Three speaker dash replacement speakers

[heminut]

Years ago I put some new 3.5" Radio Shack speakers in my 3 speaker dash. It was a real PIA! The larger magnets required me to get in there with a rotary file in a drill and open up the openings in the dash frame (NOT the dash pad frame) to clear the bigger magnets on the speakers, and it wasn't easy. I am in the process of replacing my dash pad, and the Radio Shack speakers are trashed, cones literally falling apart.

So, in my quest to find something better, I came across some part #05059062AB used late model Chrysler 3.5 speakers on eBay and bought them. The magnets are considerably smaller than what's out there on the aftermarket 3.5" speakers so I figured that was a plus. The other plus was that the used speakers came with the factory wiring harness plugs, which I spliced into my existing speaker wires. When I got them I found that they bolt right onto the 3 speaker dash grills.

Something that concerned me was that these speakers are rated at 4 Ohms and most aftermarket systems use 8 Ohm speakers. I tried plugging these speakers into the system and they didn't sound very good (kind of tinny). I saw that there was a small diode looking thing (I'm not an electrical guy so that's the best way I know to describe them) on the speakers and one wire feed ran through it.

Being an experimenter, and only having $30 in these speakers, I thought what the hell, lets eliminate that diode thingy and see what happens. I clipped the two little wires coming out of the diode and removed it and then bent the two wires together and soldered them together. I now had both speaker wires feeding straight into the voice coils. I plugged the speaker back in and turned the stereo back on and the sound was MUCH better, much more like what I expected from a late model factory speaker! These speakers are definitely going to be installed with my new dash pad.

I hope this helps anyone who might be looking for a reasonably priced replacement speaker for their E body 3 speaker dash, I think these speakers are an economical solution and fit better that any aftermarket speaker out there.

 

[heminut]

Update;
I talked to my son about these speakers last night. I swear, these kids know everything! He looked at the diode thingies I removed and told me they are there to restrict the lower 'bass' frequencies going through the speakers, making the speakers more of a 'treble' type speaker, very common for the small speakers in a multi speaker stereo system. By removing them, I allowed the speaker to put out a wider range of sound, which is why they sounded better to me than the original 'tinny' sound I heard. According to him, since I have them wired in parallel with a set of larger door speakers they will hold up just fine, but used on their own on a high powered stereo system the bass signals would be hard on them.

What the hell do I know though, my hearing is shot from being around too many nitro cars at the track anyway.

 

[transam]

Update;
I talked to my son about these speakers last night. I swear, these kids know everything! He looked at the diode thingies I removed and told me they are there to restrict the lower 'bass' frequencies going through the speakers, making the speakers more of a 'treble' type speaker, very common for the small speakers in a multi speaker stereo system. By removing them, I allowed the speaker to put out a wider range of sound, which is why they sounded better to me than the original 'tinny' sound I heard. According to him, since I have them wired in parallel with a set of larger door speakers they will hold up just fine, but used on their own on a high powered stereo system the bass signals would be hard on them.

What the hell do I know though, my hearing is shot from being around too many nitro cars at the track anyway.

Can you take a photo of the two screws that hold the grille in so I can see what type they are? Now that you have them out of your dash pad? I was also wooking to find out about the screws under the dash pad that hold the backup plate in place. Need pictures so I can chase mine.

 

[heminut]

Can you take a photo of the two screws that hold the grille in so I can see what type they are? Now that you have them out of your dash pad? I was also wooking to find out about the screws under the dash pad that hold the backup plate in place. Need pictures so I can chase mine.

Sorry, but mine has been back in the car for almost a year now.

 

[Xcudame]

Not positive these are the screws you're talking about, but this might help.

 

[heminut]

Not positive these are the screws you're talking about, but this might help.

View attachment 109846

Those are the ones to mount the speakers to the underneath of the dash pad. The ones that hold the grills in place and go in from above are oval headed screws.

 

[Copilot]

Years ago I put some new 3.5" Radio Shack speakers in my 3 speaker dash. It was a real PIA! The larger magnets required me to get in there with a rotary file in a drill and open up the openings in the dash frame (NOT the dash pad frame) to clear the bigger magnets on the speakers, and it wasn't easy. I am in the process of replacing my dash pad, and the Radio Shack speakers are trashed, cones literally falling apart.

So, in my quest to find something better, I came across some part #05059062AB used late model Chrysler 3.5 speakers on eBay and bought them. The magnets are considerably smaller than what's out there on the aftermarket 3.5" speakers so I figured that was a plus. The other plus was that the used speakers came with the factory wiring harness plugs, which I spliced into my existing speaker wires. When I got them I found that they bolt right onto the 3 speaker dash grills.

Something that concerned me was that these speakers are rated at 4 Ohms and most aftermarket systems use 8 Ohm speakers. I tried plugging these speakers into the system and they didn't sound very good (kind of tinny). I saw that there was a small diode looking thing (I'm not an electrical guy so that's the best way I know to describe them) on the speakers and one wire feed ran through it.

Being an experimenter, and only having $30 in these speakers, I thought what the hell, lets eliminate that diode thingy and see what happens. I clipped the two little wires coming out of the diode and removed it and then bent the two wires together and soldered them together. I now had both speaker wires feeding straight into the voice coils. I plugged the speaker back in and turned the stereo back on and the sound was MUCH better, much more like what I expected from a late model factory speaker! These speakers are definitely going to be installed with my new dash pad.

I hope this helps anyone who might be looking for a reasonably priced replacement speaker for their E body 3 speaker dash, I think these speakers are an economical solution and fit better that any aftermarket speaker out there.

Perfect timing, I'm restoring my 3 speaker dash, was looking on e-bay and there are a few used sets for sale from 2013-2021 challengers. What about your center speaker, what are you replacing it with?

 

[heminut]

Perfect timing, I'm restoring my 3 speaker dash, was looking on e-bay and there are a few used sets for sale from 2013-2021 challengers. What about your center speaker, what are you replacing it with?

I didn't put a center speaker in my dash. I didn't want to mess with fitting something in there since I have the two outer speakers, the two rear deck speakers and the speakers in the front door panels. BTW, I didn't put the speakers in the door panels, I would have never hacked up the door panels to do that. Someone did it before I got the car and I didn't want to go to the expense of replacing the panels.

 

[Lunchbox]

The factory opening for the two outside speakers in the dash seem pretty small. Is anyone having to open up the hole to fit new larger magnets?