Drilling holes in doors to run front speaker wires?

[Chromatic]

I've gotten everything laid out in my mind from studying DIY's... asking questions,.. and so on on how to go about the installation of my 6.5" component system up front, and the sub + amp in my Nissan 2008 350Z.

Now,.. the last thing remains is running the speaker wires from the kick panels into the doors.

I've read a ton on a 7 page "how to" to run it through the factory molex. It's a pain in the butt to everyone who does it.. takes hours and hours. That part isn't what stops me,.. it's that quite a number of the people who have done this with the factory molex (which comes apart in a male/female arrangement), have ended up with windows that don't work anymore.. trunk release that stops working, door locks,.. because that molex in these cars is SO sensitive even if you are careful. If you happen to make a mistake, or just have dumb luck it's $650 or so for a new BCU worst case scenario at Nissan.

I do NOT mind drilling a hold for 12 Gauge speaker wire in the door. I figured I'd use a grommet on both ends to keep wire from chaffing, some black tubing of some sort to make it look clean, and seal it with black epoxy or something to be double sure moisture/water never gets in.

But you guys are the experts. I'm sure this is a controversial topic.. some say never drill your doors,.. some are on the other side.. with a) It's easier,.. it can be made to look clean, and doesn't hurt anything -- AND in my case it would eliminate the risk of damaging the electrical system that happens to quite a few disheartened people who used the factory molex.

Drilling a hole makes it a 10-15minute deal per door .. vs. potentially 4-5+ hours or more, and possible damage to car.

I'm not really asking so much whether to drill or not,.. I am going to drill it,.. I really would like some advice on how best to drill it (need a special angled / sized drill.. what drill bit?) -- What grommet's, and tubing and such would you recommend to do it?

I"m having a tough time imagining getting my full size drill between the doors, but maybe it's more spacious than I'm imagining.

This is the toughest part of the physical install,.. so any pictures, tips, links, etc will be so very much appreciated. And, i DO understand the argument to never drill the doors, I do.

Thanks!

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[bbeljefe]

My question is why are you running 12 gauge speaker wire to such low powered components? The speaker side of an amplifier is AC, not DC and those circuits run higher voltages with low current, meaning that you don't need large wiring like you to with DC power circuits.

The factory speaker wiring is perfectly capable of carrying the current you're planning to run and frankly, if you're interested in overbuilding with respect to wiring, you'd be better served to run larger power wire to the amp.

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

I did it in my 2004 G35.

It really isnt as hard as you think.

The hardest part is getting started.

Take your time and triple check that the spot you pick in the molex isnt anywhere close to other pins

 

[esmokah 10+ year member]

Hate to sound like a Nike commercial, but "Just do it."

Stock speaker wire = bad, mmkay!

Nothing wrong with overgauging wire, you won't have to redo it if you upgrade later.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

you won't hear a difference just using the factory wire - just intercept it at the factory amp outputs.

if you want to install a new boot - you can. but drilling a hole in the door jamb usually requires removing the door. that seems like a lot more work. if you run a new boot, make sure it is waterproof and appropriate grommets are at each end.

16awg wire is fine for door speakers. 12awg is fine if you can easily accommodate it but it's overkill with no appreciable benefit in a standard system.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

unless your running 200 rms or more to your speakers, i see no need to go above 14 gauge.

 

[Jmez36hz]

I tend to over gauge a bit too, something about big fatty fat wires makes me happy, whatever floats my boat right?? Anyway, agreed that drilling your holes will take some sort of serious voodoo trickery, I would sort of suggest going through the molex as well. For saftey sake, you could use a dremel with a tiny tiny bit, and just eat away a tiny bit at a time till you get safely through it. If you can, try and identify which wires going through it are the speaker wires, and try to make your hole closest to those if you can, that way if you do accidentally catch a contact or wire, its all good, you dont need those crappy old stock wires anway.

