Wiring amp into 2010 Tundra without JBL

Adding an amp to a vehicle for the first time. I purchased the harness adapters and am soldering everything together. Is it expected to have unused wires? In the attached pic you can see the following wires not being used:

Head Unit Side:
Yellow (Constant Power)
2x - Orange (Dimmer) - one from each plug
Red (Ignition Switched)
Blue (Power Antenna)
Blue/White (Amp Turn on)
Black (Ground)

Left most plug in picture:
Yellow (Constant Power)
Orange (Dimmer)
Red (Ignition Switched)
Blue (Power Antenna) - UNUSED
Black (Ground)

Is this looking right? Do I leave the wires unused or do I run connections around the amp? I am mainly thinking that I need to run the "amp turn on" coming out the head unit to the "remote turn on" coming out of the left side of the amp. I did search to get this far but am unsure which wires remain unused. Any help appreciated.

 

If that is a Kicker Key 200.4, it has DC offset sensing turn on so you shouldn't need to worry about a remote wire. It wouldn't hurt to connect the remote wire from the head unit and leftmost harness to the amp, but it's probably not necessary. Without checking wire colors, it looks like you've got the output from your head unit wired to the amp correctly via high level input, and the output of the amp wired correctly to your trucks speaker wire harnesses. Someone else more familiar with a 2010 can chime in, but I think to complete your wiring you need to do this:


Kicker recommends 12 or 10 gauge power and ground wires. If you can find a good ground in the dash, you could ground it there using the existing short black wire coming from the amp by crimping a ring terminal on the end of it. The easiest/cheapest thing to do would probably be to get a small amp wiring kit like this for $20:Crutchfield CK12 12-gauge wiring kit for small compact amps and high-power car stereos — includes power wiring only at Crutchfield. This would be perfect as it supports up to 220w RMS, and you have 200w RMS.

If you wanted to DIY it or have parts on hand, you could also buy 10-15 feet each of 12 or 10 gauge red and black wire, 2 ring terminals, and an inline fuse or a fuse holder, a 2 amp fuse, and some wire loom. The Crutchfield kit has a 6' ground wire which should be plenty to reach a ground somewhere in the cab. It has a 17' power wire which will be more than enough to get through the firewall and to your battery and it has an inline fuse holder and ring terminals already installed.

 

Wow man! I REALLY appreciate the input. Your diagram clears things up for me. I was worried about hooking it up incorrectly and frying something behind the dash. I am also installing a dc/dc charger in the cab, so I already have a fused 4 AWG wire run from battery to under the passenger seat that I will tap into for amp and charger. Ground wire shouldn't be too hard, hopefully I can find something easily accessible behind the dash. Should have this wired up over the weekend to finally have some good sounding tunes in the truck. Thank you again.

 

No problem. Just be sure to disconnect your battery negative while you're plugging everything in etc. Even though your 4 gauge wire from your battery to under seat is fused, you will still want to have a fuse between there your amp. How many watts is your AC/DC converter? If you will be using that 4 gauge wire to supply power for both the AC/DC converter, and your Kicker amp, you ABSOLUTELY NEED to use a fused distribution block under your passenger seat. Just like if you were to install 2 amplifiers rather than one amp and a DC converter, a fused distribution block is an absolute must. The only way around this is to run a dedicated fused power wire (like in the amp kit) directly to your amplifier. If you are sharing one power wire for 2 things, you need a fused distribution block or you will be playing with fire, literally lol. Depending on how many watts your converter is, and how long your 4 gauge power wire is, it might not be safe to share the wire, but it probably is. I would still recommend getting the amp kit I linked or a similar one, and then also getting a fused distribution block with the appropriate size fuses. Your power wire from your battery to your power converter should already have a fuse in place. If it does not, you absolutely need to add one. If it's safe to share the wire with your amp, the fuse near your battery needs to equal the fuses in your distribution block. Your main power wire will allow up to 80 amps to run through it. At the distribution block, one side will go to your power converter, and the other will go to your new amp. The fuse sizes below are examples (the Kicker one is accurate at 20 amps). This is generally how you would wire it up so long as you power converter isn't super high wattage:



If your power converter is high wattage, and it is not safe to share the main power wire with your amp, your two options would either be to upgrade the 4 gauge wire to a bigger wire, or run the amp power wire from the battery directly to the amp.

 

Sorry idk why the picture posted twice. I deleted it and added that the 12 or 10 gauge wire routes back up to your amp for clarity. Ignore the bottom pic it is the same minus that.

Also, here are the cheapest options for a wiring kit, fuse holder for near battery, and fused distribution block for under your seat. If it's safe to share your main power wire, I would still buy an amp kit just because it will be the cheapest way to get all the parts you need. If you share your main power wire, you could leave the inline fuse or cut it off.

$12 Scosche Install Centric ICAK12 True 12 Gauge Hybrid OFC 2-Channel High Current Amplifier Wiring Kit Accessory Installation Wiring Kit for Boat, Motorcycles, ATV’s and UTV’s

Amazon.com: Scosche Install Centric ICAK12 True 12 Gauge Hybrid OFC 2-Channel High Current Amplifier Wiring Kit Accessory Installation Wiring Kit for Boat, Motorcycles, ATV’s and UTV’s : Everything Else

$17 Recoil MFH12 2 Way Mini-ANL Fused Distribution Block, 1 X 0/2/4 Gauge in / 2 X 4/8 Gauge Out Fused Distribution Block with 60A, 80A, 100A Fuses, Solid Brass for Maximum Power Transfer

Amazon.com: Recoil MFH12 2 Way Mini-ANL Fused Distribution Block, 1 X 0/2/4 Gauge in / 2 X 4/8 Gauge Out Fused Distribution Block with 60A, 80A, 100A Fuses, Solid Brass for Maximum Power Transfer : Electronics

$8 AgClover In-Line Fuse Holder for 4/8 Gauge Mini ANL AFS inline fuse holder with Two Reducer for Automotive Marine, Auto Parts, Car Audio, Amplifier, Compressors, Industrial, Motorcycle

AgClover In-Line Fuse Holder for 4/8 Gauge Mini ANL AFS inline fuse holder with Two Reducer for Automotive Marine, Auto Parts, Car Audio, Amplifier, Compressors, Industrial, Motorcycle: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

 

I am actually using

Victron Energy DC-DC Converter, 20A Non-Isolated, Blue, 12V-24V

victron DC/DC converter, not a charger as I mentioned preivously. It is to fool my ecoflow battery that it is connected to solar so that it will quick charge. Should be around 400-450 watts. I have 4 awg with 60A fuse (15 inches from battery) running to

$54 Victron Energy Smart BatteryProtect 12/24-Volt 65 amp (Bluetooth)

victron smart switch under passenger seat which is being used as "distribution block". From there, both power leads will also be fused to charger and amp. Power wire run from battery to smart switch is about 16 feet. I started this project about 9 months ago (finally had the money to buy all the pieces) and did the maths at the time. Hoping it will work, but I can also throttle down the charging on the charger if required.

Really appreciate the input man

 

Ahh gotcha. Not familiar with either of those, but if your main wire is ~16 feet and supplying 450w for your converter and 200w for your amp, 4 gauge will definitely be sufficient, and as long as you're fusing between that switch and your converter you should be golden.