10% of completely insane systems that may benefit from upgrading alternator and chassis ground wires. But when I see everyone with an amp or 2 talking about "the big 3" like it's a magical cure for all of your electrical problems, I just shake my head and wonder where all of the miss-information comes from.
mike
Not aimed at you, Stephen, but on countless boards, people talk about the big 3, like it's some magical mod that improves your stereo performance
Generally, it refers to the positive charging lead from the alternator to the battery, the ground cable from the chassis to the battery, and sometimes either the engine to battery or engine to chassis lead, which ever applies to the car.
In my show car firehawk, I have upgraded the wire to the alternator to 4 guage, the ground to chassis to 0 guage, and the power cable to the under hood fuses to dual 8 guage (battery terminal did not have another 4 guage out).
It was done purely from the aspect of being a complete system upgrade, for maximum points in stereo shows.
I'm getting ready to do a nice system in my daily driver, a Buick Regal, and I can tell you now, the factory wiring will not be upgraded. In 90% of all cases, there's simply no need. The length of the wires used under the hood are short enough that they can easily handle the extra current of the system without a noticable voltage drop. Sure, there are those 10% of completely insane systems that may benefit from upgrading alternator and chassis ground wires. But when I see everyone with an amp or 2 talking about "the big 3" like it's a magical cure for all of your electrical problems, I just shake my head and wonder where all of the miss-information comes from.
mike
Thanks mike for the info.
I don't run a huge aftermarket stereo in my Z. A small 22 watt amp on an 8" bazooka tube. I also do not have electrical problems.
I just kept reading about people saying you should upgrade the big 3. I was thinking that it would help out the charging system better than the stock wiring does.
But if it is not going to make any real difference then I won't go thru the trouble to do it.
I don't run a huge aftermarket stereo in my Z. A small 22 watt amp on an 8" bazooka tube. I also do not have electrical problems.
I just kept reading about people saying you should upgrade the big 3. I was thinking that it would help out the charging system better than the stock wiring does.
But if it is not going to make any real difference then I won't go thru the trouble to do it.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2003
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From: MD
Like Mike said in most cases it's not needed. I noticed a slight increase of voltage doing it but no performance gain at all.
Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.
Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.
Originally Posted by Dal1as
Like Mike said in most cases it's not needed. I noticed a slight increase of voltage doing it but no performance gain at all.
Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.
Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.
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Originally Posted by Dal1as
My bad, yes the braided ground that goes by the alternator to the block. Guessing it rounds out to like 12 guage or something. Really flimsy.
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Originally Posted by shouldaboughttheZ
I have seen a couple of those and thought about upgrading them to 8g wire.