If there are two things I really enjoy it’s camping and music. When I backpacked through Latin America in 93/94 with my ex-wife we bought a cassette walkman that had a single, mono, speaker built into the back of it. That way we could both enjoy the music at the same time. The last time I traveled through Latin America I had a mini disc player and I bought a pair of small, Sony external speakers. It was the most used piece of gear I had next to the stove. I like to be able to listen to music while I’m hunkered down by the fire and popping open the trunk on your car just seems so….white trash if you know what I mean.

When I bought the bus it wasn’t long before my brain starting working on a way to be able to mount the speakers on the outside of the bus as well as inside of it. With the help of my brother we came up with a groovy little system that worked quite well. When I’m driving the speakers are locked into the back under the back shelf and when I’m parked they come outside and mount in the rain gutter on the bus. I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking me about how I setup the 6X9 speakers in the back of the bus so I’ll try and explain the setup here. The gear used for this should not cost more than $5.That’s not including the boxes that the speakers fit into, they’re around $25 a pair give or take.

Get yourself a metal bracket that’s horseshoe shaped. I don’t know what it’s called. I went into home hardware, explained to the guy what I was doing and he knew exactly what I needed. I think this stuff is used for framing windows or doors or something. If anyone knows the correct name please drop me a line and I’ll correct this article. Anyway, cut the brackets into three pieces, one to fit across the back of the speaker box and one for each side. Mount the brackets to the speaker box so that the opening is facing outwards. Mount the bracket on the back so that the opening is facing down. The one on the back is used for the rain gutter outside the bus whereas the two on each side will slide into corresponding brackets mounted inside your bus. Here are some pics.

Cover the brackets on your speaker in felt which can be purchased at any arts and crafts store for a few dollars. There’s two reasons for this. First, the brackets are metal so by using felt you’re reducing vibration when your tunes are cranked up and it helps the speakers fit more snug when mounted inside. Secondly, the felt on the bracket at the back stops the metal from scratching your bus and also helps it to mount better on the outside.

Now you’ll need to cut two more brackets to mount inside the bus. They should be the same length as the side brackets on your speaker box. Here’s a groovy idea my brother came up with. If you were to just mount these brackets in the roof of your bus the speakers would slide right though so the trick is to do this. Drill two holes through these brackets, one at the front and one at the back. Take a larger drill bit and expand the hole at the front so that the head of the screw can go through but leave the hole at the back small. You should have 4 holes in total. The head on the screw up front is going to go through the expanded hole and secure itself against the inside part of the bracket. The screw in the back part of the bracket will stop on the outside of the bracket. When you slide your speakers in that screw in the back will stop them from sliding all the way through. I put together a diagram to try to explain what I mean a little bit better.

Here are the brackets installed. You can see in the first image that the back screw does not go all the way though.

Lastly, install a small catch for the speakers that locks them into place. I used a plastic one but it’s been suggested that something stronger be installed in case you’re ever in a collision and the speakers come flying forward. I’ve never had this happen but I don’t doubt that it could.

If everything went well then you should be able to mount your speakers both inside and outside of the bus. One last consideration is speaker wire. I tuck mine in the top of the cabinet area but I’m sure you’ll find a place to tuck yours. You’ll need enough so that it can run outside the bus too so make sure it’s been properly measured before you start to cut. The finished product should look like this.

And outside the bus should look like this.

I hope this help. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.