Thoughts on installing the Cobra 75 CB Radio?

[T4RSpectreSix]

Thoughts on installing the Cobra 75 (or any) CB Radio?

So basically, there is a local sale going on here for the Cobra 75, their hand-held "all-in-one" CB. That said, I am contemplating picking one of these up if I can manage a relatively pain-free installation.

Here's a link to amazon's listing of the item:

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-75-Handset-Mobile-40-Channel/dp/B00005N5WW

I have a few uncertainties regarding the install and general use of this item however and those have led to some questions:

1.) Does anyone here use this CB? If so, what can you tell me about it based on your experiences? Is it decent considering it's not a full size unit?

2.) Where would be an ideal place to mount the little silver hookup that contains the quick disconnect/power hookups/antenna hookups? I know some people have put them straight up into their dash, but I don't want to drill up my interior if I don't have to.

This is what I am referring to:
http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-701-Remote-Connector-CBR75WXST/dp/B00006JPET/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_b

The little silver box doesn't appear to be that large, I have to wonder if it could be mounted in the little place on the bottom of the dash in the driver's footwell where some (Such as THEREED) have recently mounted their GPS 12v hookups.

3.) Where, in your opinion, is an ideal, hassle-free location to ground this quick disconnect hub, and would the same 12v fuse adapter that THEREED uses here work?

Basically, I think he's got an ingenious setup there, and I'd like to mimic it the best I can with this install. As far as an antenna is concerned, I'd do it the same as 4runr30 did his.

I thought of getting a full size unit and somehow stuffing it into the center console box, but I figure this would still require me to drill somewhere to get the antenna and power cables through?

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Improvements on this idea?

I really wouldn't mind having a full-size unit in the truck, but the wife dislikes the notion of me drilling up the interior and having the unit on "her" side of the console. So in an effort to keep the peace, I thought this unit might offer a compromise. (Although if anyone has an alternative, by all means suggest!)

Thanks in advance for anything you contribute - just trying to figure this out.

I appreciate it.

 

[HB 4X4]

Both myself and another member on here (BlairB) run this. They work great and haven't given us any problems. I can get some pictures up for you tomorrow, but I installed mine with absolutely no drilling so it's possible.

The small silver box that you referred to, which the antenna/mic hook up to, is under the dash, directly below the steering column. There are a few square holes once you get down there and look. There is also a ledge on the underside of this area. I tucked mine up into the ledge until it fit snugly, then wrapped a zip tie around it, and through one of these holes to secure it.

Next to your brake pedal, there is the black plastic platform to rest your feet on. Directly above that is a large rubber seal with a group of wires running through it. You can use that to run the power/ground to the battery/ground. I just stuck a screw driver into the side of the rubber seal to create a large enough gap to fit the wires through. Once through, you can pop the rubber seal back to the right position.

Get a small pack of these connectors, as you will need one for the power, and one for the ground:
http://www.questwww.com/Red 22-28 Loop Crimp connector.JPG

Ground:Above the fender, inside of the engine bay, there will be a screw in the side with multiple wires attached to it. Unscrew it, and add the new wire to the bundle.

Power: Directly to one of the bolts on the positive battery terminal.

I'll be gone all day tomorrow but if I get a chance I will get a picture for each step to eliminate confusion for you.

Also, for mounting the mic, without drilling radio shack sells one that can be applied with double sided tape (included) and I mounted it right under my 4LO-4HI switch.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103577

 

[T4RSpectreSix]

Wow! You just sold me on this! That is exactly the info I was hoping for!

Some pics would be great, and definitely would help me be sure I was on the right track during the installation.

Thank you for the quick and informative reply! It's awesome to know this is not only doable, but requires no drilling at all! I wasn't even sure that was avoidable.

Great info! Thanks!

 

[HB 4X4]

Wow! You just sold me on this! That is exactly the info I was hoping for!

Some pics would be great, and definitely would help me be sure I was on the right track during the installation.

Thank you for the quick and informative reply! It's awesome to know this is not only doable, but requires no drilling at all!

No problem. Sorry if any of that was hard to understand, I know It was a lot to read. I'll get pictures for you of what each part looks like. Do you have an antenna in mind, or a way to run the cable to the antenna?

I ran my antenna under the floor mat, under the driver seat, under the rear floor mat/seats, and up the back pillar inside of the back hitch. Again, I will post pictures haha. Should have them by tomorrow night.

 

[T4RSpectreSix]

Well I was thinking one way to wire up the antenna might be to follow 4runr30's install.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44499

Is that somewhat how you did yours? I'd be highly interested to see how yours might differ. I'm looking for the most trouble-free yet still effective way to get this unit into the truck! =P

BTW, no need to apologize for anything, you just gave me hope that I can get this done sooner rather than later!

As far as an antenna goes - I was thinking of a magnet mount most likely.

 

[HB 4X4]

Well I was thinking one way to wire up the antenna might be to follow 4runr30's install.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44499

Is that somewhat how you did yours? I'd be highly interested to see how yours might differ. I'm looking for the most trouble-free yet still effective way to get this unit into the truck! =P

BTW, no need to apologize for anything, you just gave me hope that I can get this done sooner rather than later!

As far as an antenna goes - I was thinking of a magnet mount most likely.

Yeah the cable to my antenna is run like that, except I ran it under my seats/floor mats rather than lifting up all of those panels and trying to fish it through.

We use the Wilson5000 which is a magnet mount antenna, and unscrews when you don't need it.

