Big Three Wiring Upgrade

[Geo_Journey_2014]

Hello fellow DJ owners.

I have just completed the "big three" on my 2014 Journey. I did this in preparation for my aftermarket sound system i will be installing soon. I recommend that ANYBODY planning on adding an aftermarket amp or other high current devices to your DJ do the big three. The factory wiring under the hood in these vehicles is sub-par at best. The factory ground from the battery to chassis was maybe 8 gauge. Anybody adding anything electronic wise will benefit from this upgrade . The job was not terribly difficult to accomplish however gaining access to the battery terminals was a pit of a pain. It took a couple of hours but i was taking my time, everything worked out perfect, no problems. If you do a big three be sure to fuse the alternator to to battery positive. There is some debate whether this is necessary or not. You should always fuse within a foot of the battery.

As for the sound system goes here it is:

I am keeping the factory base 4.3 Uconnect, Relocating the rear door 6x9's to the far rear panels(there are "dummy" grills back there, for premium sound system maybe?) and keeping the dash 3.5's, and removing the stock front door 6x9's This is to maintain a load on the factory head unit so it will continue to send a signal to all four channels. (the 4.3 has six speakers but only four channels, the dash and front doors are wired in parallel) I will be tapping into those signals at the factory speakers using an AudioControl LC7i, then to my Polk 5 channel amp and out to my new Polk component speakers in the doors, and a Polk 8" sub woofer under the driver seat in a seald box build by myself(yes i got it to fit, barely). So i will end up with this: dash 3.5 and far rear 6x9's will receive stock head unit's 15 watts, and new components in the doors will get amplified 70 watts rms and 200 to the sub.

So there it is in a nutshell.

I will post an update once it is complete or if i have any problems with my plan i will let you know.

I wanted to post and contribute something to these forums. I have been doing alot of reading on here and have gotten some good info.And now it is my time to give something back.

[dhh3]

Welcome to the forum. I guess that I am not as ambitious as you. I replaced my 4 door speakers with 2-way 6x9 Alpines, because they pushed the most bass on the Best Buy Display Board. I can turn the volume up all the way with no clipping or distortion. No one makes a replacement speaker for the dash; I think that it is the shape. I was thinking of mounting a pair of Alpine tweeters on top of the dash. I'll look for a set with cross overs so that they only put out highs. I found an 8" 150w self powered Kicker amp that resides under my front seat. I think that it has tuned ports like the Bose Radios. No wires to the battery. It has a 15a power wire that is tied into the 15a radio power. It also has a remote gain. I was surprised on how much bass this actually puts out. It will hurt my ears, vibrate my pants legs and vibrate all of the mirrors. So, I am done with my music. Now I'm trying to get the album artwork to display with my iPod. I figured out how to do it with the SD card, without changing a single file in my iTunes Library. Eventually, I will figure it out.

[Lobitz68]

Sounds like a fun project. Did you post pics (can't always see pics from work, but will check on my phone later)? If not, please do...

[dhh3]

Sounds like a fun project. Did you post pics (can't always see pics from work, but will check on my phone later)? If not, please do...

I finally posted pictures of my Kicker Sub!

[Geo_Journey_2014]

As you can see, not much to look at. if you look close enough at the alternator you will see the new ground and positive wire and ground to the chassis on the shock towers. I used 4 gauge ofc wire, crimped and soldered ring terminals and wrapped it all in heat shrink and flex loom. I wanted it to look like it was put there by the factory. I think it does, except for the fuse holder.

[jkeaton]

I'd love to do something like this, but forget getting any warranty work done if something happens. Luckily yours looks stock still, good work with the loom. I can tell you take pride in your work.

[Geo_Journey_2014]

Thank you. I did it in a way were i can remove it if i do need to make a warranty claim. nothing was cut or removed.the rest of the audio equipment goes in this weekend.

[Geo_Journey_2014]

The install is done! I have successfully added and aftermarket amp and sub on a uconnect system! The only snag i ran into was maintaining a 4 ohm load on the factory head unit. I did this with two 8 om resistors wired in parallel( I could not get 4 ohm resistors at my local radio shack. You must do this on all four channels. I now have a 5 channel amp running my door speakers and a sub. All with out a PAC unit or excessive modifications IT CAN BE DONE!

[jkeaton]

Pics???

[dhh3]

Where did you put your sub? 2 row or 3 row? Pictures, please.

[Geo_Journey_2014]

I will post pics as soon as I can. I will try to get to it asap, but it may have to wait until the weekend. The sub is mounted in a .35 cubic foot enclosure that I built. it fits (barely) under the driver seat facing up. so all you can see from the second row is the carpeted back of the box. The amp and LC7i is mounted to an amp rack that I also built and is covered in carpet. It fits perfectly under the passenger seat. The whole install is pretty stealth. I will take pics once I tie up the wires a little better on the amp side. also I want to mount the resistors to the amp rack to clean things up - its not bad, only visible if you stick your head under the seat, but I want to tidy it up a bit more. I will get pics up ASAP. I am pretty busy during the week.

