Car Stereos: 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Aftermarket System, dodge ram 1500, inline fuse

Question
Hi, I just bought a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the extended cab. It has the stock infinity sound system and I was wondering how to hook up an aftermarket amp and subwoofer and to hook up my door speakers to the amp. I know how to hook the aftermarket cd player up with the blue wires, but I'm not sure about the rest. Thanks!

Answer
Callie,  I don't know if you mean about the blue wires, but you should not be wiring anything up with the blue or blue/white stripe wires coming from the radio.  No. No. No.  If you need a power wire, or a switched power wire, use the same wire that is turning on your radio.  As for the sub and sub amp, I would suggest splicing into your rear speaker wires right by the rear speakers.  Ground the amp as close to the amp as possible.  Run a switched wire from the spliced wire switching the radio on to switch on the amp.  Run a power wire through the firewall (with a grommet) to the battery, and put an inline fuse within a foot of the battery.  To put an amp on the front door speakers, it is easiest to reroute the wires right behind the radio to the amp.  Then, hook up the speaker side of the leads to the amplified side of the amp.  This way, you don't have to try and run wires through the door jams.  If you want to use the same amp for the door speakers that you are using for the subs, your high volumes will be much louder than your low volumes, unless your amp has low pass filters and separate gain controls for front and rear channels.  Hope this helps, Scott