CB Antenna Install

This is the door jam antenna mount, got mine off Amazon and it came with 18' of cable for $25.

I did my write up because I placed the mounting bracket behind the rear taillight because I could not bring myself to drill any holes in my truck that could be seen everyday.

Okay, First off remove these two 10mm bolts from your taillight.



And carefully pop off the light by pulling straight back.


You will see in later shots I just placed the taillight just inside the back of the truck.

Now you have to bend the door jam part of the bracket I didn't take any pics of this because I did it the weekend before. A 2lb hammer and a vice would be best, if not use Vicegrip pliers any hammer you got.

Now decide where you want to place the bracket. I went low for the main reason I decided to mount behind the taillight, vertical clearance.



And use a marker to mark your holes.






Now check and make sure the dog is still in his own yard.



You can stall a little here to build up courage to drill the first hole in your beloved truck. I told myself, "the holes are behind the tail light, it will be okay."





Now time to screw on the bracket. I started the fist one by hand so I wouldn't risk stripping out the sheet metal.





Then stop to check out my new tires....


and finish the last three screws,






Then hopefully for you the third screw's head will not pop off.



I took the mount apart to bend it last weekend, so now put it back together.



I put the antenna in to make sure it is going vertical


Now pop out this little guy, and pull the "D" pillar cover back.





Start at the top and work your way down, but watch out for these two little guys. In the other thread the guy took off the top plastic piece, I just pulled it back didn't fully remove it.



And watch this guy on reinstallation. (little light blue guy toward the bottom.)



Now we are going to run the cable, I pulled the light wires to the left and made a small incision in the rubber gasket.


and feed the cable through, while reaching around back and carefully pulling.




Here is a good time to check out the thread from the top, I didn't take enough pictures here, but you do have to remove this hanger, and just push the cable up and in there.


Pull the "C" pillar back a little and push the cable in and up into the head liner.


Now pull the seal out, don't worry it goes back in.

I put the top of the seal back before I started going down the "B" pillar next to the passenger seat.




While we are back here check out my new tires!!!!!!!


Oh where did the dog go??? oh there he is....


Okay....
Now here I took apart a wire hanger and used it as feeder tape to get the cable under the carpet. The other thread said he used his hand, up to you, here you can see how I taped the cable to the hanger and feed it through.
(oh take the plastic cover off the seat rail next to the center console and pop up that little piece by the door.









Pull what is left of the cable, pop the plastic back in and replace the door seal and BAM!!!!

looking good MR Carter....



hey check out my new tires!!!!!!

Cool post, nice tires

I like the way you do how to's Tom. Great write up.

I've had a cb for a while, but never purchased a swr meter...
how hard is it to tune a cb?

Tuning the antenna is easy once you have the meter. all of the instructions should be with it.

Tom I think I'm gonna move my antenna to this location... I haven't has much luck with the current location or getting it tuned. It's time to start fresh! Good write up and nice tires...lol

is it even worth buying the swr or just waiting and trying to find somebody with one?
/threadjack

nice tires

Swr meters are like 10 bucks on amazon.

Nice write-up Tommy! Very well done. I think I saw something in there about new tires, sweet. lol

Tom, I'm going to be doing this soon enough and it looks like there might be some pics not working.

I think all the pictures worked for me. I did not see any where img picture codes.

metzican said:

I think all the pictures worked for me. I did not see any where img picture codes.

Click to expand...

That would be an error from my stupid computer. Carry on...free bump :|

Soooo what's the verdict on the install?

I'm asking because I'm having problems with mine. I seems mounting the bracket with 4 self tapper screws doesn't like the weight of a 4 foot fiberglass pole. I'm at the point where I'm gonna have to weld the damn thing on as it just works it's way loose. I've tried thread lock and silicone.

spaceace said:

Soooo what's the verdict on the install?

I'm asking because I'm having problems with mine. I seems mounting the bracket with 4 self tapper screws doesn't like the weight of a 4 foot fiberglass pole. I'm at the point where I'm gonna have to weld the damn thing on as it just works it's way loose. I've tried thread lock and silicone.

Click to expand...

I have the same thing happening to mine. im planning on flipping mine...right now its with the arch upside down like a rainbow. Im hoping that by flipping it to make it look like a smiling face will help out

I didn't end up doing this install. I know several people have done this with success. I really like my mount on my rack though.

I didn't want to drill. I actually ended up buying one from Diamond that attatches to the rear hatch. I think it'll be just as good honestly. At least until I build some courage to drill. I don't really need fancy antenna mounts anyways.

http://www.diamondantenna.net/k412c.html

What is everyone's SWR with this? I can't get below two following the pictures exactly. Maybe I need a spring?