 

[Chromatic]

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If you don't want to read this post , I understand -- Just scroll down and look at the 2 questions I have,.. which are at the bottom of the post numbered 1) and 2). //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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Thanks guys. I appreciate the varying "use the factory wire".. go through the molex,.. etc. But, .. I am not going through the 350Z's molex. I've talked to too many people who have ruined electrical components , primarily BCU due to going through the factory molex on this car. Further it's literally a half day job for most people to go through the factory molex with beat and cut hands. That's just silly. I am not taking a chance with this Nissan 350Z's electrical system. A small hole protected and sealed in the inside of the door is not a big deal. We put holes elsewhere without thinking twice.

Now,.. I hear both sides of Just use the factory wiring it can handle 100watts RMS x 4 just fine.. but I don't feel comfortable running factory wire.

The amp is going to be fed via RCA's from headunit to the back of car. Then Speaker wire up each side to doors.. and then that wire has to get into the doors.

Instead of risking damage to the electrical system and a bunch of money and power windows, doors, hatch, lights, etc not working.. PLUS spending hours and hours getting it through and then that boot and molex male and female back together is just silly to me.

Drilling a small hole,.. and running speaker wire to it.. and doing it clean makes all the sense in the world given the people who only wished they had done that before messing up their cars. Plus it's a 10-15minute process per door, from those who just drilled new holes.

Some people will drill holes and run wire and don't even grommet or clean it up. I'm going to grommet, use tubing (whatever that stuff is called that is black and goes around wire).. use electrical tape neatly to seal it (as it has that slit down it).. then seal the ends of this tubing to the grommets with black epoxy (or similar material).. water doesn't really get in this area anyways, but I don't take chances.

So 12 gauge is overkill.. Ok, I can dial down the wiring gauge for speakers no problem. What's the consensus here for 4 x 100 watts and 300 watts to sub for speaker wire?

12? 14? 16?

smaller is easier to work with.. but I like to over-engineer than under.. but I understand running ridiculous large wire that just makes things harder for no reason.

Power wire I'm running 4 gauge power and 4 gauge ground. Is this not sufficient? It's 100watts x 4 and 300watts x 1.. single amp. There a reason I need to go to 0 gauge wire for that application?

Again, I was just asking for tips on drilling the hole, and even tips on anyone who's done it and then cleaned it up as to what type of stuff to grab at the hardware store.

I was intending on going through factory molex, boot and where the original wiring exists until I read the 7 page DIY on it,.. and then all the responses of people who ended up with broken power this and that.. and some who needed new BCU's. I could get it through the factory molex.. and chances are probably 80% I'd have no issues. But,.. I don't like the odds and I have HUGE hands and I'm a big guy.

So, I'm sorry if it hurts or annoys you //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif -- But I'm drilling a small hole just large enough for 2 speaker wires per door (at whatever gauge the consensus comes to) that I'll grommet to keep from being chaffed, and again, sealed with black tubing like a smaller, secondary door boot that will be literally just underneath the factory wiring boot. There is already a hole with a grommet on the kick panel side that will eliminate having to drill one side of the car.. so it's just one hole underneath the factory door boot. (Thus, 2 holes total).

The door panels will be off.. in fact the whole interior will be out,.. so I'll be able to see where I'm aiming and the hole will open up into the door on MY side of the door.

I'm not just drilling a hole and running bare wire through it and leaving it .. They will be protected, and no one who didn't look and know about car audio to some degree would have a clue it wasn't factory.

I feel defensive with what I just wrote.. sigh. Oh well,.. It's going to happen , and frankly I love this car and baby it.. but I have no issues with drilling a small hole in this location and then sealing it.

I simply thought other people had , had to drill in the area on occasion for particularly sensitive or finicky vehicles like mine that the risk of damaging the customers electrical system wasn't worth going through the molex. If this were another vehicle I'd very likely spend the extra time going through the factory boot/molex, and fishing it,. but again you just have to take my word for it I guess,.. it's a very overly sensitive molex with tons of tiny pins in it that people have damaged just by opening and closing the thing much less feeding speaker wire through it.

So I feel more comfortable leaving it alone.

I had the idea of attaching a flex shaft on my dremel and just starting with a very small hole and slowly getting larger.

