Urgent: Big 3 ground & power upgrade question

[CZ Eddie]

URGENT: Big 3 ground & power upgrade question

I'm in the middle of doing the "Big 3" upgrade RIGHT NOW to my electrical system and I came across a huge question. I've gotta get all this done by tonight.

Everywhere I googled, I see folks going from the battery (+) to the charging post on the Alternator.

BUT... on my '99 4Runner Limited 2WD, when I trace the stock wiring, it goes from my battery to my fuse box and THEN to the alternator charging post.

So I'm confused on what to do here. If I bypass the fuse box, then the fuses don't get power?

Also, the larger guage (+) coming off my battery is going down PAST the alternator and under the engine somewhere. What do I do with that one?

 

[CZ Eddie]

Okay, I calmed down...smoked a cig, chatted with a neighbor and then went back to it. I think I've got it figured out.

I go from (+) battery to the fuse box using stock cable and then run ANOTHER cable (0 gauge) from (+) battery directly to the charging post on the alternator.
Yeah, that should work just fine.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Okay, I calmed down...smoked a cig, chatted with a neighbor and then went back to it. I think I've got it figured out.

I go from (+) battery to the fuse box using stock cable and then run ANOTHER cable (0 gauge) from (+) battery directly to the charging post on the alternator.
Yeah, that should work just fine.

Sounds like you got it right. Also be sure you sand down your grounding point when you upgrade the batt(-) to chassis cable.

 

[CZ Eddie]

Thanks.

Btw, it seems the large gauge (+) coming off the battery and going under the engine, is attaching to the Engine Starter.
That kinda messes up my battery terminal connections.

For (+) battery terminal, I need the following connections:

1) ~8 gauge to Fusebox
2) ~0 gauge (was the plan) to Alternator Charging Post
3) ~0 or 4 gauge (not sure the size yet) to Engine Starter
4) ~0 or 4 gauge to car stereo amplifiers in the back of 4Runner

So anyone buying battery terminal posts may want to keep this in mind. My fancy terminal posts only have two 8awg, one 4awg and one 0awg. Which leaves me one 0awg short of a clean looking terminal connection.

 

[hrt4me]

did you happen to take any photos along the way?

 

[CZ Eddie]

I only took a couple pics. It was a rush job. Definitely a full afternoon.

But that's because I got screwed up/confused on the wiring for a little while. And I also replaced my stock 70 amp alternator with a Corvette 140 amp alternator.

Freaking huge difference after all is done and said. But at 140k miles, my '99 stock alternator was probably getting tired.
But my lights are brighter. Engine *seems to pick up faster (could be my imagination?). And bass hits harder.
All with a semi-tired battery.

Pretty pleased with the upgrades so far. I'll try to post the few pics I took, sometime tomorrow.

 

[Singtoe]

Did you replace the alternator fuse?