4' fire antenna.

I have that same mount on mine, and I have to say, I don't like the placement of the mount like that on the 2nd gen. Mainly because it hangs off the side of the truck. It will get snagged on something and pulled loose.

Prime said:

I have that same mount on mine, and I have to say, I don't like the placement of the mount like that on the 2nd gen. Mainly because it hangs off the side of the truck. It will get snagged on something and pulled loose.

Click to expand...

That would be my reservation about it too....stuff that sticks out begs to get ripped off. If its also attached to a "lever" behind a tail light, if ripped off, it could also rip off the light, etc.

I've had mine mounted like this for years with no problems. I agree that it isn't ideal for catching things so I moved it to my roof rack for awhile. It caught on everything up there and my swr readings were horrible trying several antennas. Moved it back to the tail light with a 4’ firestik on a spring. SWR is 1.5 on channels 1 & 40. Probably be even better if I got better coax and installed it correctly ( not looped on itself under the rear seat)
Definitely get a spring for wherever you mount it.

Slasa said:

I've had mine mounted like this for years with no problems. I agree that it isn't ideal for catching things so I moved it to my roof rack for awhile.

Click to expand...

You're also out west. I imagine that you don't have as much tight wooded trails out there.

Prime said:

You're also out west. I imagine that you don't have as much tight wooded trails out there.

Click to expand...

This is true. Depends on the trail here. Can be tight at lower elevations but we often climb up above timberline. Not like east coast where everything is a tight snarl of overgrowth.

Slasa said:

This is true. Depends on the trail here. Can be tight at lower elevations but we often climb up above timberline. Not like east coast where everything is a tight snarl of overgrowth.

Click to expand...

Its either trees or passages between boulders, etc.

Rips stuff off, breaks windows, etc.

Putting the bends in the mount is kind of tough. I think I need to pull the mount off and adjust it some for the bends.

Can you post a pic of the final run out from the tail light to the ant mount?

I've got this mount and have it bent to fit above the rear tail light although I haven't drilled into her yet..
Now you've got me wondering if it'll work loose and I'm not going to be happy with that. My other thought was to mount it up front on the hood with this mount made to fit or looking into another specific location mount for the hood area as I don't have my bumpers yet, still factory.

Nathan949374 said:

Can you post a pic of the final run out from the tail light to the ant mount?

Click to expand...

I'd also like to see this. Another thread I've seen says they went out the tail light gromet from inside but I'd have to cut into my tail light housing I suppose to make that work.

Pondering what to do..

Xterrorista said:

I've got this mount and have it bent to fit above the rear tail light although I haven't drilled into her yet..
Now you've got me wondering if it'll work loose and I'm not going to be happy with that. My other thought was to mount it up front on the hood with this mount made to fit or looking into another specific location mount for the hood area as I don't have my bumpers yet, still factory.



I'd also like to see this. Another thread I've seen says they went out the tail light gromet from inside but I'd have to cut into my tail light housing I suppose to make that work.

Pondering what to do..

Click to expand...

I've got mine mounted like this, above the tail light. I Did have to file a bit of the tail light housing in the corner, but not much.


So far nothing has loosened up at all, still nice and tight.

Brunnie said:

So far nothing has loosened up at all, still nice and tight.

Click to expand...

Nice and clean, great job. How long have you had the mount on? How often do you run around with the antenna mounted? (I'm assuming you have a QD) And last but not least, what antenna are you running?

I've got the same mount with a 4' Firestik Firefly an HD spring and a QD. I'm wondering with all of that if it'll be too much and make the screws waller out like others have complained about.. I'm going to try it either way I just may have to go to a 3'er instead~

Thanks for the help,

Lucas

Xterrorista said:

Nice and clean, great job. How long have you had the mount on? How often do you run around with the antenna mounted? (I'm assuming you have a QD) And last but not least, what antenna are you running?

I've got the same mount with a 4' Firestik Firefly an HD spring and a QD. I'm wondering with all of that if it'll be too much and make the screws waller out like others have complained about.. I'm going to try it either way I just may have to go to a 3'er instead~

Click to expand...

Lucas, Check out my build thread. I added what I have.

Opinion.

That is the wrong mount for the 2nd gen.

Reason?

It mounts sideways. So when you're going down the trail or, shiat, the highway. Every force that antenna encounters is parallel to the truck. So. Every time that antenna wants to lean backwards or get knocked back by a tree (if you have to worry about those), it puts pressure on the screws that is parallel to the screws themselves. As a result, the threads of the screws that are in the sheet metal will be pulled.

As a result, over time, the screws will pull at the metal and loosen as the metal stretches. I have yet to see one of those remain tight in the long run.

