Where you can put the PA speaker in a Dodge Caravan...
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:53 pm
This is a bit of free advice for anyone who, for whatever reason, needs to find a place to install a siren/PA speaker in year 2000 (and probably later) Dodge Grand Caravans. I'm passing it on because I just finished doing mine today, and I had a heck of a time finding a good spot for even the Galls 'compact' unit.
First off, forget about anywhere in the engine compartment or behind the grille. There's just too much crap in there already.
HOWEVER -- If you take four screws out of the left front wheelwell splashguard, near the front edge, and pull said edge out from under the front bumper fascia, you'll find this nice little open compartment which contains nothing but the regular horn. There's plenty of room in there to mount either a Galls compact or a Federal Signal 'Dynamax,' and there's a nice opening that, while letting the sound out, will do a lot to keep weather and other nastiness out.
Best routing I've found for the cable is either up into the engine compartment, and then through a hole in the firewall, or behind the splashguard plastic, over the wheelwell (to keep it out of the way of the strut), and through some nice pre-drilled holes in the frame member to the backside. There's some more factory-drilled holes there which allow the cable to pass up into the passenger compartment with no problem. I chose the latter.
I've posted pictures of my install on my site if you're curious. You'll need to scroll down towards the bottom to find it. Look for the heading 'Can you hear me now? Good!'
http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html
Keep the peace(es).
First off, forget about anywhere in the engine compartment or behind the grille. There's just too much crap in there already.
HOWEVER -- If you take four screws out of the left front wheelwell splashguard, near the front edge, and pull said edge out from under the front bumper fascia, you'll find this nice little open compartment which contains nothing but the regular horn. There's plenty of room in there to mount either a Galls compact or a Federal Signal 'Dynamax,' and there's a nice opening that, while letting the sound out, will do a lot to keep weather and other nastiness out.
Best routing I've found for the cable is either up into the engine compartment, and then through a hole in the firewall, or behind the splashguard plastic, over the wheelwell (to keep it out of the way of the strut), and through some nice pre-drilled holes in the frame member to the backside. There's some more factory-drilled holes there which allow the cable to pass up into the passenger compartment with no problem. I chose the latter.
I've posted pictures of my install on my site if you're curious. You'll need to scroll down towards the bottom to find it. Look for the heading 'Can you hear me now? Good!'
http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan.html
Keep the peace(es).
