Stereo & Electronics - the "Big 3" question

I see you guys referring to the "Big 3" as far as an upgrade. What "3" are you upgrading and with what size cable?

If I hear one more person talk about "The Big Three", I'm going to reach through my internet connection and slap them.

Not aimed at you, Stephen, but on countless boards, people talk about the big 3, like it's some magical mod that improves your stereo performance

Generally, it refers to the positive charging lead from the alternator to the battery, the ground cable from the chassis to the battery, and sometimes either the engine to battery or engine to chassis lead, which ever applies to the car.

In my show car firehawk, I have upgraded the wire to the alternator to 4 guage, the ground to chassis to 0 guage, and the power cable to the under hood fuses to dual 8 guage (battery terminal did not have another 4 guage out).
It was done purely from the aspect of being a complete system upgrade, for maximum points in stereo shows.

I'm getting ready to do a nice system in my daily driver, a Buick Regal, and I can tell you now, the factory wiring will not be upgraded. In 90% of all cases, there's simply no need. The length of the wires used under the hood are short enough that they can easily handle the extra current of the system without a noticable voltage drop. Sure, there are those 10% of completely insane systems that may benefit from upgrading alternator and chassis ground wires. But when I see everyone with an amp or 2 talking about "the big 3" like it's a magical cure for all of your electrical problems, I just shake my head and wonder where all of the miss-information comes from.

mike

Thanks mike for the info.

I don't run a huge aftermarket stereo in my Z. A small 22 watt amp on an 8" bazooka tube. I also do not have electrical problems.

I just kept reading about people saying you should upgrade the big 3. I was thinking that it would help out the charging system better than the stock wiring does.
But if it is not going to make any real difference then I won't go thru the trouble to do it.

Like Mike said in most cases it's not needed. I noticed a slight increase of voltage doing it but no performance gain at all.

Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.

Like Mike said in most cases it's not needed. I noticed a slight increase of voltage doing it but no performance gain at all.

Honestly the main wire to replace is the stupid braided chassis ground coming from the alternator. I couldn't believe how small that thing was. I just ran another ground from a bolt on the block to the chassis.

Are you talking about the braided wire that goes by the alternator? I do not have a ground wire on the alternator.

I thought the alternator grounded through the engine block, and then to the chassis ? I don't recall seeing an alternator ground last time I looked either.

My bad, yes the braided ground that goes by the alternator to the block. Guessing it rounds out to like 12 guage or something. Really flimsy.

My bad, yes the braided ground that goes by the alternator to the block. Guessing it rounds out to like 12 guage or something. Really flimsy.

I have seen a couple of those and thought about upgrading them to 8g wire.

I have seen a couple of those and thought about upgrading them to 8g wire.

Some of the newer vehicles already have 4 or 8 guage running from the alt to the battery and the battery to the chasis.

in our cars, I think the alt to battery is about 6 guage, the battery to chassis is thin, but it's so short I'm sure it's effect is negligible.