CB radio coax cable routing

[Smith]

I have a 2023 Heritage Edition that I'm adding a CB radio to. I have a Wilson Little Wil magnetic roof mount antenna with a 15 foot coaxial cable. Does anyone have ideas on how to route the cable?

Sponsored

 

[kshaw]

Find a shop that does audio system installations and they would likely do it for almost half of what a dealership would charge.

 

[Major Kong]

I have a 2023 Heritage Edition that I'm adding a CB radio to. I have a Wilson Little Wil magnetic roof mount antenna with a 15 foot coaxial cable. Does anyone have ideas on how to route the cable?

Go up to the search (magnifier upper right corner)
type in Transceiver Installation
pretty good thread
other searches
CB
HAM
GMRS

 

[Uncle Brad]

I was able to install my 2M/440 and GMRS radios by using mini coax (ie LMR24) and routing the coax through the door seals, under carpet and plastic covers. I mounted the antennas on the roof rack, in the back of the vehicle, through the top of the tailgate. You can buy little adhesive-backed plastic clips off EBay or Amazon to keep everything neat (and, of course, zip ties). The Bronco and Bronco Sport are both super easy to route the 12V wires through the firewall too.

 

[R W NORRIS New Mexico]

I have placed mine on the rear roof for best reception. I have a magnetic and placed it about 3 inches to the side of the factory radio antenna. I then routed the coax to the rear hatch and followed it to the bottom corner. Using colored Duct Tape to secure it in the channel to that corner, then pulled up the gasket/seal at the corner, remove three screws holding the inside trim and went into the spare tire well and forward to the rear seat, down at that point and under the carpet to the front going along side the consol. You can go up along side the door at the curve in the carpet on the floor, there is all kinds of room under that area of the foot well. Simply remove the sill plate to loosen the carpet. I recommend that you purchase a 4 or 6 outlet fuse box and mount it in the engine compartment hooking directly to the battery. Mount it close to the battery, run your fuse hot wire to the Positive post of the battery. Connect the black, ground, to the body at any screw under the hood on the fire wall or fender. Run the CB Positive wire into the passenger compartment by simply punching a hold through a gromet in the firewall and pushing your wire through. The CB can be grounded inside the passenger compartment by hooking to a "grounded screw" such as a carpet or ttrim screw. That is it. I put my receivers under the bucket seats and I have the CB under the Drivers Seat and the Family under the passenger seat. Both have all the controls and speaker in the Microphone. Those I hang on the side pockets on the front seats for easy access. Good Luck. Rodger in New Mexico.

 

[sajohnson]

I'm glad to see there are still CB users out there.

 

[Uncle Brad]

>> I have a magnetic and placed it about 3 inches to the side of the factory radio antenna. I

I would move the mag mount CB antenna away from the factory radio antenna, because, - when transmitting on the CB antenna - you'll be coupling a lot of RF into your Bronco Sport AM/FM radio. This can easily damage the sensitive front end components of the factory radio. Also, the SWR of the CB antenna will be adversely affected by its close proximity to the factory antenna. I would move the CB antenna well forward of the factory antenna, and to the side as well if possible.

If you have a roof rack, I would use it. The rack provides a decent ground plane and provides some isolation from the factory AM/FM antenna. There are a number of roof rack mounting options for most antenna bases, such as NMO. If clearance for your garage door is an issue, you can purchase swivel mounts which allow you loosen up the base and move the antenna down parallel to the roof.

 

[sajohnson]

The dome light in my WRX is below the center of the roof. That was the perfect place to drill a 3/4" hole for a permanent mount Wilson antenna. I'm not necessarily suggesting anyone else do that, but it worked well for me. Good ground plane, and no issues with it getting knocked off by low branches.

 

[Smith]

I was able to run the antenna cable through the driver door frame. Check out the thread at: https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/transceiver-installation-thread-ham-cb-gmrs-radio-unit-and-antenna-installation-on-bronco-sport.1487/page-4

Sponsored