Clean VHF/CB radio installs

So here's mine. Yaesu FTM400, mounted on the Taco Rail by 67 designs. Mounted the radio under the passenger seat and put a mic extension on the side of the center console area. Using a
Youmei Dual Band NMO Antenna Small Cannon Style on a Diamond Lip Mount. Pretty happy with it so far.

$12 InstallerParts CAT6 RJ45 Shielded Industrial Panel Mount Bulkhead Female/Female Feed Thru Coupler - Network Connectors - Capless (Single Pack, Black)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D0N79K2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_B9.SFb7VCSXFB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AR09JOQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_r-.SFbHDTZ09T?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

$15 Youmei Dual Band NMO Antenna Small Cannon Style Antenna UHF/VHF 400-470/136-174MHz 50W for Car Mobile Radio

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077YPRCPX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_V-.SFbNCQJ8PX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

Very nice work. Pictures look very good too.

 

Yaesu FT-857d and MXT-275. Mounted the ham faceplate in the ceiling in front of the moonroof, The control units are velcroed under the drivers seat. External speaker fed from both via Y connector velcroed to the tunnel to be easily moved as seat is moved. Very secure.

 

Has anyone on here with a truck cap and tail light cb mount had any issues with the antenna bouncing and hitting the truck cap? I just bought a new truck and I am looking at one of these mounts, but I am worried about the new cap getting chewed overtime.

 

its gonna happen. Tennis ball usually helps.

 

Running a Larsen CB whip and Diamond HAM 2/70 on tailgate mounts with no issues except in really overgrown stuff, but no contact around town. No marks of contact that I can see either.

 

102" whip on mine, it's never impacted. I started with a heavy spring under the whip and it looked like it was getting close. The spring was causing crazy intermittent VSWR so I eliminated the spring. The whip is plenty flexible without the spring. Without the spring it never gets close to my shell. I often have the top of the whip tied down to one of the side window latches on the shell. It has never impacted.

 

Way back when I ran a 102, I used the softer spring with the clip to shape it in an arch. Great performance but a bit of a PIA when I got to heavily tree areas.

 

Back when I had my 86 it had a 4' firestik on the back corner. It would wack the canopy when it hit overhead signs in the parkade.. lol it never did hurt anything though.

 

I finally got my radio installed in my 2020 this week. Yaesu FT-7800 mounted under the front seat, with the bracket zip-tied to the seat springs. The display/control head is mounted to the upper part of the qi charger pocket with the YSK-7800 separation kit (the bracket is simply screwed into the plastic, in front of the little light that illuminates the pocket/cubby area). I'm using the MFJ cleartone external speaker, which is just sitting under the qi charging pad inside the console area (yes, it's nice and loud, and sounds very clear still). For my antenna, I went with the Victory 4x4 hood mount, and a Tram 1/4 wave dual-band whip. Everything looks super clean, and I can still easily access the controls on the faceplate, but it is not distracting or bright while driving. I also still have plenty of room to set my phone or wallet in the qi cubby area (I do not use the qi charger, and I removed the switch when I installed others in the dash). Overall, I'm very happy with how this all came out.

I'm not sure if anyone else experienced this or if I just installed my bracket incorrectly, but the Victory 4x4 bracket placed the antenna at a very awkward angle coming up off the truck. It was angled toward the front of the rig, and toward the passenger side. I ended up bending the antenna a little bit so that it's vertical, as it was driving me nuts. So far, the antenna seems to be working very well for what it is. Almost as good as my Diamond 5/8 wave dual-band that I had on my previous vehicle (which I also carry in the bed now, and can slip on if I ever need more range).

 

Does the Cobra 75wx suck?

 

Super clean, well done. Very similar to what I plan on doing. Did you pull the lower panel to ensure you weren’t screwing in to any wiring when screwing the separation kit in to the plastic? Also, did I read correctly that the speaker is underneath the charging pad, as in inside the console?

 

Thank you! Yes, I took the center panel all the way off. I needed to in order to install the Meso lower switch panel, and I don't think I could have gotten the proper angle with a screwdriver or drill to mount the faceplate without disassembling everything. There is a how-to on this site that I followed here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/installing-mesojdms-custom-lower-switch-panel.539029/ Be forewarned - you practically rip the entire interior of the truck apart to get that panel out. It's a major project.

Once the panel was out, I was able to play with the position of the faceplate bracket to get it in the perfect spot. I actually fitted the forward part of the lower console (with the charging pad) and the center piece (with the switch panel) together outside of the truck so that I could see exactly how the faceplate would sit in relation to the pocket/charging pad. I wanted to ensure that there was enough room to put my wallet and/or phone down there, still. It's mounted just forward of the little light that illuminates the charging pad pocket, which still allows the light to fill the pocket behind the faceplate, and still has plenty of space under it. It is also just far enough back that it doesn't interfere with tall cups/bottles in the forward cup holders.

And yes, the speaker is actually underneath the charging pad, inside the console. There is a void space below the charging pad which is about 2 to 2.5 inches tall with a thick carpet pad on the bottom. I just shoved the speaker in there facing up into the charging pad. The audio from the radio sounds as if it's coming directly from the faceplate, since they're so close together. It's not quite as clear or loud as it would be if it were mounted somewhere visible, but I am confident that it's at least as loud and clear as it would be if it were mounted under the seat. I think it sounds great.

 

Awesome, really appreciate the in depth information. Your setup came out really nice, definitely worth the effort! I was hoping to still use the space behind the faceplate as well, so its nice to hear you can still slip things back there. I’ll post mine when I get it done, hopefully this weekend. Thank you again!

 

I have a few questions if you don’t mind indulging a newb:

1) Is there a reason no one seems to mount their antenna to the front of the bed, just behind the cab? I’m concerned putting antennas on the hood would be in my way while driving. Far back corner of bed looks decent, assuming it is out of the way when I have to use the bed.

1a) I’m not opposed to roof mount either, just concerned about height since I do end up in parking garages a lot.

2) I assume if I want to do HAM and GMRS I’ll need two radios and two antennas?

3) For the Kenwood TM-710, does it also use an external gps antenna, or is it just the radio antenna?

 

1 - You get a better ground plane by mounting to metal, such as the roof or hood.
2 - There are some ham radios that will xmit/receive on the GMRS freqs, but honestly I'm not up to speed on the legality of doing that. I do believe there is a way to accomplish it correctly though.
3 - If you by the TM-710G is has a built in gps antenna. The older models without the G had to have an external antenna attached.

 

Yes

 

1: Ground plain is better with hood (or roof) and the antenna will have a tendency to "slap" the cab occasionally. If you've seen a tennis ball on an antenna for a Jeep or van that's why.
There are adapters that will allow you to easily remove or fold your antenna for low clearance areas. The trick is remembering to do it.

2: Yes.

 

Very clean truck. I'm considering sticking Larsen 2/70 on an nmo in the center of my rack. Wondering if you feel grounding was adequate on the rack, or if you did some bonding somewhere.

 

if you do, i would recommend adding grounding strap (flat braid) from the mount to the vehicle.