CB radios and mounting.

[Doozi]

pic? just for future reference?

Here it is installed in the fuse block...

This was in an empty fuse slot, but to get power to the added accessory I added the 5amp (tan) fuse... it completes the circuit. The 2amp (gray) fuse is for the CB.

Here's a close-up...

Hope that helps!

 

[emelianenkov]

The '06+ models have a flat, vertical area just below the tail lights, the '03-'05 models are sloped. Compare his pics to mine... you'll see that flat area.

Exactly! And I was bummed when it finally clicked that my bumper is sloped. The bracket I was designing wasn't working. But now the new mount I made is way better than I had ever hoped!

Thanks for the inspiration guys! I'll post some better pics when I work on it tomorrow.

 

[emelianenkov]

Here it is installed in the fuse block...

This was in an empty fuse slot, but to get power to the added accessory I added the 5amp (tan) fuse... it completes the circuit. The 2amp (gray) fuse is for the CB.

Here's a close-up...

Hope that helps!

That's weird. I set mine up that way before but it wasn't working! I'll try it again tomorrow! Thank you very much for the pictures man!

 

[emelianenkov]

Here is a little mini-write up for my 03-05 hatch mount.

I got a piece of steel 1" wide, 1/8" thick, and 3' long. You really only need about a foot.

Then I spent about an hour scratching my head to try to find somewhere to mount to easily without drilling into the body. This is what I went with.

I don't have a welder, so I used a propane torch, hammer, and some good ol' leverage to bend up the steel.

I test fitted the piece to find out how long I needed the vertical piece to be and cut it.

Then I spray painted the mount with some rustoleum rust inhibitor that leaves a nice flat black finish.

The actual mount for the antenna is a cobra widget mount with 90 degrees of articulation.

I haven't gotten around to grounding the mount yet, but you can imagine how to do that. Two wire connectors and a piece of wire that goes from the mount to the body of the vehicle.

Here is the finished, ungrounded product! Hope it helps some of you out!

I also want to get a quick disconnect at some point.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[Desert Fox]

What is your SWR with the antenna mounted under the tail light?

I am not able to get enough ground plane with mine mounted on the roof rack. So I am thinking of going to a no ground plane setup.

If you have a good SWR mounting it under the tail light I will try that first.

 

[Doozi]

My SWR ranges from 1.2:1 to 2.2:1 after my latest mount modifications. I think that grounding to the body versus the frame improved my SWR by 0.5:1 across all the channels.

 

[emelianenkov]

What is your SWR with the antenna mounted under the tail light?

I am not able to get enough ground plane with mine mounted on the roof rack. So I am thinking of going to a no ground plane setup.

If you have a good SWR mounting it under the tail light I will try that first.

I have yet to buy a SWR meter.

 

[Daron-t4r]

Here is the finished, ungrounded product! Hope it helps some of you out!

I also want to get a quick disconnect at some point.

Thanks,
Alex

Thanks for the write up, I'm going to mount it this way I think, because I don't think the front hood mount is as attractive... where did you ground to alex?

 

[emelianenkov]

Thanks for the write up, I'm going to mount it this way I think, because I don't think the front hood mount is as attractive... where did you ground to alex?

I grounded to that strange bumper thingy for the rear hatch.

And some final product pictures, taken on- get this- a REAL camera!!

Hope that helps! Don't be afraid to PM me. I'm a talkative fella

Alex

 

[jpless]

just ordered a cobra 75, firestik door jamb kit and a 3' firefly. Using this thread as inspiration and caused a last-minute change from an rs-720 to the firestick door jamb.

My plan is to mount as doozie did with the extra brace if possible. Also plan on spraying the door jamb mount black as this will be the only silver on the outside of my truck I won't spray over the bolt holes or anything, i'll tape those off to keep clean grounding connections.

remaining decisions are where to mount the connection box and the cobra mic itself. I'll probably mount the box under the driver's side dash and put the cb hanging below the 4wd knob. I'll probably move it to my iphone mount for better visibility when actually using it or use some velcro to keep it near the center channel speaker.

Question...doozie mentioned that he made his own custom mount because the firestik gets in the way when opening the hatch...do others find this to the case? It will probably determine whether I keep it on all the time or not. especially when I go tailgating so other people dont mess it up but itd be nice to have it tailgating too, coordinating with others Has anyone tried adding to the firestik mount to push the antenna a little further away? I was just thinking about that myself and wondering if the spring base will be good enough to keep it from being annoying.

