Speaker wiring

[Hammerhead]

Howdy,
I am currently installing a new sound system in my 2001 MidBus shorty. My dilemma is running new speaker wires. Short of tearing the whole thing apart, how do the wires travel through the ceiling all the way back to the in-dash radio?
I searched wiring schematics online but out of 100s of diagrams, I found nothing! The front of the bus is a 2001 GMC Savanna.
Help!

[family wagon]

Most buses have a channel running front to back, on both sides, in the space between the top of the windows and the beginning of the roof curve. Wires are installed through that space. The harness is likely to be taped together, so if you were thinking of pulling the old wire out to draw in new wire, it's likely not to work. The sheet metal over the wire chase is one of the last pieces to be installed... so basically grab a screwdriver, figure out which panels were installed last, and start removing those to see whether there's wire behind them.

[milkmania]

[cadillackid]

I use a JBL Xtreme speaker in my Bus. and it sounds good... then I learned I can link a second JBL Xtreme to it.. I havent tried but if one can drown out the sound of a 7.3. im thinking 2 should do well...

though I think im with the OP and want to have a real speaker system..
-Christopher

[BlackJohn]

Why do you need new speaker wires?

[Hammerhead]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Why do you need new speaker wires?

I was thinking if I run an amp on the system I might as well upgrade the wiring. I did some exploratory surgery yesterday and have no idea how the wires get to the dash (once they arrive at the van cutaway) so I may just rely on the original MidBus wiring choice!

[Hammerhead]

I have JBL GTO638 3-ways in mine. They sound awesome!

[bfuller181]

Fellow Mid Bus owner here! There are dozens of us! Dozens!

I bought my '05 a couple of years ago, and it had a crappy aftermarket stereo and no speakers (it took me longer than I care to admit to figure out why there was no sound on the drive home). It had spots for speakers and speaker wire, just not the speakers themselves. I replaced the stereo and installed speakers, but have had problems with the stereo shorting out ever since. My assumption is that there is a short in a speaker wire somewhere.

On mine, the wires run under the rubber floor along the side of the driver seat, then behind the seat, then into the metal wall behind the driver into the channel above the windows on the driver's side. There's no way to run a new wire by pulling out the old because - as has been mentioned before - they're all taped together.

Part 1 of my plan is to move two of the speakers to the driver's area - one in the door and one overhead, so wiring those is no problem. Part 2 is to replace the wiring for the 2 remaining speakers in back, which I don't know how to do easily. I might just run the wires on the inside of the ceiling - unsightly yes, but I already have wiring for the LED strip up there, so who really cares.