Finally I have purchased my Amplifier and the bacles to connect this to my Riocar. I have installed the AMP in the trunk area, and purchased Patch cables to go from the output of the Riocar to the input on the Amplifier. My question is how is the best way to go about connecting the amp to the speakers, should I run speaker cables from the amp to the back of the receiver and clive theose into the wiring harness, or should I run the cables from the speakers to the amp directly? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I feel that I am so close and don't want to screw this up.

Essentially - whatever's the easiest (and still provides good quality).

In my VW Polo there were prewired componet speakers in the doors (front only - it's a compact hatchback). At the A-pillar, where the rubber tube leading to the door is, there's a solid plug with connectors for the wires in the doors. To run new wire to the door speakers I'd have to locate unused spots in the connectors and drill through, or drill new holes in the mateal of teh door and pillar and use a new rubber tube - either way a major PITA.

As I run no extreme amount of power, I decided to use the stock wires, so I ran the amp speaker outputs for the front speakers to the connector in the dash behing the HU.
If there hd been nothing blocking access through the rubber tube, I would probably have gone with new, somewhat heavier gauge than the stock, wires.

I replaced the original flimsy rear shelf to add speakers there. As there was nothing prewired for rear speakers, I ran directly from the amp (though via a connector so I can remove the rear shelf if needed).

/Michael

I've got a 2001 and I ran the speaker wires straight to the speakers. The stock wiring is probably 20 or 18 gauge which can impact the sound of the speakers at higher volumes (too much power going thru too small wires).

I ran 16 guage straight to the speakers from the amp mounted on the back of the add-a-trunk.

Why did you decide to mount it on the Add-a-Trunk?
Just curious....
I am about to do a wrangler install myself, but I was going to put the amp under the rear seat.
The Add-a-trunk is a good location for the amp too but I dont want to make it too difficult to remove.
Where exactly on the add-a-trunk did you mount it?
Any pictures?

I picked the add-a-trunk for 2 reasons. One, it's more secure than just putting amps under the rear seat (with modifications it's arguable). It's the steel add-a-trunk, and the way to get at everything is through the rear door. If it stays locked, everything is safe. With the amps I have, they are bolted down with hidden screws (see pictures link).

The 2nd reason was for basic weatherproofing. Carpet can soak up water and the seats themselves aren't waterproof (water can go straight through). The bottoms of the amps could be sitting in water should a rain storm come up and dump water quickly. On the back, inside of the add-a-trunk, it won't be a problem.

Pictures

hmm... All good points.
I may have to re-think my installation.
I too have the all steel add-a-trunk.Did you run all the wires through the cable trough on the driver side, or under the carpet?

There's a cable trough? (i seriously didn't know)

I ran the cables under the carpet. RCAs and left side speaker wire on the left side, power wire and right side speakers on the right side.

I run them through the stock holes in the add-a-trunk. It *could* be prettier, but I'm in for function over form with this one.

I installed my AMP on the top of the inside of the Insta-Trunk, I then ran the power cables up the drivers side since it already has some power cables running from the hard top, and I thought that might cause interference with the speaker wires. I ran the speaker wires up the passengers side. It seems to be working pretty well. Now if I could only figure out how to get better reception on my tuner module.

You've got me, I don't get AM and I'm wondering if it's an antenna problem rather than a screwy tuner problem. I don't listen to the radio often, so it's not a big deal, but it's nice to have sometimes.