Clean VHF/CB radio installs

No not drill. It’s just a plain 3/4” diameter grommet directly on the back wall of the cab that you can pop out. There isn’t another layer of sheet behind it. You would just run your coax in, then cut a slit or hole in the grommet and run your coax thru that and slide the grommet back in place. If you look between the bed and cab you should be able to see it. In fact I think there are 2 on each side, sort of toward the base of the cab. But to get to them on the inside you’d have to remove the plastic c pillar trim.

edit: @5nahalf pics are exactly what I’m referring to.

 

I'll check that out. I was running out of time before leaving for work so I started cleaning up before tearing into any pillar trims

 

on the floor, under the center console are a couple of holes (on my ‘13 SR5 that is) just the right diameter for the cable. I soldered my own connector.

 

I assume I should be able to follow back the bed outlet wires to that location, yes?

 

What antenna were you thinking of using for this setup?

 

Been a while since I did this so hopefully you new guys get some ideas on other options:

Head mount:


Wiring isolation battery, charger and transceiver behind rear seat:


Mounts:


No line of sight blocking and out of the way but accessible:



Antenna is on power tilt. More info in build thread.

 

I zip tied to the cross member and then to the frame out to the back right corner of the bed. I actually ran the wire up behind the tail light and came out behind it to the mount. Wire is between the bed and tail light where it connects to the mount.

 

I am going to run two lengths of LMR400 coax out the firewall under the passenger seat, I think there is a hole for an A/C drain. They'll go up the passenger side A pillar to the prinsu rack on the roof. I will bolt a couple of plates to the underside of the prinsu rack with NMO mounts in them. One NMO will be for a 2m/70 cm antenna for a future Yaesu transceiver, the other will be for CB (11 m).

The CB antenna will likely be a Larsen NMO 27C, but I haven't done much research. My friend is suggesting I just use a mag mount antenna - the roof of my truck is covered in clear vinyl so there won't be any scratches.

 

Why? There's no practical reason to use LMR-400. RG-58 is perfectly fine. If you're REALLY concerned about loss, you could use RG-223. But there's no reason you need to deal with the thickness of LMR-400. Especially for CB.

 

It's an HF radio that will occasionally be used for CB on road trips. LMR400 is twice as thick for sure but the reason is better optical braid coverage. I am expecting a lot of problems with the five Diode Dynamics lights I have on the roof - the switching converters seem to have terrible EMC issues.

 

Alright so another question for those more experienced, I'm going to be running from passenger taillight down along the frame and coming in on driver's side floor. Am I able to just cut the connection head off to feed the cable through the grommet and then reattach it? I'm also getting concerned that my 18' cable isn't going to be quite long enough so I guess now would be as good of a time as any to order the proper stuff.

 

where are you running it to? I had a 20’ come up the grommet and along the drivers side kick panels and then across the pedal area and go into the center console that way - had a few inches to spare with that. But I also came along the bed rails and then down the gap between the bed and cab.

i wouldn’t cut the head if you aren’t pretty damn good at putting it back together. It’s not a simple crimp job to resolder those.

 

There’s also a grommet on the passenger side.pretty large too so you might be able to punch a < cable size hole in it and slit it to reinstall without cutting your cable.

 

Trying to take it from the passenger tail light up to the drivers floor grommet and then across to left side of center console. It's gonna be really close I think.

 

Yes, you can replace the PL-259 connector. I always have soldered them on after running the cable and never had a problem. From memory: 2 CB, 1 VHF installs in trucks; 1 VHF, 2 HF at the house. And a bunch of jumpers - all soldered ends. YouTube has a few good videos. A quality crimper is needed though.

 

If you know how to properly put on a connector, I'd definitely remove it. If you've never done it before, you might struggle. It's definitely a skill, and not necessarily straightforward to someone that hasn't done it.

 

LMR is not going to help

 

Alright so today was a success getting the cable run inside of the cab. I just sliced into one of the passenger grommets and pulled it up around the carpet.

Now hopefully my last question. To power this thing I should just be able to fuse tap into one of the existing 12v power fuses right?

 

Your going to get electrical feedback with that. You want clean power or every time you hit the brakes you will get static.

 

So I should just extend the wires a bit and run it through the firewall to the battery then?