Too many cell phone dead spots on my weekly 600-mile commute. Lots of truckers, so I would like to install a CB radio in my '01 SC. If you've already installed a CB in your SC, please let me know where and how you mounted the unit and the antenna. Any other do's and don'ts are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

I saw an old timer snowbird at the Walmart last week and he had a mean looking antenae with coil spring mounted off the drivers side rear bumper.

 

I ran the cord for my antenna up through some kind of vent that was between the cab and the bed of the truck. It is at the very bottom of the cab on the driver's side. I have an extended cab instead of a SC but there should still be a vent there.
For the unit I have it upside down between the floor and the passanger seat. It's not a very good place to put it but it will do for right now. Local CB shops and also Radio Shack should have bracket that you can use to mount the CB on the hump in the floor.

Here is a link to my gallery and there are pictures there of everything!!!

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2363

 

I have a Cobra 75 WX ST. It's the deal where the entire unit is in the mike. I knew I wouldn't use it all the time and basically didn't want to see it all the time.
What I did was mount the power supply in my center console as I have cap't chairs.
( The PS is a 2"x3" x1" metal box with 2 mounting tabs with screw holes). I pulled out the dual cup holder and screwed the PS to the floor. I ran a pig tail just out from under the console next to the driver seat. (I can't remember where i pulled the power from - i gotta check as it's been a while).
I didn't want the antenna permanent either so I use a K40 Magna-mount whip. I ran the wire from the storage cubby behind the back seat on the drivers side under the door molding on the floor and under the carpet into the center console to the power supply plug in. With the magna-mount, the whip detaches from the base and both stash in the cubby behind the seat.
When I need to use it, I, cleverly having left enough wire for the base to reach the center of the roof, pull it out thru the open door, put a cloth down, stick the magnet on the roof attatch the whip and close the door. Likewise the mike stashes in the console void under the cup holders and I pull it out and plug it into the pigtail that JUST protrudes enough to make the connection. Works like a charm and you'd never know it was there if i didn't show you.

WT.

 

If you pull the front cup holder, on the console straight up you will see two bolts with nuts on them. You can undo the nuts, you will need to tie wire ties around them next to the carpet to keep them from falling out before you get the nuts all the way off. Pull the console up far enough to clear the bolts. Slip large "L" brackets under the front of the console, and over the bolts. This will give you something to mount to. You can't drill the front transmission hump in a S'crew because that is where the back seat heat duct is. If someone can tell me how to post a series of pictures I can post the Mag light, Fire Extingusher mount I made for my truck that is covered in Vinyl matching the interior that looks stock.

 

Thanks for the help. Great advice! If it wasn't for another foot and a half of new snow on the way, I'd get started today.

 

SMR, keep us posted on your CB project. I just got a Super Crew a couple of weeks ago and want to do the same thing but am reluctant to start drillin' holes all over the place, especially for the antenna. I ordered a 'shelf-it' visor model and am hoping there's enough space up there for the radio, and I gotta figure out where to put the antenna that won't make the rigl look too dorky.

I'll be watching this thread for sure, good buddy!

 

I like WhiskeyTangos idea for the remote unit with all the controls on the microphone, that would be fine if you want to run a stock radio with no additional power.

There are some rubber plugs in the floor that you can run the antennae coax through, I don't like the idea of drilling holes in my truck so I mounted the antennae under the bumper in an existing bolt.

There are also glass mount antennae that look like cell phone antennaes, these are ok but you do lose some transmission (distance) and you can't run any extra power.

Good Luck, Doug





PS RedRoader, GoodBuddies are a BAD thing now..... 10-4

 

GRABBED A CHUNK OF .050 2024-T3 ALUM. AND BENT IT INTO A "U" SHAPE WITH INWARD POINTING EARS, DRILLED TWO HOLE'S AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE TO THE BRACKET, SLID IT OVER THE OVERHEAD CONSOEL, RAN THE WIRES JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THE MIRROR, AND THEN UP UNDER THE HEADLINER, OVER THO THE DRIVER'S SIDE PILLER, AND DOWN TO ABOUT THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AREA, THE COAX RUN'S UNDER THE DOOR SEAL PLATE, BOTH DOORS, AND UP THE BACK OF THE CAB TO A METAL PLUG THAT I POPPED OUT AND DRILLED A HOLE IN, MOUNTED THE ANTENNA ON THE FORWARD LEFT SIDE OF THE BED, WIRED THE CB INTO A CIG. LITER JACK, AND PLUGGED IT IN THE CIG. LITER, WHEN ITS ALL SAID AND DONE, TWO HOLES IN THE BED( COULD HAVE USED A CLAMP SYSTEM), AND REPLACED THE PLUG, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THERE WAS ANYTHING THERE........

 

I gotta get with the lingo. Somebody emailed me saying the 'good buddy' is a homo thing. Definitly NOT my style!

I'm thinking of mounting a no-ground-plane whip on my Retrax roll top cover box (plastic) at the front of the bed, and getting a compact CB that will fit in a shelf-it visor that's on the way (I hope). I have a mag mount on the roof right now and it does't look too bad. Anybody have any experience in drilling the roof for a permenant mount? I dread drilling holes in my baby!

 

He's correct, after the cb craze in the 70's things changed abit, the roger beep on higher end radio's is also thought of as annoying nowadays.

 

Run your antenna cable the same way "thebossmja" did and then get a "hood mount" bracket from a truck-stop type of store(mine was at Flying J", file down the lower portion to fit between the bolts of the tie-down bracket on the drivers side bed. All you have to do is loosen the screws, slide the bracket in and tighten back up. I use a 4' firestix antenna. It comes off easy enough in case you are in an area where it may be "borrowed indefinitely " you can just unscrew it and put it behind the back seat. You can also drill a very small hole through the bracket female adapter with the antenna attached and use a cotter pin to secure it a little better.
Currently I have a crude, but effective, 45 degree bracket on my tranny hump until I can find a decent center console to fit it into to make it a bit cleaner. I like the overhead console idea but don't know how well it would work with the factory compass and remote console.

 

I have a Cobra compact model and mounted the bracket on the under side of the dash left on the cup holder near the floor vents. I have a magnetic mount antenna and routed the cable behind the rear window molding and then between the bed and the cab and through the rear door under the rear seat then up to the front of the cab under the seats. It made for a clean installation without having to drill any holes

 

The only thing bad about "hood mounts" is that you loose some of the surface area that you need to help with sending and recieving your signal. When you have a permanent or a magnetic based antenna placed on the top of the cab than you have much more surface area (the whole cab). When you have a "hood mount" you only have half that area; the area that is closest to the base of the antenna, thus loosing half that you would have with a centered antenna. The loss is not significant only if you are really serious about reception or are thinking about running more power.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2363

98 Supercab
XLT Lariat 4X4
5.4L (330)
FIPK K and N
Airaid Throttle Body Spacer
Flowmaster Exhaust
2 MTX 8's
MTX 325 amp
Radio Bar (neon)
2 Neon under the front seats
Connex 3300 CB
150 Watt Linear