The Mod:

Add a CB antenna to the Jeep.

What it does:

Many still exclusively use CBs to communicate on the trails. A CB along with this external antenna permits us to join in on the conversations.

Photos:

The salesman at FireStick recommend the Firefly over the FireStick because the Firefly is more top loaded. I got a 3 foot Firefly, and the FireStick stud mount with 18 foot FireRing coax:

Here's the stuff removed from the packaging, plus a ground wire that I purchased that will be run a good ground:

First drill a 1/2" hole in the spare tire mount (which is aluminum). Use the FireRing mount to measure where to drill the hole:

The tire mount is not a good ground source, so I figured I would have to run a ground wire to a good source. I spliced in a ground wire, soldered it in place, and wrapped the spice in wire and soldered it:

Cover the splice with heat shrink tubing and added some tie wraps:

With the coax prepared, clean off some of the powder coating around the hole (to give the tire mount a ground) and mount the FireRing on top of the hole:

Next, remove the panel from the inside of the door:

Remove the grommet:

Ran some wire protector hose from the grommet hole to the hole inside the door:

Feed the coax and round wire thorough the hose and secure the wires with a rubber coated hook and add more wire wraps. At this point the mount is done, the wire just needs to be run:

The hose and wire coming out the other side of the door:

Cut the hose to size, run the wires with the factory wire bundles, and tape and clean up (I purchased two new wire bundle clamps from a local auto parts store so I didn't have to worry about destroying the clamps):

Inside the Jeep run the new wires down:

The screw for the rear speaker made a great ground:

Run the coax under the carpet up and under the dash to the passenger side, and bring it forward to just past the screw on the console. Use another rubber clamp to hold the wire in place:

A furniture leg cap can be used to cover the end of the coax connector to keep dirt out:

A furniture leg cap can be used to protect the antenna connector when the antenna isn't connected:

A cap can also be used on the threaded part of the antenna to protect it when not in use:

The antenna can be stored just under the storage bin door:

Antenna on the mount:

Shot of the rear:

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Last modified: December 21, 2009 06:36:29 PM