What Makes a Quality Car Audio Installation? The Details You Don’t See
When you pick up your vehicle after an installation, you see the finished product. Maybe it is a new stereo, upgraded speakers, lighting, a remote start system, or another vehicle accessory. What you probably do not see are the hundreds of little decisions that went into installing it.
At Auto Additions, those details matter to us.
We have spent years working on vehicles and learning what holds up, what does not, and where taking a little more time during an installation can make a big difference down the road. That affects everything from the type of wire ties we use to the way we make electrical connections.
A less expensive part or quicker installation method might work today. Our concern is what happens after that vehicle has gone through Illinois summers, freezing winters, moisture, vibration, and years of everyday use.
That is why we put so much thought into the parts of an installation you may never see.
Why Installation Quality Matters as Much as the Product
Customers naturally spend a lot of time thinking about the product they are buying. That makes sense. If you are upgrading your car audio system, for example, you want to know about speakers, amplifiers, radios, features, and sound quality.
But there is another question worth asking: How is all of it going to be installed?
We believe a quality product deserves a quality installation. A good installation should not simply work when the vehicle leaves our shop. We want to build it with longevity, reliability, and safety in mind.
That means thinking about where wires are routed, how connections are made, how modules are secured, what materials are exposed to moisture, and even what kind of fastener is holding something in place.
These are small details individually. Together, they make up the installation.
Why We Solder Automotive Wiring Connections
One example is the way we make many of our wiring connections. At Auto Additions, we solder our connections and cover the soldered connection with heat shrink. We are not talking about just any heat shrink, either. We use adhesive-lined heat shrink.
As the heat shrink is heated around the wire, the adhesive inside helps seal the connection. That becomes particularly important in areas where wiring could be exposed to moisture.
Why do we care so much about keeping water out? Corrosion. Moisture getting into an electrical connection can create problems over time. We would rather address that possibility while we are doing the installation than have it become an issue later. Could simply crimping certain connections together be faster? Sure. Soldering takes additional time.
We demonstrated this in the shop by soldering a connection and then trying to physically pull the wires apart. The connection held. That extra effort is intentional.
Good Automotive Wiring Is Also About Protecting the Wire
Making a solid electrical connection is only one part of the job. We also have to think about what happens to that wire once it is routed through the vehicle.
Vehicles are not gentle environments for wiring. There can be heat, vibration, movement, sharp surfaces, moisture, and major temperature swings. A wire that looks perfectly fine on installation day still needs to be protected from those conditions.
That is one reason we use harnessing tape when running wiring through a vehicle. The tape helps bundle wiring together neatly, but appearance is only part of the reason for using it. The material is abrasion resistant, helping protect wires from being nicked when they are routed near surfaces that could otherwise damage them.
For exterior applications, we can use an even tougher tape designed with higher-temperature adhesive. Again, most customers will probably never see it. That does not make it unimportant.
Even the Wire Ties Matter
Here is a good example of something almost nobody thinks about when choosing an automotive electronics installer: wire ties.
We do. We use a specific flexible, military-spec wire tie rather than simply buying the cheapest option available.
Why put that much thought into a wire tie? Because wire ties actually have an important job inside a vehicle. We may use them to keep wiring away from a heat source, prevent wires from dropping down, or secure modules underneath the dashboard.
Imagine a module being secured underneath the dash. If the wire tie holding it eventually becomes brittle and breaks, that module could potentially drop toward the pedal area.
That turns a tiny component of a car audio installation into a safety consideration.
We have compared the wire ties we use with cheaper alternatives in the shop. Some inexpensive ties are much less flexible and can bend and break. Then consider what happens after that material spends a year or more going through the hot and cold temperatures inside a vehicle.
Those are the kinds of things we think about.
Choosing Materials That Help Fight Corrosion
The same philosophy applies under the hood. We use tin-plated copper ring terminals in applications where corrosion is a concern. The plating provides additional protection compared with leaving copper exposed.
A connection underneath the hood has to live in a much different environment than something sitting safely inside your home. Heat, moisture, temperature changes, vibration, and exposure all matter.
So when we choose a connector, terminal, tape, or other material, we are not only asking whether it works. We are asking whether it is appropriate for where we are putting it.
Why Ferrules Can Make Amplifier Connections Cleaner
When connecting certain wires to equipment such as an amplifier, another small detail can make a difference. If you strip a stranded wire and insert it directly into a terminal, individual strands can potentially spread or fray.
We use ferrules in applications where they make sense to help prevent that. The ferrule creates a sleeve around the stripped wire strands. We then use a dedicated crimping tool to crimp it properly. The result keeps the strands together and creates a clean, tidy connection going into the terminal.
It may seem like an insignificant detail, especially once everything is installed and out of sight. To us, it is part of doing the job correctly.
Watertight Connections Matter in the Right Applications
There are also situations where we need a connection that can be disconnected but still needs protection from water.
One solution we use is a Deutsch connector. These connectors incorporate silicone seals around the pins and wiring to create a watertight connection. We use them frequently under the hood and in motorcycle applications.
Motorcycle bags are a good example. If you have wiring going to a removable bag, the connection needs to come apart when the bag is removed. A couple of basic connectors that push together may accomplish the disconnect, but they do not necessarily provide the same sealed connection.
A Deutsch connector costs more. It also requires the proper pins and a crimper designed specifically for those pins. We think the added expense is worthwhile when the application calls for it because our goal is not simply to finish the installation. We want that installation to last.
The Right Crimper for the Right Connection
If you looked around our shop, you would find more than one crimping tool. There is a reason for that.
Different connectors and different sizes of wiring call for different tools. We have specialized crimpers for specific connector pins, hydraulic crimpers for heavier connections, and cordless crimping equipment.
It can be tempting to think of crimping as simply squeezing two pieces together.
A proper connection is more precise than that.
For certain connectors, the pin has to sit in a specific position and be crimped correctly before it is inserted into the connector. On heavier wiring, we want a strong, solid connection that we do not have to worry about pulling apart.
Having the proper tool helps us make the connection the way it was intended to be made.
Sometimes a Sheet Metal Screw Is Not Good Enough
Electrical connections are not the only place where we think about long-term durability.
How components are physically mounted matters too.
One option we use is a threaded rivet. Rather than simply putting a screw directly into a piece of sheet metal, we can drill the appropriate hole, insert the threaded rivet, and crimp it into the metal.
Once installed, it creates a solid threaded mounting point where we can use a bolt.
We prefer that approach in applications where we want something that will hold up better than simply running a sheet metal screw into the vehicle.
It takes another tool. It takes another step.
There is a reason we do it.
The Best Parts of a Car Audio Installation May Be the Ones You Never See
We know most customers are probably not going to crawl underneath their dashboard to inspect a wire tie. They may never see the harness tape protecting their wiring or the adhesive inside a piece of heat shrink. They may not know there is a threaded rivet behind a panel or a sealed connector under the hood.
That is okay. Our job is to think about those things for you. At Auto Additions, we have learned through hands-on experience that installation quality lives in the details. We choose materials and methods based on what we believe will help us create a safer, cleaner, longer-lasting installation.
Sometimes that means using a more expensive connector. Sometimes it means reaching for a specialized tool. Sometimes it means taking longer to solder and seal a connection instead of choosing the quickest option.
You may never see those extra steps when you look at the finished vehicle.
But years from now, that is exactly the point.
If you are looking for professional automotive electronics and accessory installation in Springfield, Illinois, contact Auto Additions to talk with our team about what you want to add to your vehicle.
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