• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

My CB Install Thread

terryd

NAXJA Forum User
Well, I've been here for a while, figured I'd contribute something to the site.
What I've got is a 98 Cherokee SE 2dr. My club uses CBs to communicate on the trail and I wanted one with the weather bands so I could get weather forecasts while out camping. So, I picked up a Cobra 18WXSTII.
DSCN1603.jpg


As for mounting it, I decided to use the screws that hold the visor clips to mount the bracket to the top above the mirror. I like this spot because its not down in the passenger compartment where knees will get bumped and does not require cutting up the dashboard to install. The measure ments on my plate are 10" OAL and 8 7/8" between centers of the mounting holes. The holes for the visor clips are 3/8" for the screw to go through, and 3/16" for the alignment dowels.
DSCN2127.jpg


DSCN2125.jpg


To get the antenna cable back to the rear of the Jeep, I removed the driver side A and C pillar mouldings and the rail above the rear side glass. I also removed the panel that ran behind the speaker bar, the panel on the rear hatch and both front visors. I used a friends fiberglass "fish-sticks" to pull the cable back over the headliner on the drivers side, across the panel and through the factory gromet that goes between the gate and body that has the rear washer fluid hose in it.
DSCN2135.jpg


Then routed the cable with the hose down the passenger side of the gate.
DSCN2136.jpg


I routed the cable through a hole in one of the rear gate braces that pointed it right at the hole for the tag-light wire. I used spiral wrap to keep the cable from rubbing the metal.
DSCN2140.jpg


To get it outside, I used the factory tag-light gromet. I unplugged the tag-light on the inside of the gate and pulled the gromet and wire out. I used a razor to split the gromet lenght-wise.
DSCN2132.jpg


DSCN2133.jpg


DSCN2134.jpg


I then put the tag-light wire back through the hole and pulled the CB cable through. Next I pulled a little slack through the gate on each and wraped the split gromet around the wires, pushing it back into the body and plugging back in the tag-light harness.
DSCN2142.jpg


My friend Don then installed the cable ends.
DSCN2145.jpg


The radio I have uses two wires for power and one for ground. One of the power wires is constant for memory, the other is switched to turn the radio on and off with the key. I didn't want that feature, so we soldered the two power wired together and ran them down the pass. side A pillar to the fuse box. I used a piggy-back fuse holder down to one of the 25A fuses in the factory box. This gives me the ability to operate the radio with the engine off and w/o the ignition on.

As for the antenna mount, I wanted something unique. I had seen all the mounts that put the antenna on the hood or hanging off the side of the body. I wanted something that would protect the antenna and connectors as well as look slick.

I used a piece of 1/8"x1.5" aluminum from Lowe's to make my bracket. First I pulled the panel over the tag light. I then took a medium sized ball-peen hammer and shaped my bracket to fit behind the panel. Using a Dremel tool to trim the panel to allow the mount to come up through it.
DSCN2130.jpg


DSCN2131.jpg


We then drilled the two 1/4" holes in the mount and transfered them to the body. Don ground the paint off the inside of the gate around the holes to improve the ground. Using a fender washer on one of the screws that hold the bracket on braced up the sheet metal well enough for what I do with it I think. Nothing fancy, but I like the way it looks when its all assembled.
DSCN2146.jpg
 
Here's how it looks with the cover on it.
DSCN2129.jpg


DSCN2128.jpg



As of right now, my SWR is a little too high, so I'm going to have to find a loading coil for the antenna to bring that down to acceptable levels. As for the recieving and weather bands, it works great!
 
You want a real good best bang for the buck CB get a Uniden PC78Elite. It's real good CB with a real good mic and has all the bells and whistles, like weather bands, instant ch9, PA, SWR meter and dynamic squelch control.
 
Frank Z said:
Your SWR will continue to be high because you are using a base loaded antenna. Your CB's performance will suffer greatly because of the base loaded coil bouncing a signal off of the body. You're going to want to install a mid or top loaded antenna with your current mounting configuration.
Not true. I have been running base loaded SS 60" whips for years on front and rear bumpers of Jeeps with SWR of 1.0 - 1.5
 
I am using a 102" ss whip, wellreally 100" 2" got cut off on a low bridge, mounted on the back right lower corner of the body and my SWR is 1.3:1 right now.
 
Well, after two days of trying to get the SWR down, I'm still not getting better than 3.3:1 with a 3' fiberglass whip turned all the way down and a spring. I'm considering a taller, top loaded Firestick, something like a 5', with a heavier spring to try to get it down. Any other suggestions from you guys? I talked to a guy at a local CB shop and he was just pissed about where I mounted my antenna and basically refused to do anything but tell me to move my antenna. :helpme:
 
Where are you checking the SWR (before or after the cable?) You may have a bad cable or connector. If you can, check before the cable, then before the antenna to rule one out. -Jim C
 
Thank you :) Very good write up. Where did you get the aluminum at? And how close does the back of the CB come to hitting the windshield?
 
Thanks! I bought the aluminum at Lowe's, was like $8 I think for 3ft of it. There's a good 3 inches between the back of the cb and the windshield. I bolted the aluminum inplace and put the bracket on the CB and held it up there before I drilled any holes to mount the bracket to the aluminum just to make sure there was enough room.
 
terryd said:
Thanks! I bought the aluminum at Lowe's, was like $8 I think for 3ft of it. There's a good 3 inches between the back of the cb and the windshield. I bolted the aluminum inplace and put the bracket on the CB and held it up there before I drilled any holes to mount the bracket to the aluminum just to make sure there was enough room.
Thanks! I think I might do that tomorrow if I find time.:)
 
Nice! I have the same cb mounted in the same location. Nice little unit.

You might want to find a good top loaded antenna such as a firestik II or firestick firefly. I've used both and never had a problem. Plus they have the tunable tip which makes tunning much easier.

How did you ground the cb unit? I used one of the visor screws.
 
terryd said:
Thanks! I bought the aluminum at Lowe's, was like $8 I think for 3ft of it. There's a good 3 inches between the back of the cb and the windshield. I bolted the aluminum inplace and put the bracket on the CB and held it up there before I drilled any holes to mount the bracket to the aluminum just to make sure there was enough room.

The fact that you used aluminum may be the problem. You want to make sure the cb itself has a good ground. Aluminum isn't going to cut it unless you jump it to the roof. Just my op.
 
Frank Z said:
Just for shits and giggles...
Clamp a wire to your aluminum bracket and the other end to a really good chassis ground and check your SWR again.

I'll try that today if Don still has his meter in his truck.

Deadman 94 xj said:
You might want to find a good top loaded antenna such as a firestik II or firestick firefly. I've used both and never had a problem. Plus they have the tunable tip which makes tunning much easier.

How did you ground the cb unit? I used one of the visor screws.

I'm looking at a firestick right now. Did you use a spring on yours? Around here it's common to snap off a solid mounted firestick due to the dense foilage during the summer, that's one reason I went with the SS whip. I ran the ground wire down the A pillar with the power wire and ground some paint off around the fuse box, then used a self tapping screw.
 
Yes I used the spring. Also, the firestik II might be a little too heavy for the mount. I had a 4' and had to switch to a 3' firefly because of the weight.

I'm not saying it will solve your problem, but a top load might be worth a try.
 
Back
Top