Rear liftgate speaker mod.

99 to 2006 Yukon/Tahoe/Esky: I tried searching but couldnt find anything. Has anyone ever put speakers in the rear liftgate? did it sound good or is it not worth the effort?

never thought about it but it can certainly be done. the difficult part is going to be running the wires thru the grommet, probably easiest to disconnect the harness inside the hatch and pull the harness out of the grommet as far as possible then tape the speaker wire to the harness and pull it back towards the hatch, trying to feed them thru any other way risks damaging the hatch harness

romakdaddy said:

99 to 2006 Yukon/Tahoe/Esky: I tried searching but couldnt find anything. Has anyone ever put speakers in the rear liftgate? did it sound good or is it not worth the effort?

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What size speakers were you looking to install? Small drivers exist in the rear pillars, which are low quality and if I recall, wired in parallel or something. I would be concerned of anything with bass in the hatch, and if just high freq is needed, replace the existing pillars with quality drivers and provide dedicated speaker wires and channels. Interested to see what works for you.

justirv said:

What size speakers were you looking to install? Small drivers exist in the rear pillars, which are low quality and if I recall, wired in parallel or something. I would be concerned of anything with bass in the hatch, and if just high freq is needed, replace the existing pillars with quality drivers and provide dedicated speaker wires and channels. Interested to see what works for you.

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there is room in the hatch for bigger speakers you could probably get away with 4 6X9 if you wanted too, or a couple 8's or a few 6 1/2. you would want to put in liner to keep everything from rattling and be sure the hatch mechanism and rear wiper motor clear.
those rear pillar speakers are garbage about a 2.5" I replaced mine once with 3.5" small performance drivers by just modifying the plastic a little bit to mount them there is no room for anything bigger in the pillars without hacking up the rear vents which would likely let water in when it rains.
Or you would have to do a cut on the inside pillar plastic to mount something on the inside of the body with spacers.
the pillar speakers are basically just a filler sound even with upgraded speakers there was little change in sound

justirv said:

What size speakers were you looking to install? Small drivers exist in the rear pillars, which are low quality and if I recall, wired in parallel or something. I would be concerned of anything with bass in the hatch, and if just high freq is needed, replace the existing pillars with quality drivers and provide dedicated speaker wires and channels. Interested to see what works for you.

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I got a couple of 6x9s Ive been looking to add to something and thought they might do good there if mounted high enough to keep the back seats from blocking some of the sound. I have the D pillar speakers replaced with 3.5 coax already and according to the schematic they are ran straight to the Bose amp on a dedicated circuit so my plan in the future is to do away with the Bose and run a 4 channel to the doors and another 4 channel to the console sub and d pillars for more "tuneability" the liftgate speakers could give me some more highs and mids to the way way back...lol

Doubeleive said:

never thought about it but it can certainly be done. the difficult part is going to be running the wires thru the grommet, probably easiest to disconnect the harness inside the hatch and pull the harness out of the grommet as far as possible then tape the speaker wire to the harness and pull it back towards the hatch, trying to feed them thru any other way risks damaging the hatch harness

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wiring shouldnt be an issue but I wish I had thought of it before I reinstalled the interior...lol

You might want to consider - or not - how the weight of the speakers will impact the lift struts' work and if that will make it more difficult to raise the liftgate.

Fless said:

You might want to consider - or not - how the weight of the speakers will impact the lift struts' work and if that will make it more difficult to raise the liftgate.

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Or what will happen after repeatedly opening and closing the rear hatch.

If it were me, I would focus on upgrades to the existing door and front pillar speakers, and adding external amplifier(s), if you are looking for improved sound. I upgraded all of mine, and I disconnected the rear pillar speakers. IMO, my sound is perfectly fine for the front and second rows of seats, and I do not have my 3rd row seats installed.