Thanks for the inspiration guys, I'll take pics and post when I get around to the install.

 

[emelianenkov]

just ordered a cobra 75, firestik door jamb kit and a 3' firefly. Using this thread as inspiration and caused a last-minute change from an rs-720 to the firestick door jamb.

My plan is to mount as doozie did with the extra brace if possible. Also plan on spraying the door jamb mount black as this will be the only silver on the outside of my truck I won't spray over the bolt holes or anything, i'll tape those off to keep clean grounding connections.

remaining decisions are where to mount the connection box and the cobra mic itself. I'll probably mount the box under the driver's side dash and put the cb hanging below the 4wd knob. I'll probably move it to my iphone mount for better visibility when actually using it or use some velcro to keep it near the center channel speaker.

Question...doozie mentioned that he made his own custom mount because the firestik gets in the way when opening the hatch...do others find this to the case? It will probably determine whether I keep it on all the time or not. especially when I go tailgating so other people dont mess it up but itd be nice to have it tailgating too, coordinating with others Has anyone tried adding to the firestik mount to push the antenna a little further away? I was just thinking about that myself and wondering if the spring base will be good enough to keep it from being annoying.

Thanks for the inspiration guys, I'll take pics and post when I get around to the install.

I made up my own mount and mounted the Firestik mount to that! Check out my pictures. It's REALLY out of the way

 

[jpless]

Thanks guys, but I don't think that I'll be making any others to sell. I would have to make the internal brace to go with the mount and it only works on '06-'09 4Runners because of the shape of the bumper under the taillight.

i'll jump in too if you do decide to make one I count 3 people with 06-09s willing to purchase your custom brackets (internal brace and all) if you choose or are willing to do so

I really want to get it on my truck and have the normal door jamb mount waiting for me at home. I just went to autozone at lunch and got the power wired up with an add-a-line in the fusebox and put the control box under the driver's seat. Tomorrow I have the day off and will have the mount, antenna and coax so hopefully i'll have it all done but I'm already worried about the wobble!

 

[emelianenkov]

Well, after having one of those Cobra ultra 19 III's for about a week, I'm bringing that crap back to walmart... I ordered a new Cobra 75 WX ST

HOPEFULLY I can have much better distance and clearer audio! The radio I have now is terrible. Good for beginners, but I need POWAHHHHHHH!!!!! :flamethrwoer2:

 

[Desert Fox]

Well, after having one of those Cobra ultra 19 III's for about a week, I'm bringing that crap back to walmart... I ordered a new Cobra 75 WX ST

HOPEFULLY I can have much better distance and clearer audio! The radio I have now is terrible. Good for beginners, but I need POWAHHHHHHH!!!!! :flamethrwoer2:

Dont get to hung up on power with a CB. They are good on a trail run where you are grouped together but the power is limited to line of sight. In the mountains there isnt a lot of line of sight distance..

There are people out there that will tune the RADIO (not the antenna) and get these little radios up to around 20 watts. Still it is limited

Good luck

 

[emelianenkov]

Dont get to hung up on power with a CB. They are good on a trail run where you are grouped together but the power is limited to line of sight. In the mountains there isnt a lot of line of sight distance..

There are people out there that will tune the RADIO (not the antenna) and get these little radios up to around 20 watts. Still it is limited

Good luck

Yea I know.. But most of my driving is highway and I get stepped on 24/7. Never get a break. I also live in a state forest and have an swr of 2.5:1 :moping:

Hopefully I can mod the cobra 75. Otherwise I'm looking at a 'kicker', my trucker buddy has a couple extra.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[emelianenkov]

I found a video on YouTube that shows how to adjust the modulation on the Cobra 75 WX ST, giving almost 8W of peak power. So happy! :banana:

 

[zimm]

I found a video on YouTube that shows how to adjust the modulation on the Cobra 75 WX ST, giving almost 8W of peak power. So happy! :banana:

Linky?

 

[jpless]

Yea, link it up! My 75 would love some more power

 

[zimm]

Doing some googling, 75 can't be tuned up......

 

[emelianenkov]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ASM0MDrMvE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Go to the last few minutes where he opens up the handset. Can't wait to do this to mine when I get it!!