Subwoofer wiring harness for Kicker amp

[box986]

I have a non-B&O system with factory sub & sub amp. Upgrading to a Kicker KEY500.1 sub amp & an 8" Kicker 2-ohm sub. I have run an 8ga wire from the battery. Is the Enfig harness my only option to plug Kicker amp into my OEM harness? Seems a bit expensive for what it does and am wondering if there are other options or has anyone just made their own? Thank you

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[cmtaz]

If you sub is working (not sub delete) you could:

a) remove the sub and use the output of the factory as the input to the kicker
or
b) disconnect the plug for the factory amp and tap into the inputs to the factory amp as the input to the kicker. You could also use: PAC TR-4 Trigger Module 12-volt solid state relay with 1-second turn-on delay at Crutchfield to turn on the kicker using the ground and hot (which is constant) from the factory amp plug.

option b is better (IMHO), but either should probably work. Option b should make it easier to use a different amp such as: Sound Ordnance™ M350-1 Compact mono subwoofer amplifier — 350 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms at Crutchfield

If you sub is sub delete, you can forscan the radio and activate the sub.

hope this helps

 

[Brian_B]

@cmtaz - I think he’s looking for a plug and play harness to do option B

If you have a MY24 or older - yes, plenty exist.

I don’t have any off hand but I’d start at plugandplaykits.com

If you have a MY25 - they changed the sub and you will need to go a different route - option A cmtaz mentioned before, or pulling an input form the front speaker set - are the best routes right now until they get an A2B amp replacement

 

[RagnarKon]

Most people simply cut off the factory connector.

If you don't want to do that... that's the only harness I'm aware of that uses the factory subwoofer wiring. You can make your own, but the minimum order quantity for the female connector is 1,000 units last I checked... so.... unless you're looking to start a side hustle, probably not worth it.

As @Brian_B mentioned, there are other aftermarket kits that tee off of the front speaker wiring and use that for the subwoofer: Hoel Wiring, Plug-n-Play Kits, etc. Those will bypass the factory subwoofer wiring completely. Most companies go with that approach for their kits because it's compatible with all model years 2021-2025. Easier to stock one SKU rather than have three different SKUs to handle the various model years.

 

[cmtaz]

I would hold off "cutting" the factory plug, but I would use posi-taps and tap into the plug. You never know if you'd want to go back to "factory" for some reason.

 

[box986]

I would hold off "cutting" the factory plug, but I would use posi-taps and tap into the plug. You never know if you'd want to go back to "factory" for some reason.

Are you aware of any wiring diagrams for the harness to know which wires to tap into?

 

[615_Bronco]

Are you aware of any wiring diagrams for the harness to know which wires to tap into?

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...to-add-kicker-key-500-1-and-kicker-sub.79780/

This is what I used for reference when I installed the same amp in my mom’s Bronco

 

[cmtaz]

Are you aware of any wiring diagrams for the harness to know which wires to tap into?

If you buy anything from Crutchfield they will send you the PDF of their master sheets for the Bronco. They are invaluable.

 

[Ford Donkey]

@cmtaz
If you have a MY25 - they changed the sub and you will need to go a different route - option A cmtaz mentioned before, or pulling an input form the front speaker set - are the best routes right now until they get an A2B amp replacement

I have the 2025 Heritage with the working sub & 7 speaker setup. I thought I was just going to be doing a plug & play with the Kicker 500.1 Amp. It sounds like I have more research to do than I thought though. Do you know what the best options I have might be for upgrading my sub? I already installed the Kicker 200.4 in the front and upgraded my other 6 speakers to Kickers, including adding 6.5" pods in the back.

Other than lacking some bass, everything else sounds great now, thanks to @RagnarKon and a YT video he posted where he showed how to change the front wiring harness from running the kick panel and dash speakers in parallel to in-series. That was driving me nuts before I made that change. Huge help! Thanks again.

 

[cmtaz]

There could be harnesses that would allow for a PnP solution, I do not know. Since it sounds like your sub is working, I would recommend getting the sub signal at the sub (preferably via posi-taps or something similar). Since you are using a Key200.4 I would NOT recommend getting the signal at the front kick panels UNLESS you get them from the Kicker's input.

Take a look at option B above: Disconnect subwoofer plug, Posi tap the plug (should be 5 (+/- signal, 12v constant and turn on, ground)) that will activate the PAC TR-4. From there you just wire up your sub amp.

