Great CB antenna install

skrracing · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:58 pm

For those of you who've been following [link=p087.ezboard.com/fkjjeepfrm1.showMessage?topicID=3339.topic newwindow]this[/link], I've been agonizing over where to mount a CB antenna.

GOAL: clean, low key install
ISSUES:
- don't block tail gate or flipper glass function at all,
- maintain clearance for garage
- avoid catching every tree on the trail
- avoid making my daily driver look like, well, a trail rig

Here's my solution:
(you can also view larger pics of this on my web site [link=www.cardomain.com/memberpage/325889/10 newwindow]here.)[/link]

Solution: Use good CB antenna in place of OEM AM/FM one, and add an AM/FM/CB splitter.

Parts list on bottom.

First, you must partially unbolt the front fender. Remove top three bolts, and loosen the two side bolts. (10 mm)

You need to get your hand, and later a ratchet, behind the fender from the top.

Use the stock wire like Fish Tape to pull the CB coax through the existing holes. I used rope and tape. You'll be pulling the wire from outside to inside, since the bare end of the coax will fit through the holes.

What's not shown here is the washers I used on the inside to make this work. I bought one 1/2" x 1 1/2" washer and one bigger 1/2" one (bigger outside diameter to give added strength to the inside of the fender) from Home Depot and put them on the inside. I taped them together to make sure the larger one (ground) doesn't come in contact with the bolt (hot).
Then I used this handy stock part from the OEM setup to help make a good ground between the washer and fender. I also taped it in place to prevent it from sliding and making contact with the bolt during installation.

Finished product!

The whole thing was finished before my younger son awoke from his nap! 1.5 hours. (good nap!)

Parts List:
- Firestik: AR-1A, Match-Maker, CB/AM/FM, CB Antenna Splitter
- Wilson Silver 3' antenna.
- Firestik MK-SB18 Swivel Base Mount Mini Kit

It clears the garage (barely) and is adjustable should I need to move or remove it for any reason.

Now I just gotta get the SWR tuned!

Posted by AdamIsAdam

skrracing · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:00 pm

Dealing with the non-standard OEM Antenna Wire Issue:
As you may know, the AMFM antenna connection at the back of our radios isn't standard. HOWEVER, the connection between the orange 2' wire that's attached to the actual antenna and that non-standard wire IS standard! This connection is located behind the passenger side kick panel. It doesn't get easier than that!

Wiring and locating the Splitter
The splitter is EASY to hook up as labeled. I located it under the knee panel on the pasenger side. It just rest there inside that black panel over passenger's feet. That's where my cell kit is also. The splitter takes input from the CB coax wire, then has two outputs, one goes to the aforementioned AM/FM wire that's in the same area, and the other goes to your CB. I have the Cobra 75WXST that I got for under $100 from Amazon. I mounted the box of that under and behind the HVAC/radio area. I can get to it from the driver's side, just where the center console ends to make hooking up a tuning meter easy. I can easily disconnect the CB part and take that out as well (see my web site for details on CB install pics).

the only thing that's not going well right now is the tuning. I have a local shop that said they'd do it for free, so I should wait until then to pass judgement. But right now, I've got very bad AM reception and can't seem to tune that with the splitter. Every time I touch it, the reception gets good! Plus, the instructions at Firestik's web site says to tune the CB antenna first.

I am concerned that the splitter is damaged (maybe from my playing with it) because it's now worse and I can't get it better now. But I do seem to have acceptable (but slightly worse) FM reception at the moment without touching that.
And, I know I have CB reception just from playing with my two CB's. I have no idea how far yet. I don't know if there's even CB chatter around my area at all as I haven't been on one other than when off roading for 25 years! Do people still say Breaker one-nine?

Posted by AdamIsAdam

skrracing · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:04 pm

OK, it's after midnight and I'm posting the new mod. As they say here in NY, "Oy!"

After some thought, I decided I'd try and use the stock mount and modify it to accept a CB antenna. I was able to do this easily because my CB shop had an adaptor that allows you to simply plug in the stock antenna wire on one end, and a CB wire on the other! I wish I knew about this before!

Anyway, a few odds and ends later, and I had what I needed to try round two. I think I'll go back and buy a spring, because I'm not sure if the OEM mount can handle the 3' Wilson antenna. Only trouble is I JUST BARELY clear my garage now, so adding the spring will cause it to poke every time I go in/out of the garage.

Anyway, there's details and larger pics on [link=www.cardomain.com/memberpage/325889/10 newwindow]my web page.[/link]

But of course, I'll give you the general idea here as well:

[img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/325000-325999/325889_130.jpg[/image]
Close up of double female end I got for free:

Converter from regular radio to CB wire plug. KEY COMPONENT!

Drill out slowly to 3/8". I drilled about 5 times sizing up as I went to avoid damaging the OEM part (no going back now):

Next file down the top to create an even seat for the antenna double female nut to rest on:

Trim the trim so the bolt head sticks out the bottom:

Installed without trim:

I already have better reception than my first try and that's before tuning SWR or the radio!