So -- bottom line here:

1) For 100watts RMS per speaker (And sub 10" JL getting 300watts RMS) -- what gauge speaker wire do you recommend I run? ( I just assumed 12 gauge to "over-engineer" -- but if 16gauge will more than do the job.. I'll go with that size for example?

-- If the sub should go with larger than the door speakers.. I understand, So say what? 12 gauge for the sub,.. and 16 gauge for the door speakers sound about right?

2) If anyone else reads this and has drilled a small opening for wiring into the side of the door like I'm describing,.. I would appreciate your insight with tools used, technique, what to watch out for, and what materials you used to make it look "clean" and factory.. (plus protect the wiring).

Thanks for the tips.. will be installing this week!

 

[timhof13 10+ year member]

Just use the factory wiring and run 12 gauge to the sub, it's 300 watts! Your overthinking this

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

I used 12ga speaker wire for my front speakers due to the length it has to go to get to the amp and I had quite a bit of it, but not enough for all 4 doors. I was able to run it through the stock grommet where all the other wiring passes through. Used 16ga for my rear doors and spliced into the factory wire just inside the cab. If you already have the 12ga it really can't hurt to use it.

 

[Chromatic]

Just use the factory wiring and run 12 gauge to the sub, it's 300 watts! Your overthinking this

Me overthink? Meh, impossible. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Anyways, everything is purchased,.. I split the difference with 14Gauge speaker wire.

 

[Chromatic]

I used 12ga speaker wire for my front speakers due to the length it has to go to get to the amp and I had quite a bit of it, but not enough for all 4 doors. I was able to run it through the stock grommet where all the other wiring passes through. Used 16ga for my rear doors and spliced into the factory wire just inside the cab. If you already have the 12ga it really can't hurt to use it.

Was $26 for 50 foot of quality 14 gauge wire.. That's worth it for peace of mind and doing a job right to me.

As for drilling the two holes,.. I'll drill two small holes that takes 20-30 minutes total to have new, "fat", speaker wire run to my new crossovers and speakers AND eliminates any possibility of damaging the BCU and Electrical system all day long.

To me, this decision seems like a no brainer,.. but I guess some people just have to go through the factory electrical molex no matter the potential risk. If this were a Ford Mustang or something.. I'd be going through the factory boot.. as it's not the same risk. Different engineering, different ways to tackle things for the same outcome.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

Was $26 for 50 foot of quality 14 gauge wire.. That's worth it for peace of mind and doing a job right to me.
As for drilling the two holes,.. I'll drill two small holes that takes 20-30 minutes total to have new, "fat", speaker wire run to my new crossovers and speakers AND eliminates any possibility of damaging the BCU and Electrical system all day long.

To me, this decision seems like a no brainer,.. but I guess some people just have to go through the factory electrical molex no matter the potential risk. If this were a Ford Mustang or something.. I'd be going through the factory boot.. as it's not the same risk. Different engineering, different ways to tackle things for the same outcome.

Yes sir if I didn't have a big ol rubber grommet/tube to go through I would have drilled holes and made my own grommets and tube, just like you're planning. Post pics of what you come up with, I've learned liquid nails is good stuff to work with for sealing purposes

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Are you taking the doors off? If you want to do it then do it. I see nothing wrong with the plan, use the 12 guage if you have it. Drilling a hole in a peice of sheetmetal is pretty starightforward.

 

[Pearson 10+ year member]

Not to be a **** but I think you're over thinking this.

In my frontier I used a normal size drill and drilled a hole in the door frame area (before the door, actually inside the truck) big enough for the wire (16g i believe), placed a grommet that fit it, ran the wire through the grommet, took a small knife and made a slit in the boot that was around the molex connector in the door, pushed the wires through the slit into the door, and ran the wire to the speakers. I covered the wires in split loom and electrical tape where it was showing when I opened the door. Leave enough room/slack in the wires for you to open your doors all the way. There's no sense in making the wire tight since it'll pull on the speaker and either be disconnected or worse.

I'll see if I have any pics and show you. I sold the truck so I can't take new pics.