 

[HB 4X4]

The silver metal box is behind this area. You can see the zip ties holding it in place:

Shot facing up, to show the ledge that it's resting on.

The red/black wire leading to the rubber seal:

Antenna cable which comes from up front, then out the back...

Then up the pillar. As you see, you can press it under the black plastic, and it's held snugly in place.

Magnet mount:

 

[HB 4X4]

Wires coming out of the seal, inside the engine bay: (wrapping the tip in duct tape made them stronger, and easier to pull through the gap once you use a screwdriver to create a gap.)

Negative (black) wire:

Positive:

CB Mic:

Mounting Clip:

 

[T4RSpectreSix]

HB4X4, you have definitely gone above and beyond the call on this one, thank you very much for taking the time to snap all those pics and explain the install. I definitely appreciate it!

I hope to put this all to good use in the very immediate future!

Thank you!!

 

[HB 4X4]

HB4X4, you have definitely gone above and beyond the call on this one, thank you very much for taking the time to snap all those pics and explain the install. I definitely appreciate it!

I hope to put this all to good use in the very immediate future!

Thank you!!

No problem, glad to help.

 

[Vizwar]

That's a good install but before you go drilling holes and putting coax exposed to friction, give me a little bit to get pictures of my two radios installed. They were professionally installed by a group that build police cars.

http://www.fcicars.com/

 

[HB 4X4]

That's a good install but before you go drilling holes and putting coax exposed to friction, give me a little bit to get pictures of my two radios installed. They were professionally installed by a group that build police cars.

http://www.fcicars.com/

It said numerous times throughout the thread that it required no drilling which is why it's installed the way it is.

 

[Vizwar]

It said numerous times throughout the thread that it required no drilling which is why it's installed the way it is.

Ok my mistake on drilling... I still have concerns about running the coax over a door seal. Over time it will cause the weather seal to loose it's shape and you'll be left with a gap, perhaps a leak.

I used a lip antenna mount on my rear gate that clamps on. The coax ran through a rubber boot on the inside top of the gate. The coax then ran along the head liner, down the passenger B pillar to the radio mounted under the passenger seat where it was remoted from a control head in the dash board. The ground was attached to the seat bolt and power was pulled directly from the battery by doing a run along the passenger door sill, behind the carpet in the passenger foot well and out the firewall through an existing hole for a factory harness and then resealed. To protect the radios inline self resetting breakers were put in under the hood. I did the same thing as you did with your mic clip which I thought was cool.

Ya did a great install, so please don't be defensive. I'm just really worried about that coax ruining your door seals.

Model RS-720 lip mount works on T4R. For CB ask for the NMO mounting insert and cable assembly in addition to the RS-720.

 

[T4RSpectreSix]

I'm trying to picture how that kind of thing mounts to the truck. Got a pic of it installed? Never seen that around here before.

 

[HB 4X4]

Ok my mistake on drilling... I still have concerns about running the coax over a door seal. Over time it will cause the weather seal to loose it's shape and you'll be left with a gap, perhaps a leak.

I used a lip antenna mount on my rear gate that clamps on. The coax ran through a rubber boot on the inside top of the gate. The coax then ran along the head liner, down the passenger B pillar to the radio mounted under the passenger seat where it was remoted from a control head in the dash board. The ground was attached to the seat bolt and power was pulled directly from the battery by doing a run along the passenger door sill, behind the carpet in the passenger foot well and out the firewall through an existing hole for a factory harness and then resealed. To protect the radios inline self resetting breakers were put in under the hood. I did the same thing as you did with your mic clip which I thought was cool.

Ya did a great install, so please don't be defensive. I'm just really worried about that coax ruining your door seals.

Model RS-720 lip mount works on T4R. For CB ask for the NMO mounting insert and cable assembly in addition to the RS-720.

I wasn't defensive, I was just in a hurry. That's the problem with text, you can't determine the tone of it.

How did you install that? It sounds like a good idea for a more permanent fix than how I ran the cable.

 

[Vizwar]

I'm trying to picture how that kind of thing mounts to the truck. Got a pic of it installed? Never seen that around here before.

It's an amateur radio part but will also work with a CB. Just be sure to pick up an antenna that is (in CB lingo) rail mount, bar mount, hood mount, etc. What that means is it's designed to work without a proper ground plane. Which is what the antenna would have on the roof using the metal surface of the car as it's ground plane to propagate the signal.

Don't let this picture blow your mind, just understand that the 0 degree line up from the middle would be your antenna. It doesn't exactly represent our example but it does give you an idea of what the ground plane does to the signal propagation.
<a href="http://www.enigmatic-consulting.com/Communications_articles/Radio_links_part2/monopole_Eplane.gif"><img src="http://www.enigmatic-consulting.com/Communications_articles/Radio_links_part2/monopole_Eplane.gif" height="400" border="1"/>

 

[jeremysoca]

Great write up Josh!!!

Your writeup should be incorporated in the tech section over at 120. We should wheel sometime since we are both in OC

 

[HB 4X4]

Re: Great write up Josh!!!

Your writeup should be incorporated in the tech section over at 120. We should wheel sometime since we are both in OC

Definitely. I just got back from a day trip, the post should be up soon so check it out.

Where in OC do you live again? I think I asked you before, but I can't remember.

 

[jeremysoca]

Trabuco Canyon right next to Coto De Caza

 

[HB 4X4]

Trabuco Canyon right next to Coto De Caza

Got it, you're out there quite a ways.