CB Radio?

[dtruax]

just thinking about a cb radio with a PA speaker mod for thee vx . Since i dont ever use the stock 6-disc cd changer i could take that out and put the cb radio in place of it. has anyone ever done this? if so, what fits there? i was looking at this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1153337217438 but i dont know if it will fit. also about mounting an intenna it would be cool to mount an intenna to the tailgate. is there mounting kits to get or what?? how much would this all cost?? thanks in advance!

[Ascinder]

Instead of that radio, I'd get this one:

http://www.cobra.com/index.cfm?fusea...category_ID=30

Here's a cheap place for it:

http://store.buyreliant.com/servlet/...,Mobile/Detail

For a little bit more you get Bluetooth and something that blends in with your dash a bit more. I know several people have mounted their antennas to the rear door. Try PMing pbkid and MShardeman, I think they did theirs that way. I think it was a pretty straightforward install. It is especially important to learn to calibrate your SWR setting so you don't burn these radios out too, so pay attention to that part of the manual. Also, it is extremely unlikely it will fit in the slot without some dremel work. CB radios are typically longer by an inch or two and just a tad wider than head units. They also aren't designed to be used in that application. I have seen install kits to make them work though. They just tend to stick out a bit.

[pbkid]

just thinking about a cb radio with a PA speaker mod for thee vx . Since i dont ever use the stock 6-disc cd changer i could take that out and put the cb radio in place of it. has anyone ever done this? if so, what fits there? i was looking at this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1153337217438 but i dont know if it will fit. also about mounting an intenna it would be cool to mount an intenna to the tailgate. is there mounting kits to get or what?? how much would this all cost?? thanks in advance!

ya i mounted mine to the rear door....

+ is that it looks good and is out of the way....
- is that you cant get it very tall because it will hit all types of things..
- i mounted mine to the cladding which eventually crunched in a little and now looks a little funny...

i plan on re-doing mine, maybe before moab if i get ambitious...without a roof rack the rear door is a great spot...easy to get to and mounts easily...

however, if you plan on doing a roof basket then i suggest to mount it up there with a swivel mount, thats what im changing mine to...something like this on the roof, that way you can have it straight up for awesome range and reception or turn it parallel to the roof when driving around the city...
http://www.wearecb.com/store/firesti...unt-p-322.html

oh, and i did this CB because it was smaller and would fit where i want it...
http://www.cobra.com/index.cfm?fusea...category_ID=30

i looks like a childs toy, but it actually works really well and is very easy to use....it also both small in width, but depth too...

my suggestion is to get a marine PA speaker, dont use the cobra one...it sucks lol, i used to have one and you couldnt hear it AT ALL over my exhaust...

just my 2 cents....

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

just thinking about a cb radio with a PA speaker mod for thee vx . Since i dont ever use the stock 6-disc cd changer i could take that out and put the cb radio in place of it. has anyone ever done this? if so, what fits there? i was looking at this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1153337217438 but i dont know if it will fit. also about mounting an intenna it would be cool to mount an intenna to the tailgate. is there mounting kits to get or what?? how much would this all cost?? thanks in advance!

This is the particular radio I have mounted in the stock cd player location.

http://www.cobra.com/index.cfm?fusea...category_ID=30

I purchased mine at a local truck stop (Pilot) for like $60. It fits perfectly in that location and I used the OEM cd player mounts (aluminum) to mount the CB.

As far as antenna, I personally use the FireStik 4ft (also from Pilot) for like $24.

http://www.firestik.com/CatalogFrame.htm

I mounted mine to the rear door using a side body mount that grounds to the body ($6 from Pilot). If you mount it like PBKid to the cladding the mount will rest flat. If you mount it higher up on the rear door as I did you will have to shim the mount with some sort of triangular piece to take the angle out as the antenna will want to lean forward due to angle in sheet metal around half-moon area of door. (In the above FireStik link, click on "molded side mount" and then in article...click on blue "show me the mount".)

see my gallery for some pics as far as ideas for antenna placement & radio installation.

Others here use mostly magnetic mount roof-top antenna's.

Hope this helps!

[dtruax]

question,the cobra model that jolly roger mentioned, can that be used as a PA system too? thanks

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

question,the cobra model that jolly roger mentioned, can that be used as a PA system too? thanks

Unfortunately, it lacks that feature. On the plus, it has a front speaker ideal for dash mounting. But, here are the size specs so perhaps you can pick out a radio the exact same size with desired PA feature.

Length: 7.0
Width: 6.5
Height: 1.88

***Also, Cobra makes a CB where all the controls are in the hand mike and the "radio" mounts under the seat....Scott aka Moncha and some others have that setup in their VX.

