Is it safe to put a ground under the carpet, or do i have to cut a hole around the ground? Also, i watched an instructional video on grounding a long time ago, and i remember the guy putting 3 or 4 screws in the ring terminal to keep it down. Is that alright, or do i have to bolt?

I'm putting the ground (1/0) where my jack used to be under the backseat of my dodge ram. I know its safe to drill there because there are bolts already there for a bracket to hold the jack.

depend on what you are powering that may be fine...... me my self i dirlled a whole ran 2 0 gauge wires down to the frame and self taped bolts into it... AFTER of course grinding down to steel... and then painting over it after i was done..

As long as the area is clean of paint and oil and you heat shrink the connection of the wire to the ring terminal, you should be fine.

Just use one bolt on the ring terminal. Make sure it's secure.

To heat shrink the ground wire, do i just put a piece of shrink tube half on my ground wire and half on the ring terminal entrance, and heat it? should i solder?

To heat shrink the ground wire, do i just put a piece of shrink tube half on my ground wire and half on the ring terminal entrance, and heat it? should i solder?

yup on both

If you get good ring crimps, and correctly crimp them onto the wire i would NOT suggest soldering.

Copper on copper is actually a better conductor than solder, not to mention it's silly to rely on solder for structural/mechanical purposes. (it's not meant to!) So if it conducts worse than copper crimps, and shouldn't be relied on for mechanically holding the terminal to the wire, what is the use?

It's a somewhat controversial topic (though I don't know why) but when you add in the fact that most people will solder it incorrectly anyways, it's actually a no-brainer.

But DO find a good solid place for your ground, and get to bare metal. Use one bolt, as large as will fit through the hole in your ring terminal and make sure it's tight. Just remember if your ground fails, your amp fry. That should motivate you.

I solder all of my power and ground terminals now...I make sure its done right though and not cold soldered.

Thanks crey-c for the ring crimp suggestion, i wasn't feeling to confident about soldering to tell you the truth haha.

Edit: just realized, why would i crimp the wire just to go straight from the amp to the ground a foot away?

Edited April 17, 200817 yr by QuestionMan