On the 1st gen it's an ideal mount. Because the hatch is different. The opening doesn't wrap the corner. So when the antenna deflects, the motion is perpendicular to the screws in the body. So they aren't being pulled out.

Unfortunately, because of the hatch design on a 2nd gen a different solution must be figured out.

That's just my 2¢.

No pilot holes??? Those poor screws...

I used the same type of mount on my first gen. I started out with the mounting screws that came with it but found that the mount moved a bit when under pressure since the holes are larger than the screws. I replaced them with #14 x 3/4" hex head sheet metal screws which are about 1/4" in diameter.

dogwater said:

I used the same type of mount on my first gen. I started out with the mounting screws that came with it but found that the mount moved a bit when under pressure since the holes are larger than the screws. I replaced them with #14 x 3/4" hex head sheet metal screws which are about 1/4" in diameter.

Click to expand...

I had mine on the exact same mount in the exact same location on my 1st gen. Never had an issue.

Yeah, it's rock-solid after upgrading the fasteners.

Prime said:

Opinion.

That is the wrong mount for the 2nd gen.

Reason?

Click to expand...

Well shiat.. I was about to go out with the sharpie and make my pilot holes.. I reaaaally don't want to drop $80 or so on the k400....and I really want comms for this wknd wheeling...

What to do.. I guess I'll start the search over.

Thanks for the input.

Ok. A small rant: CB should be abandoned for trail communication. The antenna is long (or a shortened, narrow banded compromise) and its not that useful a band, especially at this point in the solar cycle.

Now. DC continuity doesn't mean you have good RF continuity. A DC short can look like an open at RF. You need to remove the paint behind the bracket and make sure you have metal to metal contact. I paint over the bracket one it's installed if I feel like corrosion will be an issue or use a light coating of copper anti-seize.

Make sure your antenna mount is assembled correctly with the plastic washer on the right side of the bracket. That's the second most common mistake I encounter. You can find a nice heavy duty mount at most truck stops that I much prefer to the smaller diameter one most people use.

The majority of your antenna needs to be above the roof of your vehicle to radiate properly and not have excessive SWR.

Lastly, if at all possible, use a 102" whip on a spring or with a 6" extension. It's the best CB antenna I've used and will always be my recommendation. The fiberglass ones less than 5' are barely more than dummy loads and turn more RF into heat than they radiate usually.

TerryD said:

Ok. A small rant: CB should be abandoned for trail communication. The antenna is long (or a shortened, narrow banded compromise) and its not that useful a band, especially at this point in the solar cycle.

Click to expand...

I plan to watch some videos and take my HAM exam although finding the time is pretty hard here lately..

Plus I've put out about $125 in cb crapola to get some sort of comms so I can't just abandon it~

Sliders, skids and bumper must come b4 HAMMY stuff..

TerryD said:

Ok. A small rant: CB should be abandoned for trail communication. The antenna is long (or a shortened, narrow banded compromise) and its not that useful a band, especially at this point in the solar cycle.

Now. DC continuity doesn't mean you have good RF continuity. A DC short can look like an open at RF. You need to remove the paint behind the bracket and make sure you have metal to metal contact. I paint over the bracket one it's installed if I feel like corrosion will be an issue or use a light coating of copper anti-seize.

Make sure your antenna mount is assembled correctly with the plastic washer on the right side of the bracket. That's the second most common mistake I encounter. You can find a nice heavy duty mount at most truck stops that I much prefer to the smaller diameter one most people use.

The majority of your antenna needs to be above the roof of your vehicle to radiate properly and not have excessive SWR.

Lastly, if at all possible, use a 102" whip on a spring or with a 6" extension. It's the best CB antenna I've used and will always be my recommendation. The fiberglass ones less than 5' are barely more than dummy loads and turn more RF into heat than they radiate usually.

Click to expand...

You're not wrong. But unfortunately not everyone has a ham license. Myself included. And the only time I use the radio is when I wheel. So for me it works well enough for the trail. And it's the most widely used.

Prime said:

You're not wrong. But unfortunately not everyone has a ham license. Myself included. And the only time I use the radio is when I wheel. So for me it works well enough for the trail. And it's the most widely used.

Click to expand...

I'm not necessarily saying go Ham. There's GMRS. $75 for a 10yr license that covers your entire household and is good for up to 50W. A FULL 1/4 wave antenna is about 6" long, not 9' like CB.

Anyways, that's my $0.02. I have invested a lot in CB over the years and it was a gateway drug for Ham. I have an old JC Penney side bander I saved from the scrap pile I've been wanting to set-up at home to chat with the truckers at the new truck stop. But I'm doubtful I'll ever have another one in my vehicle at this point.