update to Tokyojoe's and Adamisadam cb antenna install

chetos · **Posted:** Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:41 pm

I went with this route for putting in a cb antenna...

One thing I did different is instead of drilling through the original antenna mount, I bought a 5/16th course thread coupler and drilled one end out with a 5/8ths bit and tapped that with a 3/8ths fine thread tap. Then used some 5/16th threaded rod to attach the factory mount to the coupler. Other than that, everything I did was the same. I just now have to wait for my cobra cb to come in to test it out. AM/FM seems to come in better now.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:12 pm

Always great to see someone come up with a better way. You can also use a Heavy spring instead of a medium spring. Less flopping around on the trails and wind lean at highway speeds.

GREAT JOB! Now show us a picture! :lol:

Gris · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:55 am

I wanted to thank you as well Tokyojoe. I had asked a few weeks ago for some advice and you happily gave it. I have the antenna and cb installed using your how-to and it's awsome. FM reception picks up stations I never got before. CB SWR meter readings went down to about 1.4, which I'm happy with.

I did use a HD spring btw. Hardest part of the whole install was trying to find a 3/8-24 tap :/

chetos · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:46 am

Gris wrote:

I wanted to thank you as well Tokyojoe. I had asked a few weeks ago for some advice and you happily gave it. I have the antenna and cb installed using your how-to and it's awsome. FM reception picks up stations I never got before. CB SWR meter readings went down to about 1.4, which I'm happy with.

I did use a HD spring btw. Hardest part of the whole install was trying to find a 3/8-24 tap :/

I agree, this was simple and the reason I added the coupler is that I was extremely afraid of screwing up the tap on the factory mount. I went to 6 different tool places (sears, HD, Lowes, Menards and a couple of tool places) before finding the 3/8-24 tap. All sorts of 3/8-16 taps. I went to wally world last night and parked right beside a Renny..He was getting out as I was pulling in. He saw my antenna and started asking questions. We now might have a new member here now when I told him of all the info he can get here.

Gris · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:26 pm

I finally snapped some pics of the install...

chetos · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:10 pm

[quote="Gris"]I finally snapped some pics of the install...

looks nice. Where's your ground wire at? Great job of hiding it. I'll get some of mine up in a couple of days.

Gris · **Posted:** Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:21 pm

there isn;t a ground wire. Should there be?

It's a 3' Firestick Firefly. <shrug>

Tuned with the splitter I get about 1.7 on the SWR. I'm happy with that. I still haven't actually transmitted anything though. I seem to receive OK.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:05 pm

I'm so proud. My mod has taken on a life of its own! I'm so proud.

I like the finished look. A bit cleaner than mine. I also couldn't find a tap&die the right size. But I do have an extra OEM mount that I've been considering using to redo this. But I think I'll install my locker first!

chetos · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:10 pm

Gris wrote:

there isn;t a ground wire. Should there be?

It's a 3' Firestick Firefly. <shrug>

Tuned with the splitter I get about 1.7 on the SWR. I'm happy with that. I still haven't actually transmitted anything though. I seem to receive OK.

Mine's a Wilson...there is a wire coming through it. I just attached it to the mount.

gatorator · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:13 pm

Gris

I am interested in your rack. Did you make it or buy it? Could you put more supports under it to hold more weight?

Gris · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:37 pm

Gatorator, I made it. You don't need more support. I trimmed a peice of plywood to fit into it for a solid bottom. The wife and I sit in it if we go to the drive in. Considering I'm 220 by myself, you're more likely to flip the jeep from having too much weight on top than you are to bend the rack. If you were absolutely dead set on getting more bottom support, I'd figure running another bar longways down the middle from front to back would do it.

Gris · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:40 pm

back on topic...

What SWR readings do y'all get with your setups? I can't get mine under 1.7, but I'm happy with that considering I will likely only use it on the trail to talk 30-100' in either direction.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 11:02 pm

USAFCOP tried to tune mine but it wouldn't stop pegging to max. I think I need to make some adjustments with that splitter. Never had issues with mine being pegged though.

chetos · **Posted:** Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:17 am

Gris wrote:

back on topic...

What SWR readings do y'all get with your setups? I can't get mine under 1.7, but I'm happy with that considering I will likely only use it on the trail to talk 30-100' in either direction.

same here and I figured exactly as you do. That's why I went with this set up. Cobra 75 handheld unit...I am not gonna use it often and I can always take it off if I want.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:22 am

Yea, when I went to get mine tuned, it was PERFECT, then when we put the spring on it was very high, so we tried to tune it. Removing the spring and putting it back still didn't net the great reading when I drive in! Funny. So it's set as good as it would go, which is as I recall was around 1.7 or so also. But I get EXTREMELY good range. Over 12 miles at times in an urban area!

But on the trail, I'm as strong as any of them and often used to relay messages from back to front, etc. So that swr thing I think we need to take with a grain of salt.

chetos · **Posted:** Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:26 am

Tokyojoe wrote:

USAFCOP tried to tune mine but it wouldn't stop pegging to max. I think I need to make some adjustments with that splitter. Never had issues with mine being pegged though.

I was just on vacation. My dad was over from Vegas to spend time with his granddaughters. He drove a semi for over 30 years and is now is a semi truck mechanic. He can do anything on fixing a vehicle. He helped this weekend with my spark plugs, evic install and cb install. He knows his stuff. Heck we were even in the parking lot at the omaha airport (we had extra time) so he was looking at my brake pads saying if we had just a little more time he pull off the tires and show me how to change the pads.

anyway he said that when it's pegged like that it's usually the ground. He's never delt with the am/fm/cb splitters before but said they could be a problem too but he wasn't sure. He was gonna ask some of the other guys to see if they know.

update to Tokyojoe's and Adamisadam cb antenna install

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