 

[Brian_B]

I have the 2025 Heritage with the working sub & 7 speaker setup. I thought I was just going to be doing a plug & play with the Kicker 500.1 Amp. It sounds like I have more research to do than I thought though. Do you know what the best options I have might be for upgrading my sub? I already installed the Kicker 200.4 in the front and upgraded my other 6 speakers to Kickers, including adding 6.5" pods in the back.

Other than lacking some bass, everything else sounds great now, thanks to @RagnarKon and a YT video he posted where he showed how to change the front wiring harness from running the kick panel and dash speakers in parallel to in-series. That was driving me nuts before I made that change. Huge help! Thanks again.

Right now I’m not aware of any solutions that don’t completely bypass the subwoofer signal - pulling from front speakers right now is all I know that will work.

The subwoofer in 2025 changed from analog to a digital A2B signal. You could tap the amp outputs put you would have to make sure your new amp supports high wattage (the old amp was 55W per channel, not sure what the new one is), and you would have to leave the old amp installed and find a new spot for the new amp.

Or pull a signal from the front speakers, like most of the PnP harnesses do and just ignore the sub output from the APIM

 

[box986]

There could be harnesses that would allow for a PnP solution, I do not know. Since it sounds like your sub is working, I would recommend getting the sub signal at the sub (preferably via posi-taps or something similar). Since you are using a Key200.4 I would NOT recommend getting the signal at the front kick panels UNLESS you get them from the Kicker's input.

Take a look at option B above: Disconnect subwoofer plug, Posi tap the plug (should be 5 (+/- signal, 12v constant and turn on, ground)) that will activate the PAC TR-4. From there you just wire up your sub amp.

So that relay is required because the OEM remote turn-on wire voltage is less that 12V & won't turn on the Kicker amp without the relay?

 

[Brian_B]

So that relay is required because the OEM remote turn-on wire voltage is less that 12V & won't turn on the Kicker amp without the relay?

I know some people using Fusion amps were having trouble with the turn on signal - but yes, the voltage Ford sends down the stock harness is only 6v or something. Not sure if Kickers have the same problem

 

[cmtaz]

I know some people using Fusion amps were having trouble with the turn on signal - but yes, the voltage Ford sends down the stock harness is only 6v or something. Not sure if Kickers have the same problem

correct, I think I measured it at 5.x. It is a simple 4 wire hookup. the low voltage turn on, ground & 12volt. All of these could come from the factory subwoofer connector. Factory sub's 12volt is constant hot and can certainly power the relay. A real amp would need an 8 +/- gauge wire run from the battery. The kicker "might" turn on, it would if you were using the speaker level inputs, for 15$ it's probably easier to use the relay.

 

[Ford Donkey]

Right now I’m not aware of any solutions that don’t completely bypass the subwoofer signal - pulling from front speakers right now is all I know that will work.

The subwoofer in 2025 changed from analog to a digital A2B signal. You could tap the amp outputs put you would have to make sure your new amp supports high wattage (the old amp was 55W per channel, not sure what the new one is), and you would have to leave the old amp installed and find a new spot for the new amp.

Or pull a signal from the front speakers, like most of the PnP harnesses do and just ignore the sub output from the APIM

Thanks. I think I will just do the bypass route and run a new harness that pulls from the front speakers. Would that have an effect on the wattage going to those front speakers though? Would it degrade the front audio in any way?

Currently, I have the plugandplaykits.com kit #11-1 installed with my 200.4 Kicker Key amp running the other 6 speakers. But it sounds like I got the wrong harness for what I want to do if I'm going to bypass my currently working amp/wiring and install the Kicker 500.1 sub amp.

This is the one I currently have:

KIT 11-1 KICKER KEY 180/200.4 HARNESS ONLY $225

But since I want to upgrade my sub and I'm bypassing my A2B sub wiring, would this be the kit I need to swap it with?

KIT 11-4 KICKER KEY HARNESS 180/200.4 ONLY WITH 17 FT HIGH LEVEL INPUT CABLE WITH LOAD RESISTOR FOR SUB AMP POWERED SUB INSTALL $ 275

Or would I need this one? The images look the same to me, but the description and prices are different. The first one says it has a load resistor, but I don't know enough about this stuff to know if I need that or not.

KIT 19 -1 KICKER KEY 200.4 AND KICKER KEY 500.1 17 FT PLUG & PLAY HARNESS ONLY. POWER & GROUND REQUIRED FOR 500.1 $285

Or am I on the wrong track here and in need of something else entirely? Maybe I just need something like this and some wire?

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