[dtruax]

oh thanks for the size specs. by the way ur antenna set up looks great jolly roger

[dtruax]

too bad this doesnt fit:http://www.walcottcb.com/cobra-29ltd...th=340_377_383
is there any way to make that fit?

[VX KAT]

I'm getting the hand held Cobra 75 ST VX that a couple others have (Triathlete, etlsport, tomdietrying, marlin and some others). It'll be easier for me to handle and operate with my left hand than the other one I have.

Needs input on the antenna part of this set up:

1) I got a 3ft FireStik antenna. Is it OK to mount it to the actual Yakima rack somehow? What specific mount would I use? Marlin your pics show a mount on your roofrack.

2) My Firestik fits and will screw into the magnetic mount from my existing Cobra Road Trip hand held...however it has too much wind resistance and tips over, but couldn't I put the magnetic base & antenna in between the Yakima or OEM bars, up against a cross member for support, and tape the magnetic base to the roof for extra support? Does that screw up reception?

3) What about this mount? Can it go on a vertical edge of rear door? Left or right side?
http://www.wearecb.com/store/firesti...unt-p-322.html

Where to put the little box? I can have my stereo shop guys wire it for me.

1) Tomdietrying...I really like where Jay hooked your jack into the small ashtray behind console. Was it this same little "box" that comes with the Cobra 75? http://www.rightchannelradios.com/bm...ge.700x466.jpg

2) Billy you said you mounted yours under the drivers seat.

And, I don't have a SWR meter (and probably wouldn't know what to do with it even if I did ) so my Firestik still needs tuned. Anybody have a meter I can borrow? A new one is $45! ouch! The stero shop knows how to do it but don't have the meter as it's not part of their normal work.
Jack would BestBuy have one for their installations? If so, I'd buy the CB from them & have them install it and tune my Firestik at same time.

[MSHardeman]

Sue,

Can't help you out with any of the CB stuff, as I have a different make and model, but here is how I mounted my antenna to the rear of my roof basket:



As you can see, I zip tied the wire to the cross bar of the basket to get it over to the latch side of the rear door, then I just ran it inside. The door seal squeezes the wire but doesn't crimp it. After the wire was inside, I ran it down the weather stripping, then drilled a small hole in the interior panel and ran the wire forward behind the interior panels, and under the carpet, to where I have my unit (huh, huh...I said unit) mounted to the side of the transmission tunnel.


With the antenna back there it makes the VX look like a big RC.


My CB came with a meter, or sorts, in it. There was a way to test how strong the signal was which allowed me to adjust the antenna to get the best reception.

Hope some of this helps.

[pbkid]

kat- some installers would and some wouldnt have the meter to tune a CB radio. its not an item on our standard tools list. but most installers have extra tools anyhow.
personally, i would get everything installed and swing by a local truck shop that has a CB shop inside and ask them to tune it for you. its just turning a little screw on the end of the antenna. (its not difficult)

sorry i couldnt help more... let me know if i can give you some advise on mounting/wiring/or dissasembling your VX

[Triathlete]

My box is mounted under the drivers seat just behind the hump. I use the Wilson Lil‘ will antana.

[crotchrocket]

had mine dash mounted (around where your knees are) but you can get 'din' sized adaptors for most iirc.

[Sprey]

My cab you can remote mount it, i had it under the drivers seat but could get it to sit well and i moved the chair and put a big scrape in the unit so thats a NO NO for having it under there anywhere. the unit is self is now mounted under the dash.

Yes i had to drill 3 tiny holes for the antenna mount. sorry vx

[VX KAT]

Thanks Mark, I really like your set-up.

1) Where did you get the black mounting hardware...did you put that together yourself or is it a "kit"?

2) Could you have moved the mounting bracket set up further right to the passenger side so you didn't have to zip tie the wire to the rack as far?

3) I really like idea of using the ashtray on the back of the console (like Jay did on tomdietrying's) for the little box that this Cobra 75 comes with. And doing the wire your way thru the interior panels, down under carpet, BEHIND the pass seat, across to console ) would make it easy to plug right into that little box if it was mounted in the ashtray.

Tomdietrying or Jay Dunford did I understand your posts correctly and it's this little gray box from the Cobra 75 is what you mounted in that ashtray? http://www.rightchannelradios.com/bm...ge.700x466.jpg

4) As plan B, would the mount that Sprey has work on the rear door anywhere? It looks like it's basically the same as this one that Jack was getting: http://www.wearecb.com/store/firesti...unt-p-322.html

all!