I am starting to install systems in peoples cars. I have done two for my sister and one for my friend, plus I have done whatever I can in my truck. I've had no problems and found it pretty easy. My other friends have seen my work and want me to hook up there stuff to. Should I just do it for free and get experiance or... charge them a small amount. What do you think?
Replies (10)
ttocs on 07/27/2004 23:02:59
I have been installing for 7 yrs and still do not charge buddies. Sometimes the buy my dinner here or there but never taken money with one exception. It was a rather large alarm and he was very generous and paid more then I wanted to take.
Get an idea of what it would cost in your area, and figure it out from there. If you want to do it for money keep it honest, you can still save them money...
UKinstaller on 07/27/2004 23:57:54
i charge people 20 bucks for a radio whenever i do a side job, maybe 30 if i know it's gonna be a pain in the butt like an early 90's buick lesabre or a newer cavalier or something. i don't charge my good friends, but i do charge people that i don't know very well.
as for systems, i charge about 30 bucks, speakers i charge 15 bucks a pair, and alarms i charge about 50 bucks.
so if i were you, i would charge people, because you are still saving them money, and you are making some for yourself. plus, you get experience.
oh yeah, i'm only saying this because you are new, but in case you do it now, please don't ever run a power wire through a door or wheel-well or anything other than the firewall. it looks terrible and can really mess things up if it gets pinched w/ the door.
if you ever have any questions, post and somebody here will answer you. good luck and have fun installing. i am pretty good at installing, but suck at troubleshooting and know very little about subs, amps, speakers, etc. other than how to install them. swez, cplkittie, ttocs, uochronos and others know a lot of stuff, and there is no question that can be asked that no one can answer.
take it easy,
-UK
ttocs on 07/28/2004 10:15:00
wheel well? I though I had seen everything.......
uochronos on 07/28/2004 12:55:06
i saw a friend of a friends instal and he ran the power wire all the way along the under side of the car then drilled threw the floor pan in the trunk and pulled it in... he did not seem to see why this was strange. but i certainly found it interesting.
Bigeazy4387 on 07/28/2004 16:09:23
i run my power through the wheel well of course its behind the covering and covered with plastic so it is possible
P0werLifter on 07/28/2004 16:43:08
Yah i ran my 0 Guage Power Wire underneath the truck in the frame rail in some conduit that was tied to the frame so nothing can snag on it then drilled a hole in the bottom of the floor board inserted a rubber gromit then ran the wiring in the back of my cab. 0 Guage is to bulky in my opinion to run inside the cab without being noticable. So far its been just fine. Prior to that i had my other wiring run through the firewall.
Jason
UKinstaller on 07/28/2004 21:58:26
yeah i helped a friend run 0 gage under his mustang through some conduit, and it turned out nice. but that's because it's impossible to adequately bend that stuff and it is so huge that it would look ridiculous under the carpet.
bottom line is, in my opinion, it's firewall or nothin, unless it is 0 gage that can safely be run under the car. anything else would be uncivilized....
-UK
oldmazda on 07/28/2004 23:28:19
when you guys say conduit what exactly do you mean? not EMT or nothing. I just started apprenticing to become an electrician and i have only heard conduit being said with respect to EMT. i have seen some of my co-workers run their wires through EMT or PVC but when i heard this i thought it was just stupid. for my amp power which i run along the frame of my truck and up through the floorpan i just use some of those plastic casings you can pick up at an autoparts store. sorry if this seems like a retarded question but i was just wondering.
UKinstaller on 07/29/2004 02:20:43
it's kinda like slightly flexible PVC pipe that you can safely run wire through. i've only used it that one time. if at all possible you should keep all components of a sound system inside the car, except of course the power wire from the battery to the firewall.
it seems like it would be so much more work to run a wire under a car, anyway. trim panels for hiding wire are very easy to take apart in most cases. too much work for me!
