Home Menu

Site Navigation


Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum > > > When the bass line hits...
User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 09-25-2010, 11:41 PM #1
bulger22's Avatar
bulger22 bulger22 is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Age: 40
Posts: 225
bulger22 is an unknown quantity at this point
bulger22 bulger22 is offline
Member
bulger22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Age: 40
Posts: 225
bulger22 is an unknown quantity at this point
When the bass line hits...
The lights go dim?

Battery, alternator, or bad wiring.

Running a 1300 watt amp with a 10" sony 600 watt.
__________________
1997 | SR5 - 3.4L - 4x4 | 265/75/R16 Kumho Road Venture MT's | ToyTec Coilovers/891's | 20% Tint | Velocity Stack Mod | Satoshi Grille |
bulger22 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-25-2010, 11:52 PM #2
NickF's Avatar
NickF NickF is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
NickF NickF is offline
Member
NickF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
Our alternators are underpowered as all hell. You can try to fix the problem by grounding the "big 3" ground wires with some 4 guage wire (rather than the stock small wire) to get a bit more out of it. You can also hook up your amp to a capacitor to level out the voltage a bit for you, so you don't damage your amp/sub when you hit bass notes.

These, however, are cheap fixes that do not address the real problem. In fact, they may get a bit more power out of your existing alternator, but they can actually do damage to it by doing so. Our trucks need more amps! Try to find a high output alternator.

Good luck.
__________________
2011 tC Silver Metallic
6-Speed MT| Lip Spoiler | Fog Lights | Pioneer Radio| Alpine KTP-445 Amp | 2 10" Alpione Type-R Subs| Rockford Fosgate T500 Amp
Ron Paul 2012 R[LOVE]ution
NickF is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:04 AM #3
Elton H's Avatar
Elton H Elton H is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: OREGON
Posts: 2,067
Elton H is on a distinguished road
Elton H Elton H is offline
Senior Member
Elton H's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: OREGON
Posts: 2,067
Elton H is on a distinguished road
ur light should not dim with a sony sounds like u wired your amp wrong
__________________
98 4runner sr5 3.4L 5spd 4x4 e-locker sold 10/2/11
07 tundra 5.7L 4x4 limited dc was my moms r.i.p 3/19/11

Oregon Toyota Owners Club
Elton H is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:06 AM #4
NickF's Avatar
NickF NickF is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
NickF NickF is offline
Member
NickF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
Mine dim too, so no it does not sound like he wired it wrong. My light dim (probably not as bad) and I have a much smaller system than he does. If you dont have this problem then you don't have an external amp that is drawing much of any power.
__________________
2011 tC Silver Metallic
6-Speed MT| Lip Spoiler | Fog Lights | Pioneer Radio| Alpine KTP-445 Amp | 2 10" Alpione Type-R Subs| Rockford Fosgate T500 Amp
Ron Paul 2012 R[LOVE]ution
NickF is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:09 AM #5
Elton H's Avatar
Elton H Elton H is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: OREGON
Posts: 2,067
Elton H is on a distinguished road
Elton H Elton H is offline
Senior Member
Elton H's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: OREGON
Posts: 2,067
Elton H is on a distinguished road
weird mine dont dim
__________________
98 4runner sr5 3.4L 5spd 4x4 e-locker sold 10/2/11
07 tundra 5.7L 4x4 limited dc was my moms r.i.p 3/19/11

Oregon Toyota Owners Club
Elton H is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:11 AM #6
Duhockey's Avatar
Duhockey Duhockey is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado refugee in Idaho
Age: 43
Posts: 2,466
Duhockey will become famous soon enough
Duhockey Duhockey is offline
Senior Member
Duhockey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado refugee in Idaho
Age: 43
Posts: 2,466
Duhockey will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elton H View Post
ur light should not dim with a sony sounds like u wired your amp wrong
Ditto, I think, if I remember correctly, (been a loooong time,) the lights dimming comes from capacitance differences, check to make sure your grounded well and your speaker is capable of whatever impedance your amp is putting out I remember that happening when I was trying to bridge an amp that created a 2 ohm impedance and the speaker was a 4 ohm speaker...

pretty sure thats right... again, its been along time.
__________________
2010 Trail edition w/KDSS, 07 SR5 V8 Build Thread- SOLD, 96 SR5 Build Thread-SOLD
Duhockey is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:16 AM #7
NickF's Avatar
NickF NickF is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
NickF NickF is offline
Member
NickF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 456
NickF is on a distinguished road
They lights don't dim because of forcing a lower impedance load onto your amp, they dim because they are dropping from the charge of the alternator (somewhere around 14.4v) down to battery voltage (around 12v).

Consequently you can do this by lowering your load down to 2 ohms from 4 ohms because in doing so you are theoretically drawing twice the amount of current.
__________________
2011 tC Silver Metallic
6-Speed MT| Lip Spoiler | Fog Lights | Pioneer Radio| Alpine KTP-445 Amp | 2 10" Alpione Type-R Subs| Rockford Fosgate T500 Amp
Ron Paul 2012 R[LOVE]ution
NickF is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 12:21 AM #8
KZN-185's Avatar
KZN-185 KZN-185 is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Tohoku Region, Japan
Posts: 61
KZN-185 is on a distinguished road
KZN-185 KZN-185 is offline
Member
KZN-185's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Tohoku Region, Japan
Posts: 61
KZN-185 is on a distinguished road
As the owner of a good JL audio setup in my other truck I can vouch for the experience.
Number one, yes, the alternator is weak, upgraded windings aren't too expensive at an alternator shop.
Two, I wouldn't waste money on a capacitor, most of the are only 1 farad, will cover you for the initial drop and a faster recovery time. However, if you don't want any dimming at all go with a bat-cap like these kinetic ones. Kinetik High Current Power Cells
You should only need the smallest one, these things are superb! It'll wire in just like a cap but will resist dimming much better.
KZN-185 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 02:18 AM #9
bulger22's Avatar
bulger22 bulger22 is offline
Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Age: 40
Posts: 225
bulger22 is an unknown quantity at this point
bulger22 bulger22 is offline
Member
bulger22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Age: 40
Posts: 225
bulger22 is an unknown quantity at this point
I'll search fora higher alternator I guess and change the wiring guage at the same time.

KZN: i read up a bit on the kinetic cells..but honestly still don't know what the fux they do. I wired this all myself by basic knowledge which has been going good for about a year and it just started dimming tonight. Only thing out of the norm is the weather has gotten colder so somethings trying harder than it was this summer?
__________________
1997 | SR5 - 3.4L - 4x4 | 265/75/R16 Kumho Road Venture MT's | ToyTec Coilovers/891's | 20% Tint | Velocity Stack Mod | Satoshi Grille |
bulger22 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 09-26-2010, 04:48 AM #10
Clemsonfan15's Avatar
Clemsonfan15 Clemsonfan15 is offline
Elite Member
  
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 6,453
Clemsonfan15 will become famous soon enough
Clemsonfan15 Clemsonfan15 is offline
Elite Member
Clemsonfan15's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 6,453
Clemsonfan15 will become famous soon enough
Don't get a cap. They just cover up the problem. Either get the alternator rewound or get a new one if you plan to play it loud constantly.
__________________
Check out my garage.
Clemsonfan15 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Reply

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Forum Jump

» Follow Us!!!
» Log in
User Name:

Password:

Not a member yet?
Register Now!
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:41 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger
 
Toyota - 4Runner . org Forum Terms and Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2020