With regards to the "big 3" upgrade, would this really help...

Since I only have 2 guage wire available here locally, do you guys think that leaving the current 4 guage cables intact and adding the 2 gauge cables along side them would help do the trick? I'm not worried how tacky it would look.

Just FYI, I'm not worried about future upgrades as I won't be replacing anything unless it burns out or breaks down haha.

 

well look at it this way, it cant hurt

 

I always leave the factory wiring intact when doing the big 3 and simply add the new wiring to it. I route it differently and use a few different locations then factory to keep it neat however.

 

Or order in the 0 gauge and do it right.... I stock it by the foot.

 

thanks guys for the input. MR2NR, what do you charge per foot for 0 guage?

 

if you go over the existing factory wiring, your new wiring will override it cause it can handle the great amount of amps going thru it. but be carfully cause the factory wiring may start to get hot and melt the insulation if your running an intense setup.

 

You're tight and wrong. Right on as the bigger wire will override, cause the current likes to travel through less resistance. As for factory wiring getting hot, that is way off, as there will actually be a lot less current travel there, as the current will choose to travel through the bigger wire.

 

Sasha your right and wrong also. Your are correct that the bigger wire will have less resistance in theory, but the difference is so small that a significant amount of current will still flow through the smaller wire. If you have enough load to require a bigger wire, then add say a 1/0 cable parallel with a 4ga the load will more or less be divided between the two wires and the 4ga may end up with too much current flowing through it (1/2 of peak load).

Running two different sizes of wire in parallel is a bad thing. Always run the same gauge wires when doing parallel runs and make them all the same length (within an inch).

Shawn76, I don't know how many 4ga wires you have running right now but if you need to upgrade put a couple 2ga or even 1/0 wires in there.

 

Maybe jalat, sasha, and bizkit are all right/wrong? hehe

Anyways thanks guys for the help. Oh and bizkit, I have 3 4ga cables running so far. 1 for amp, 1 for battery (-) to chassis, and the other for the chassis to engine. Not going to upgrade this system so I'm hoping the 4ga will be sufficient enough. Still a slight lights dimming issue when vol. is cranked... hopefully the last cable added will solve the rest.

Hooking up the alt cable is going to royally suck. Tight spot to work in. *blah*

 

I could be wrong... I've been wrong before... But I like my story best, and I stick to it...