5ABI VT
Well-Known Member
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OK ! I ended up doing this and took a few pics of what I did. difficulty .. Honestly maybe a 1-2 . NOT hard at all very very simple. Hopefully these pics will help others get motivated to do this.
I'm running a 8 awg quality ofc wire. Yes I could run a bigger wire but I am sure I won't be needing more. I'm using a fosgate awd powered 12" sub.
Here's a photo with the battery removed. Loosen 2 nuts on each terminal and remove them. There's a 8mm hold down screw on the front of the battery, loosen and pull it out and the battery is free. Barely got my hands in there but managed to pull the battery up and out.. This what you'll see, there are 3 bolts holding the battery tray in place remove them as well and it pulls right out.
Removing the wheel might be easiest , I'm sure you can see somewhat with it turned but it won't give you much room to fold the liner back. Put her up on a stand and pull the wheel off . Hopefully you have steeda jacking rails then it's even easier ! I removed all the push pins on the back side of the well and up top enough that it easily folded back. This is what you'll see behind the liner. The black metal tray is below the battery. There is a loom that goes into the frame rail, the top piece of plastic is a vent to drain water I presume from the battery tray right above the grommet where the harness goes into the car.
3 ways I can think of to run the wire to the battery.
1. Run it along the loom above the frame rail into engine compartment. This will put the wire inside but close to the exhaust and heat but you can easily fish it up to the battery.
2. Drill a hole into the metal battery mount/tray and through the battery holder (plastic- that screws into this metal piece from above). Very easily done with a small hole saw. You can get any size grommets for cents to make a super clean wiring job this way .
3. The way I did it. I simply ran the wire into the drain . Very simple and takes seconds.
Shot of me fishing the wire through the plastic drain. The plastic battery tray screws into the elevated part of the sheet metal so the wire will not interfere with screwing it back down.
Top of this pic is facing the front of the car. I taped the wire along the deeper parts so not to interfere with the battery tray .
Taped my wire to a screwdriver (I had made a small hole already with a tiny sharper screwdriver by pushing It through and then went to the passenger footwel and checked with a light, folded the carpet down and yes it was poking out !)
I pushed the screwdriver through here with the wire taped to it..
Went to the inside . You can see the plastic trim to the right that is the door side. Just fold the carpet down a little and move the firewall material to find the grommet and you should see the wire. Tada !
Shot of the passenger side mat folded back, to give a better idea where I am talking about if anyone is clueless still.. Follow the wire and you can see where it comes out inside the car.
My finished job behind the fender liner. Added some liquid electrical tape to the grommet to seal vs water and then electrical taped it to keep it in place. Left a little extra in case of any tugging on the wire etc.
From the top, I have the wire running up and out of the battery area.. Plan to keep it out of sight and run the fuse holder somewhere just in front of the battery and run the wire back into the battery area along the positive cable wire . I can take pics of what I do there and add it if anyone likes. Hope this helps !!
I'm running a 8 awg quality ofc wire. Yes I could run a bigger wire but I am sure I won't be needing more. I'm using a fosgate awd powered 12" sub.
Here's a photo with the battery removed. Loosen 2 nuts on each terminal and remove them. There's a 8mm hold down screw on the front of the battery, loosen and pull it out and the battery is free. Barely got my hands in there but managed to pull the battery up and out.. This what you'll see, there are 3 bolts holding the battery tray in place remove them as well and it pulls right out.
Removing the wheel might be easiest , I'm sure you can see somewhat with it turned but it won't give you much room to fold the liner back. Put her up on a stand and pull the wheel off . Hopefully you have steeda jacking rails then it's even easier ! I removed all the push pins on the back side of the well and up top enough that it easily folded back. This is what you'll see behind the liner. The black metal tray is below the battery. There is a loom that goes into the frame rail, the top piece of plastic is a vent to drain water I presume from the battery tray right above the grommet where the harness goes into the car.
3 ways I can think of to run the wire to the battery.
1. Run it along the loom above the frame rail into engine compartment. This will put the wire inside but close to the exhaust and heat but you can easily fish it up to the battery.
2. Drill a hole into the metal battery mount/tray and through the battery holder (plastic- that screws into this metal piece from above). Very easily done with a small hole saw. You can get any size grommets for cents to make a super clean wiring job this way .
3. The way I did it. I simply ran the wire into the drain . Very simple and takes seconds.
Shot of me fishing the wire through the plastic drain. The plastic battery tray screws into the elevated part of the sheet metal so the wire will not interfere with screwing it back down.
Top of this pic is facing the front of the car. I taped the wire along the deeper parts so not to interfere with the battery tray .
Taped my wire to a screwdriver (I had made a small hole already with a tiny sharper screwdriver by pushing It through and then went to the passenger footwel and checked with a light, folded the carpet down and yes it was poking out !)
I pushed the screwdriver through here with the wire taped to it..
Went to the inside . You can see the plastic trim to the right that is the door side. Just fold the carpet down a little and move the firewall material to find the grommet and you should see the wire. Tada !
Shot of the passenger side mat folded back, to give a better idea where I am talking about if anyone is clueless still.. Follow the wire and you can see where it comes out inside the car.
My finished job behind the fender liner. Added some liquid electrical tape to the grommet to seal vs water and then electrical taped it to keep it in place. Left a little extra in case of any tugging on the wire etc.
From the top, I have the wire running up and out of the battery area.. Plan to keep it out of sight and run the fuse holder somewhere just in front of the battery and run the wire back into the battery area along the positive cable wire . I can take pics of what I do there and add it if anyone likes. Hope this helps !!
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that would be amazing! Im surprised there is not more online about this. The car has been out for over a year lol. Such little info. I guess most people got the shaker and are happy?
