Pullling Ham Antenna through the Firewall

[MattAK]

Hey all. I've tried searching all through the forums and online and haven't found a good answer to this yet.
I just bought some HAM radio gear to install on my truck for this weekend. I'm going to be putting a mount on the hood and I was looking for a good place to run the antenna wire through the firewall and into the cab, but I can't see a good existing place to do it. I've read that some people poke a hole in the grommet that holds the main wire harness, but I'm hesitant to do that for obvious reasons. Is there another good place to run the cable through, or do I have to drill? If I have to drill, where's a good place to do it. I couldn't see anything much to give me a clue under the hood or the dash.

Here's a couple of pics of the hood mount and the size of the connector I need to get through the firewall.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[rideexileex]

You can run it through any of the existing boots, and then re-seal it with some silicon.

If you're skilled with a soldering iron, you can clip off the connector, and then either drill and use a new grommet or make an even smaller hole in one of the existing boots, and then add a new connector.

 

[4x4runner2002]

There is a fairly large unused grommet under the passenger carpet. Comes out just inside the frame. I ran my sub wire, pa speaker wire and one other through it no problem.

 

[harper7]

Hey all. I've tried searching all through the forums and online and haven't found a good answer to this yet.
I just bought some HAM radio gear to install on my truck for this weekend. I'm going to be putting a mount on the hood and I was looking for a good place to run the antenna wire through the firewall and into the cab, but I can't see a good existing place to do it. I've read that some people poke a hole in the grommet that holds the main wire harness, but I'm hesitant to do that for obvious reasons. Is there another good place to run the cable through, or do I have to drill? If I have to drill, where's a good place to do it. I couldn't see anything much to give me a clue under the hood or the dash.

Here's a couple of pics of the hood mount and the size of the connector I need to get through the firewall.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Diamond and Firestik and some other companies sell cables that have 2 piece ends now so it's much easier to run through firewalls. I have a Diamond like this running thru on mine only my cable is 18ft and it's not much bigger then the cable at the end and easy to fish thru the firewall grommet...... Diamond Antenna Hole Mount Cable Assemblies C213SNMO - DXEngineering.com
Here's one Firestik makes too...Firestik MU-8R18 | 2-Piece "EZ-Install" Coax Cable Assembly

 

[Ronin1082]

I ran that same base & wire through the grommet you are talking about along with my 4 gauge wire for my subs. My wired for my siren speaker. The main power wire for my siren/light box. I have a lot of crap through there and I have no issues. My radio picks up everything like normal when j had the antenna mounted on my rear deck on my previous car. I have mine mounted on my hood now. Take a look in my pics on my build thread in my sig.

 

[MattAK]

Thanks for the tips guys. Got off work early, going home to work on this right now. Ronin, you have any pics of how you got it through that grommet? Or where or it comes out under the dash? Anything is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Ronin1082]

I`ll take some pics later. The spot where it comes out is convenient for running wires behind the dash.

 

[fourwd1]

Are you aware the hood is not the ideal place to mount an antenna?
The engine and ignition system are a major source of RF noise.
Normally you want to place the antenna as far away form a noise source as possible.

 

[MattAK]

Yeah, I know the hood isn't the ideal ideal place for it, but it works. My dad's had a HAM antenna on the hood of his 2nd Gen for over a decade and we've never noticed any significant issues. If it's pretty bad on this one, I'll think about moving it to the rear, but for now this should work. We only use them when we go wheeling anyway, so I'm not too concerned about it.

Thanks for the tip about the grommet under the pax carpet, 4x4runner2002. I felt a lot better running the cable through that than trying to stuff that huge connector through the wire harness grommet.

Test fitting through that hole. Don't worry, I ran it through the grommet and sealed it up with some waterproof caulking.

All done!!

 

[4x4runner2002]

looks good. glad i could help
there are lots of hidden passage ways in our vehicles for wires