-UK
P0werLifter on 07/29/2004 03:12:17
I generally talk about conduit in reference to either rigid, or semi flexible conduit. I used the Semi Flex conduit to run underneath my truck like UK said. It was a bit more work than running it through the firewall but 0 guage would be to much of a hassle not to mension trying to hide it under the carpet would be ridiculous GRIN All good =)
Replies (10)
ttocs on 07/27/2004 23:02:59
I have been installing for 7 yrs and still do not charge buddies. Sometimes the buy my dinner here or there but never taken money with one exception. It was a rather large alarm and he was very generous and paid more then I wanted to take.
Get an idea of what it would cost in your area, and figure it out from there. If you want to do it for money keep it honest, you can still save them money...
UKinstaller on 07/27/2004 23:57:54
i charge people 20 bucks for a radio whenever i do a side job, maybe 30 if i know it's gonna be a pain in the butt like an early 90's buick lesabre or a newer cavalier or something. i don't charge my good friends, but i do charge people that i don't know very well.
as for systems, i charge about 30 bucks, speakers i charge 15 bucks a pair, and alarms i charge about 50 bucks.
so if i were you, i would charge people, because you are still saving them money, and you are making some for yourself. plus, you get experience.
oh yeah, i'm only saying this because you are new, but in case you do it now, please don't ever run a power wire through a door or wheel-well or anything other than the firewall. it looks terrible and can really mess things up if it gets pinched w/ the door.
if you ever have any questions, post and somebody here will answer you. good luck and have fun installing. i am pretty good at installing, but suck at troubleshooting and know very little about subs, amps, speakers, etc. other than how to install them. swez, cplkittie, ttocs, uochronos and others know a lot of stuff, and there is no question that can be asked that no one can answer.
take it easy,
-UK
ttocs on 07/28/2004 10:15:00
wheel well? I though I had seen everything.......
uochronos on 07/28/2004 12:55:06
i saw a friend of a friends instal and he ran the power wire all the way along the under side of the car then drilled threw the floor pan in the trunk and pulled it in... he did not seem to see why this was strange. but i certainly found it interesting.
Bigeazy4387 on 07/28/2004 16:09:23
i run my power through the wheel well of course its behind the covering and covered with plastic so it is possible
P0werLifter on 07/28/2004 16:43:08
Yah i ran my 0 Guage Power Wire underneath the truck in the frame rail in some conduit that was tied to the frame so nothing can snag on it then drilled a hole in the bottom of the floor board inserted a rubber gromit then ran the wiring in the back of my cab. 0 Guage is to bulky in my opinion to run inside the cab without being noticable. So far its been just fine. Prior to that i had my other wiring run through the firewall.
Jason
UKinstaller on 07/28/2004 21:58:26
yeah i helped a friend run 0 gage under his mustang through some conduit, and it turned out nice. but that's because it's impossible to adequately bend that stuff and it is so huge that it would look ridiculous under the carpet.
bottom line is, in my opinion, it's firewall or nothin, unless it is 0 gage that can safely be run under the car. anything else would be uncivilized....
-UK
oldmazda on 07/28/2004 23:28:19
when you guys say conduit what exactly do you mean? not EMT or nothing. I just started apprenticing to become an electrician and i have only heard conduit being said with respect to EMT. i have seen some of my co-workers run their wires through EMT or PVC but when i heard this i thought it was just stupid. for my amp power which i run along the frame of my truck and up through the floorpan i just use some of those plastic casings you can pick up at an autoparts store. sorry if this seems like a retarded question but i was just wondering.
UKinstaller on 07/29/2004 02:20:43
it's kinda like slightly flexible PVC pipe that you can safely run wire through. i've only used it that one time. if at all possible you should keep all components of a sound system inside the car, except of course the power wire from the battery to the firewall.
it seems like it would be so much more work to run a wire under a car, anyway. trim panels for hiding wire are very easy to take apart in most cases. too much work for me!
-UK
P0werLifter on 07/29/2004 03:12:17
I generally talk about conduit in reference to either rigid, or semi flexible conduit. I used the Semi Flex conduit to run underneath my truck like UK said. It was a bit more work than running it through the firewall but 0 guage would be to much of a hassle not to mension trying to hide it under the carpet would be ridiculous GRIN All good =)
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