I wanted to install a Ham Radio in my 1997 F-150 Extended Cab.
I wondered if anyone has any suggestions on where to attach a mounting bracket "Under" the dash, to hold the radio. It's rather small, and I was looking to drill a couple of holes close to the bottom lip of the dash, just below & left of the cup holders.
Does anyone have any suggestions on placement... or even warnings, on what to avoid?

Thanks

 

Dave:

I got a 2002 SuperCrew a couple of weeks ago and I temporarily set up a Kenwood TM-D700A dual-band on the transmission hump wired into one of the cig. lighter plugs, with a mag mount antenna on the roof. Once this friggin' New England winter breaks, I'm gonna do a through-the-glass mount antenna, and probably put the remote head up by the overhead console and the 'guts' down under one of the seats. If it's time for a new radio, give serious consideration to one of the many rigs that have remote display heads - much easier to do a neat, clean install.

I'm also probably going to put an 11-meter (CB) unit in somewhere, not too sure about that yet. There's a good thread running in the SuperCrew forum on putting a CB in, check it out.

 

Thanks for the info... but unfortunately, I just got THIS one, and I have to make do with what I've got. By the way... I talked to a friend who is an audio engineer... who strongly advised against a through-the-glass 2-meter antenna. He said it takes a LOT of power to make those work right. They work OK for cell phones, but on the 2-meter band, they can be less than efficient.
I saw, in a parking lot, an F150 with a radio mounted right on the dash panel, just below the cig.lighter ports. Too bad I couldn't ask THAT guy what he had to go through to get it done.

Thanks for the Info!

Dave

 

Have had bad luck with through the glass antenna for 220MHz, had a Larsen and it was junk . A buddy had a pair of them on his F-250 rear window and referred to them as "dummy loads".

I tried trimming the RG-58 on mine to make the length inside my VW more manageable. Wouldn't radiate after that - went to a buddy's house and used his Bird wattmeter and after incrementally trimming the Kulrod down to about 12" we realized the POS was never going to tune.

Other than that, they look pretty kool.

I have an IC-2100H mounted on a piece of pine and just lay it up against the front of the console. Doesn't look all that good but it is convenient. I use a Larsen magmount on the cab roof.

Now I need to figure out where to mount the faceplate of my new FT-100D I don't think there's a good spot to tell the truth.

 

I have the thru the windshield mount and have good luck with mine. No problems hitting the repeaters on low power. Use truck off road a lot and have to transmit while in deep canyons. I generally use 10 watts for those conditions.

 

I am using a normal Motorola Mag Mount, sitting on top of cab, just in front of rear window. run the cable down the side, into the 3rd door near the bottom, then under the back seat, then up along the tran hump to the radio. I certainly plan to re-do this when the weather gets warmer.

As far as installing the radio itself.. I hit upon something I believe to be a bit novel. I pulled out the cup holders of my '97 extended cab, and removed the ash tray, (don't smoke anymore!) and stored it in the glove box.

then, I found 2 holes in the left, and 2 more in the right slide rail, which held the ashtray. I ran a wire tie through each hole, then through a corresponding position in the radio's mounting bracket. Pulled them tight.... and attached the radio to the bracket.

Looks great.. dosen't rattle (much)... and I can see the front panel very well from the drivers seat.

Now.. all I have to do is wire DC power properly, and I should be good to go!

Thanks for all the Suggestions!

Dave.

 

I have a '97 also with the extended cab. My truck has the console in the middle and I am assuming that yours does too. It is a bit of work but what I did to install my Galaxy radio was to run the coax and power from the pedals under the carpet (I drilled a small hole through the firewall then put silicon on it to seal it) to the console where I drilled a small hole in the side of it that isn't noticable because the seat hides it and then mounted the radio with one bolt at the very front of the console in front of the cup holders. You have to remove the center console to do this but there is only four bolts holding it in.

I know this is a real pain to do but the look is well worth it afterwards. There isn't a wire showing, the radio is at easy reach and looks nice and tidy.

One of the best parts is that if I ever decide to get rid of the radio there is only going to be one visable hole, the hole where the radio was mounted, and that is going to be awfully hard to see unless you lean forward, knocked your head on the dash, look down to the front of the console and pay close attention to a 1/4" hole!

Good luck with your installation!