Hey folks. Been slammed here recently but I wanted to throw a quick update on the truck on here. Finally got around to installing the CB Radio. Pretty simple setup. I’m using the Cobra 29LX with a 4ft. Firestik tunable antenna mounted with a HD Spring on the Firestik NGP Antenna Kit with a door jamb mount at the tailgate. I ran the cable through the bed of the truck, along the side (underneath the bedbug). At the back of the bed (behind the cab) there is a plastic drain plug and I routed the cable through there and came up underneath the cab of the truck (pax side). Behind the rear door on the floor board there is a small rubber grommet/plug which you can use to route the cable into the cab. I then ran the cabling under the carpet and pax seat to a small hole in the right rear section of the center console. Through that hole you can poke the cable up into the center console, which is where I mounted the CB. The CB doesn’t have an ideal location in these trucks and I didn’t want to drill into the console, so I improvised using some velcro with sticky backing (you can pick it up at any craft store) and it holds everything perfectly. Once the antenna is in the console, you just need to solder the end connections in place and you are almost done. For power, I used a cig. lighter plug with +/- leads straight to the power plug on the CB. It’s got an inline fuse and makes the install way easier that running to the fuse box. I also added a PA Speaker under the hood and ran a PA cable from under the hood of the truck to the CB. This one is MUCH trickier. There’s simply not a lot of entry points from the firewall into the cab. I used the same location as I did for the rally lights and fished some 18g speaker wire through that hole and under the carpeting into the center console. It was a bitch, but not impossible. The CB is hidden and out of view from nefarious types and easy to get to if you are driving. After the install I calibrated the antenna using the built-in SWR meter and got it down to < .25 on the scale, WELL within acceptable limits and it’s got a nice clean strong signal. Couldn’t have asked for an easier setup.
