dru

I wanted to add rear speakers to my 2005 chevy express 2500 and wanted to know if anyone has added speakersand if so how and what size?

JohnSC

I put 6x9s in the lower rear doors for an 06. It had the openings already. I had to cut out a piece of wood then mounted that to the back of the door panel with screws through the plastic. Yours might have the speakers boxes back there.

There are also upper speakers above the doors in mine 4x6 that I didn't even know were in there until I installed a new stereo.

There was also only one factory wire to the left lower door speaker, the right side didn't have a factory wire installed. So that means they have one 6x9 in lower left back door and two 4x6 above the doors.

Okole

Sorry to drag up an old thread, I'm a new member.

I Just bought a 2000 Express LS passenger van with all the options! Low miles and great price!

The rear doors have what look like a 6"x9" in each door, low down near the floor.
Edit: And I just found the upper rear speakers above the doores - look like 4x6's

Aloha!

Don Lanteigne

Although this is an old post, I will explain what I did (am doing) in case someone wants to read this another time. I am literally in the process of doing just that. It's not that easy and if you aren't handy at this stuff then my way is probably not for you. I have a cargo van. I never had the plastic inside door panels, however; I just bought some from a local junkyard (4 of them pus two other parts for $55, would've been over $400 if purchased new from a dealer). Although I bought the panels, I wasn't sure I would use them because they don't have a flat surface. Since they only cost ten bucks a panel, I decided to cut them into the panel to see how it would work out. It's not perfect but it worked out great and looks decent as well. You have to get crafty with the panel to make this work. First, I'm using 6x9 speakers, anything less will just be too little or weak. My other option would've been to use a piece of luan (a quarter inch laminate wood) and make that my door panel. So run the speaker wires from the radio all the way down to the back to both doors. I ran them both down the drivers side since the existing wiring is already there. For the drivers side rear door, there is no rubber conduit that houses any wiring that leads out to the door because no wiring does go out to the door, so I picked one up from the junkyard and will be installing it. I mounted the speakers with the long ends pointing up and down (otherwise I would have to put them down low where not only they not sound their best there, but also to help keep them from getting damaged by things you have stored in the back) into the panel as high as I could on the top left so the speaker magnet would fit in the door hole. It was close but still hit the door, a little metal manipulation with a hammer made it fit nicely. Using the template that came with the speakers, I drew where the hole would be cut. The screw holes were going to be in awkward places because of the uneven surface of the panel, so after I cut out the hole with a jigsaw, I cut out tabs for the screws. These tabs were parts of the panel that was sinking below the surface level, so I used a heat gun and bent the plastic so it would be straight and flush, then I drilled the holes for the screws. Then I needed to make the speaker sit flat on the surface that sticks out, to do this I placed the speaker on the inside of the panel, lined up the holes and traced out the outer diameter onto the high points of the panel, then cut them off. Now the speaker will sit flat. I needed to mount the speaker to the door panel alone, therefore the screws that came with the speakers would not work. I had to pick up some from the hardware store, machine screws with locknuts. 8/32 x 1 1/2 and the locknuts were also 8/32 coarse. Too bad we can't post pictures in here, that certainly would've made it easier.

lunghd

Double dig up of this thread from the basement:

Thanks for the tips, Don. I too have a cargo version van & was trying to figure out 'wth' the rear speakers went from the factory. I know about the overhead console (anyone have one for sale?) but it was a treasure hunt looking for the speaker wires... which are up front... but couldn't find paired up in back.

I'm guessing the top center 4-conductor pin is for the overhead console, then?

canucklehead

Rear speaker wiring is as follows.
Right rear is pos Tan neg orange. Left rear pos is tan neg is white.
Note that the rear speakers are wired in parallel. If you have the rear door 6x9 and the upper 4x6's in the sound bar, then they are in parallel. That means that the factory 8 ohm speakers are seen as 4 ohm by the factory amp. If you just swap aftermarket 4 ohm speakers into those spots, the factory amp will see them as 2 ohm, and overheat and possibly fry.
If you are just doing the door 6x9 then no problem.
An aftermarket deck will give you more dedicated rear channel wiring options, but that is about where this conversation could fracture into a thousand options.......

ps, its easy to find the speaker wires in the rear harness on each side as they are twisted together in a little braid.....tan orange// tan white

lunghd

Thanks. Didn't know the upper & door speaker were in parallel. Looks like the upper speaker housing is separate channels though (4 pins on the only connector up top). I assume they used the 6 x 9 as a poor man's subwoofer, then.

No factory amp. Got tired of having no CD etc & raided WalMart for a generic stereo.
Not putting speakers in the rear doors. My door panels do not have speaker openings & surface mounting with lumber in the back would destroy them... and I'm not too sure about the overhead speaker housing having enough clearance.

No braided pairs on each side of my 2000. There is only a vacant 2-pin connector on the driver side near the tail light wire 'pass through' grommet' and one vacant 4-pin connector up top almost dead center
.

Do the factory speaker housings (mounted over rear doors) stick down below the level of the door opening? (I can slide a sheet of plywood or drywall in unhindered by overhead clearance - don't want to lose that.

Appreciate the input.

canucklehead

Thise colour wires are from the radio back, so you may find them along the way.
As for the sound bar, yes you can slide 4 foot material under with a cargo floor, but i have carpet being a passenger, and have scrapped and gouged mine a bit with the corner of the sheet as I slide it in. You may have to angle it a little bit. Its basically flush with the door opening.
(this is the headliner trim pc I am talking about. The actual plastic speaker housing clears the door opening more) you can google pics....

lunghd

Thanks for the info.

I have the utility package (metal shelves, racks, etc) with rubber matting. No problem getting sheets of plywood or drywall in now - just wanted to confirm no loss of clearance with sound bar (name?). There's a 3500 multi-passenger van at a nearby boneyard - time to see if it still has this.

Tony vanore

I have a 2008 Chevy express cargo. I haven’t had a chance to dig around and look for the wires. But do the vans come pre wired for rear speakers? Even though there are no speakers in the cargo area? Any info is highly appreciated. Thanks