War Wagon's CB/Scanner install

[The_War_Wagon]

Well, the GOOD news is, my correct-sized mounts finally arrived (and I'm going to reserve the right to tear Ram Mounts a new one over their non-existent customer 'service' to date. They'll sell you a mount faster than you can say "How much?," but their ability to ACKNOWLEDGE an e-mail, drop a dime, or otherwise say 'BOO' after the sale, leaves MUCH to be desired... ), but the bad news is - even taking INTO account some foresight and additional planning, my tinkertoy setup may NOT work as envisioned. More on that later.

Time to install antennaes! Starting with the CB, I finally figured out where to do it! TONS o' crappy cellphone pics a-comin'!

Since the roof rails are aluminum, and given my choice of mount, that's where I decided to mount it - left rear edge of the rail.

Yes, there will be some stress at highway speeds (which I rarely acheive), but I'm a BIG proponent of barrel springs on CB antennaes, to help offset mount stress in such a location. My antenna is a Wilson 3 footer, so it should be fine in this location. 18' of coax to run - should be plenty leftover in a Commander, right? WRONG! Turns out, it was BARELY enough!

No holes necessary (aside from the rook rack!) - just a lotta routing, so here we go.



Down and underneath the plastic trim, and behind the tailight.

[The_War_Wagon]

Ran it along underneath the hatch seal, to that split below the latch. A little of this helps keep it in place in out of sight places!



All our plastic trim in the back makes running it around and hiding it out of sight easy enough!

Hiding it underneath the plastic side trim where applicable, along the way!

After making the turn out from underneath the left rear door trim, it's under the seats, and out behind the console. Zip ties help hold it in place up against the bottom of the driver's seat, by running them through openings in the rear edge of the seat tracks.

That left JUST enough to come out, and mount into this doodad.

NO entertainment center in my Commander means, E - Z mounting!

[The_War_Wagon]

As for that radio bracket mounting issue...

Installing a mount that actually fits on the trim piece - a little RTV silicone gasket goop to help it stick better was also used.

Excess wipes away easily enough.

Here's one possible configuration (I still have an additional 6" long arm and dual-ball joint to utilize). Problem is, it's so TOP heavy, I know it'll NEVER hold on this ball and where it's mounted (trim), even with city driving.

KNOWING that would probably be the case, I ordered THIS double joint SPECIFICALLY, to provide an additional mounting point. Perhaps bolted to some 1/8" sheet plate, screwed in alongside the console on the passenger's side for stability.

Shoot - I may just end up using 1/8", 2' long brackets mounted to either side of the console, to mount them above the console thusly! They've GOT to go there anyways - it may be back to the drawing board altogether on the radio mounts.

[1USMC]

I enjoy and learn from your thread with your trials and tribulations.

Your not alone out there with your good and your not so good days !!

;-)

[The_War_Wagon]

Believe it or not, I actually got EVERYTHING installed today!!! I got it all figured out - pictures to follow, BUT... I'm a 6' jumper of co-ax short, of actually having it all together!!!



Radio Shack has a 10' strand available - I may run out and get it tonite. I'll also post pics shortly as well!

[The_War_Wagon]

OK - went to Radio Shack last night, and got my last strand of co-ax for this install. It was hot, muggy, stormy, and late when I got home - all BAD combos trying to adjust and ANTENNA, so I'm gonna hafta get back after that on another day. Here's what I spent the BETTER part of Monday doing, though.

The old mounting spot was just too flimsy, but now I'm left with holes in my plastic! Got these little doo-dads at Lowe's.




Supposed to plug a hole in a Nissan, according to the instructions, but they work nicely in a Jeep, too! (Still gotta scrub that permanent marker off, too...)



Decided to mout it here instead - much sturdier mounting point, although I hate making MORE holes in the dash.



That, and these screws SUCK! I went back and got different ones later in the day, but no pics of THEM installed.



As for the SCANNER antenna, well, that's a Larsen, and I stuck it on the side of the hood, just as lekmedm did with his CB antenna.




Completely forgot to take a picture of the antenna in place... D'OHHH! Oh well, something for a future post!

[The_War_Wagon]

Here's my antenna, snaking around the hood & door post, and avoiding any more drilling!





Storing the excess!




Mofset power cords, coming BACK through the same route!




I did take a grinding bit, and trim a little of the metal underneath the insulation, to get the wires a little notch to lay low on, while getting the insulation BACK into place.



10awg to the terminals!

Wilson Silver Load 4' 750 watt antenna installed (no - all the wires AROUND it belong to the neighborhood! ). On a barrel spring and quick detach mounted. NOT tuned yet either... NEXT Monday's project, I suspect...