War Wagon's CB/Scanner install

[The_War_Wagon]

Well, here was YESTERDAY'S adventure - trying to see if things will line up where I'd like them. Like, the CB antenna.



Fairly high on the inside of the hatch, so my Wilson antenna gets maximum range, BUT... this area is mostly plastic (the mount isn't long enough to reach steel here), and with a pot barrel spring, and three foot antenna (and quick detach mount), I fear it'll be too much weight and stress on the plastic for it to last long. So I looked at another potential spot.




Three or four mounting points, in tougher plastic, with a convenient ground under the screw holding the luggage rack on... it's a thought - I've ot to see HOW tough that plastic is, though. I'm thinking, maybe between the hatch and the roof topside, and drilling through the roof there. Tube o' silicone, here I come...

Playing with the CB/scanner mount and the console, I see more problems.




The ball mount base is too wide for effective contact.

A different mount WILL work here, and power cords and coax can be stuffed under here...

[The_War_Wagon]

The mounts are still too close to the seat & the console , but I think I've found a solution. Much like Lego's, Ram Mounts can be snapped together - to become longer, more obtuse, but STILL effective!


NEW idea for a mounting base!


Add ANOTHER arm to the current mounting arm - to give me another 6" of height & clearance over the console (can also be angled a bit more towards the driver's side).

Add some MORE ability to shape, angle, and locate the brackets PRECISELY where I want them! And connect them ALL with THIS!


Which will undoubtedly look SUPER funky, BUT... we'll MAKE 'em FIT!!!




Then again, this might be 31 flavors of AWESOME!

[Adondo]

You may have to come here and work for us!

Those Ram ball mounts are heard to beat, and they tend to stay put too.

You'll have to paint that bracket flat black to match, I hope you know.

[The_War_Wagon]

You may have to come here and work for us!

By the time I'm done screwing this up, you'll disavow ALL knowledge of me!

Those Ram ball mounts are heard to beat, and they tend to stay put too.

You'll have to paint that bracket flat black to match, I hope you know.

I've been THINKING about that... I might well order a black one from somebody and do that.

[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.