Parts List:
- Firestik: AR-1A, Match-Maker, CB/AM/FM, CB Antenna Splitter (retail $16)
- Wilson Silver 3' antenna.
- Double female antenna wire connector
- 3' Jumper CB wire ($9)
- Double female 3/8" nut for bottom of antenna (free)
- CB wire to FM wire converter ($9)
- will add spring soon

Now I just gotta get the SWR tuned!

OK, so I had some mishaps. Now you can do it and learn from my errors.

Posted by AdamIsAdam

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:05 pm

Thanks for bringing this one over to the new board.

Just an update: the mod is still working great after a few serious off-roading trips. Wahoo!

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:59 pm

Updated pic showing HD spring installed.

OBX KJ · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:26 pm

Are you having any reception problems with your stereos?

Thanks for the great write-ups

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:04 pm

OBX KJ wrote:

Are you having any reception problems with your stereos?

Thanks for the great write-ups

NOPE! All works great still. (knock wood)

USAFCOP · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:06 pm

Did you get your SWR checked yet?

Tokyo Joe did the same mode, and we tried to tune his CB and no matter how we tried it, it pegged my meter. Then we tuned Skyjumps CB to see if my meter was broke, well his was fine. Is there a trick? Or could his anteana be bad? Does the splitter cause interference?

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:59 am

Yea, he emailed me about your attempts to tune his antenna. My ordeal was odd too. When I finished the install, I took the KJ to a CB shop to get it tuned and also to buy a spring. It went like this:

- initial setup, without any spring, readings were PERFECT. The best this guy ever saw.

- we installed the spring, and the readings went nuts!

- I wanted less height that the 3' and spring combo, so we tried a 2' and spring, but reading were worse.

- then we tried going back to how I was before this all started, 3' only, and he couldn't get the readings anywhere near as good as when I drove in.

We ended up using the spring and getting the numbers as low as they'd go, but WAY above perfection.

I get very good reception and tranmission distances (up to 12 miles once in urban suburb of NYC) so I'm just not worrying about it.

I don't understand it all. Why couldn't we get it back to the way it was? Why couldn't you tune his CB? I think it's all a sham.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

FYI - http://www.firestik.com/Meas-SWR.htm

"SWR that pegs the needle on all channels almost always indicates a short in your antenna system. Do not attempt to tune the antenna until the short is fixed. Operating with high SWR will probably damage your CB's internal circuits."

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:14 pm

Mine wasn't pegged on all channels, it responded to adjustments. It's just that I couldn't get it to return to that great setting once we messed with it. Now the other person here with problems might be a different story.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

USAFCOP wrote:

Did you get your SWR checked yet?

Tokyo Joe did the same mode, and we tried to tune his CB and no matter how we tried it, it pegged my meter. Then we tuned Skyjumps CB to see if my meter was broke, well his was fine. Is there a trick? Or could his anteana be bad? Does the splitter cause interference?

Yeah, the above info is for TokyoJoe's benefit. He was over at my place on Saturday when we tried to adjust it and nothing was helping.

dustin23 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:13 am

AdamIsAdam wrote:

Updated pic showing HD spring installed.

What type of spring is this? Is there a part # or anything?

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:29 am

That's just a plain old HD spring that was on the shelf at my local CB shop. Under it is a double female nut, which may be whythe spring looks funny. I think the spring was a wilson product, but I'm not positive.

05JeepKJ · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:55 pm

What did you do with the ground wire (wire that sticks out) on the wilson antenna. I have the same antenna but i mounted mine in the spare tire carrier.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:02 am

If mounted to metal surface, you don't need the ground wire and can snip it off.

05JeepKJ · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:18 pm

AdamIsAdam wrote:

If mounted to metal surface, you don't need the ground wire and can snip it off.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have it mounted to the spare tire carrier so its metal and i snip off the wire.

rubigade · **Posted:** Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:50 pm

Hey, I know it's several month's later and I'm sure your CB antenna mount is done but for those who haven't, here's another idea.

It doesn't stand that tall but it gets great reception... and it's a snap to remove. The best part is, when I'm done wheelin', I can take it off and put the "Jeep" centercap back in and stuff the cable up in the rear door.
Matt

KJ2005 · **Joined:** Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:05 am **Posts:** 27

rubigade wrote:

Hey, I know it's several month's later and I'm sure your CB antenna mount is done but for those who haven't, here's another idea.

It doesn't stand that tall but it gets great reception... and it's a snap to remove. The best part is, when I'm done wheelin', I can take it off and put the "Jeep" centercap back in and stuff the cable up in the rear door.
Matt

did you fabricate the cb mount braket? Also, what size are your tires, even with the front bumper trimmed do they rub anywhere esle , like sway bar or rear fenders?

Gris · **Posted:** Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:48 am

I can't believe I never posted in this thread. I used this method for my CB antenna a long time ago based on the info here. Guess I forgot to post pictures of the results...

Great CB antenna install

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