[Geo_Journey_2014]

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Edited March 3, 2015 by Geo_Journey_2014

[Lobitz68]

I'm curious for more info on the resistor setup...

[Roly]

Geo. Do you have any dimensions on that box?

[Geo_Journey_2014]

The box is 12w x 15d x 5h. with the sub facing up. using .5" mdf. internal volume is .356 cubic feet. the sub is a polk audio mm840 8 inch 250 watts rms. it fits perfect under the seat.

As for the resistors, I had to use two 8 ohm 20 watt non-inductive resistors, only because 4 ohm ones were not available to me at the time. 4 ohm resistors would be ideal. since the head unit requires a 4 ohm load. if you do use resistors I recommend 20 to 50 watts so that they do not get too hot. my resistors are 20 watts each wired in parallel (think "bridged") one lead on positive one on negative, this places a load on the circuit making the stock head unit think there is a speaker attached and it will send a signal. I purchased mine from the local radioshack part number 271-0120. package description reads as follows :

" 8-Ohm Non-Inductive Resistor. 20 watts - 5% tolerance, Non-inductive for audio applications."

hope this helps.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Geo_Journey_2014

[Lobitz68]

good info. did you mount them in the doors? I guess my experience with resistors has been that they get very hot. Wasn't sure how "safe" it would be...

EDIT: So i assume you mounted them before the LOC to show load to the factory wiring?

Edited March 5, 2015 by Lobitz68

[Geo_Journey_2014]

with resistors if you get non inductive wirewound resistors with the ceramic case and rated at a wattage higher than the output of your factory system they wont get too hot. I am using 2 ,8 ohm,20 watt resistors wired in parallel to create a 4 ohm load and a power handling of 40 watts rms. on each channel. the stock uconnect 4.3 is only 15 watts at best. and yes you can mount them anywere,on the stock speaker wires before the loc. I have mine mounted directly to my loc. and they have never even gotten warm, even after a solid 25 minute drive with the system cranked up. Just think, you put the resistor where the factory speaker was then daisy chain a wire from that to the input on your loc. - your head unit sees a load(thinks its a speaker) and sends sound to that channel which is then intercepted by the loc. and then you can send it to your amp or wherever you want. btw , I would look for a resistor designed for use in audio projects as they will be less likely to "color" the sound.

Here is an example of the type of resistors to use.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Geo_Journey_2014

[Kreager34]

I turned the rear compartment into a sub box basically. Worked out well.

[Lobitz68]

I turned the rear compartment into a sub box basically. Worked out well.

the one in the floor with the tire jack under it? I am in the process of building a box in that area right now. Only about enough air space for a 10" though...

[gizzmo13]

I m trying to put two 600 watt subs 6.5 under each seats in front but am at a loss when u guys said to put resistors? What r they for and I do have 4.3 system. Is there any speakers out puts in the back of radio?? And can it handle subs as a factory radio?? Thank u for ur help. I would like to utilize the empty space in the back 3rd row arm rest and cup holder can it handle a amp in there ? Cause it does have a plastic vent to bring in air?? What u think??

[gizzmo13]

Real quick what is the "loc?? And I have 2015 radio 4.3 is it the connect as well??

[Geo_Journey_2014]

I m trying to put two 600 watt subs 6.5 under each seats in front but am at a loss when u guys said to put resistors? What r they for and I do have 4.3 system. Is there any speakers out puts in the back of radio?? And can it handle subs as a factory radio?? Thank u for ur help. I would like to utilize the empty space in the back 3rd row arm rest and cup holder can it handle a amp in there ? Cause it does have a plastic vent to bring in air?? What u think??

The factory 4.3 system will not handle anything but the stock speakers. (maybe some very high sensitivity 6x9's - and I mean maybe) and yes I would have to asume it is the "Uconnect" The resistors are to be connected in place of the factory speakers when using a l.o.c. ( line out converter). And no there are no outputs behind the dash - it is not even worth attempting to open up that dash. If you are not amplifying the door speakers and wish to only add subs, you will need a loc and an amp to drive them. You can get an amp that has speaker level inputs, but I highly recommend a loc. If i were you I would do A LOT of research on car audio systems. before buying anything. Installing aftermarket audio in these cars can be much more difficult than say cars from the 90's or older. I would start by reading up at http://www.bcae1.com/ a lot of good info. I have been messing with car audio as a hobby for 20 years and it was a challenge for me to design and build this system for the Journey. I did it right though, I did not cut one single factory wire and I would recommend that others do the same, you never really know which wire is a power lead and wich is a can-bus line, and you don't want to find out by cutting them. If you don't know what can bus is look it up. Remember A good aftermarket system can be done in these cars but it takes a lot of time, thinking, planning and research. oh yeah money helps too. I spent over $1200 doing my system as I described in the previous posts.

As an update... It has been over a year since my install and everything still works PERFECT I have never blown a fuse, never ran my battery dead, or never overheated my amp, and it still sounds FANTASTIC! very loud, clean and good but not overwhelming bass. Also, I bought my Journey brand new almost two years ago and it has been a great car, no problems with it what so ever.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Geo_Journey_2014