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CB Antenna

78K views 223 replies 40 participants last post by  XJ99 
#1 ·
UHF CB RADIO ISSUE - Where do I put the antenna?

Hi All,

I wanted to mount an antenna on the front of the vehicle for my 07 commander but the bonnet seems too wide underneath for a normal bracket for my antenna? What have other users done about installing an antenna on the front of the vehicle? Please send some pictures and explanation of what you've used? Any links would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Forgive me, but this is taking me way back. Most here in the US don't use CB anymore. Cell phones rule, however, I miss the old days chatting with fellow travelers on long trips. (Never see a cell # on the back of an RV)

Why not mount it on the roof? It'll be higher and take advantage of the ground plane. Even easier would be a magnet mount dead center on the roof with the coax clipped to the roof rack and then leading into the rear window or even closed in the door's top.
 
#3 ·
I have mine mounted on a lip mount on the LH side of the hood (bonnet) near the windshield, almost directly across from the radio antenna. Its out of my line of sight so it definitely would be out of yours. Just a thought since ARB doesn't make a front bumoer with mounting tabs for the XK/XH yet.
 
#4 ·
I have my CB on my TJ mounted in the front just as the above poster described. I use a Wilson 2 1/2' whip antennea. There is a place on line that sells everything you can imagin for CB's and attachments. Just forgot the name but if you go to GOOGLE and type in CB RADIO I am sure it will pop up. I presume you are aware that a CB radio must be TUNED to the antennea or you can burn out the radio. I suggest if you are not familiar with this stuff that you go to a good CB shop (anywhere they do them for TRUCKERS they are usually good as truckers are insistent on the best) and they will install and tune for you. I was a radio operator in the service and have the knowledge and the equipment to do this BUT while mine worked adequately, one day I went to Bells (such a shop in Fort Lauderdale) and they reworked my system and I ended up with INCREDIBLE reception and signal. thats the difference between someone who knows basically how to do it and someone who does it many times every day. Experience counts. I use my CB a lot on trips and in the Commander so far I am using a hand held unit that is adequate to talk to truckers to find out whats holding up traffic, smokie alert etc etc. john
 
#5 ·
hi john

John,

Are you able to post a few close up photo's of where you put it?? Don't get it? Thanks mate I would really appreciate it.
 
#7 ·
On my Cherokee I run a Firestik 3' Fiberglass no ground plane antenna. It is mounted with an L bracket to the area where the rear hatch opens. This keeps the mounting screws hidden and allows me to keep the antenna up higher. The bracket is one of the Firestik three way mounts.

Just thought I would bring that up to give you some more ideas.

As far as antennas I would only really look at Firestik and Wilson. The no ground plane antennas make tuning a lot easier and make it easier to reach a lower SWR.
 
#8 ·
CB Antenna Downunda Is Actually UHF/GMRS In US

CB in Australia is UHF FM radio, and not the 27MHz AM stuff that we're all used to here in the USA (no fiberglass whips down there). Radiall-Larsen makes some nice L brackets that can be mounted to the edge of the fender (next to the hood seam) which permit mounting a NMO base for a 1/4 wave spike (about 6" long), and this is very low profile. Normally NMO mounts require a 3/4" dia. hole be cut into a nice flat surface on your vehicle (preferably on the roof). The L bracket has the 3/4" hole and allows installation of the base, to which the whip is attached. Both the L bracket and the antenna base and whips are available in chrome and black. Even "Richard" Smith (the board won't let me use the short form of the first name, so I guess no one can write about **** Cheney here, either) should sell stuff like this down there. You could also use the Antenna Specialists center load UHF mobile antenna with the spring base, but the L bracket will suffer from occasional flexing with the heavier load that the nearly 1 meter long center load antenna represents.

Enjoy your summer...

Hope this helps,

Doug, N6XQY
Garden Grove, CA.
2007 Commander 3.7 Full time "4WD"
 
#9 ·
CB antenna?

Anyone mounted a CB antenna on their Commander? Or any ideas how to? I think the roof would be too high, I barely clear the garage door as is.

(I tried searching the forum for "cb" and was given the error "too short search argument", searching for "antenna" didn't come up with anything.)
 
#11 ·
Best CB antenna I ever had was a Wilson 1000 permanent roof mount. Have a CB/elecronics shop install it (yes it requires a 1" hole drilled into the roof). It unscrews easily and has a plastic cap that screws onto the stud when the antenna is off. I has a 1:1 match without any type of tuning.
 
#12 ·
UberCommander said:
This is the one I am planning on getting.

http://4xguard.com/Products/antenna.html
Tried ordering this yesterday... no good. They said....
"We are sorry, this item is no longer available. We do appreciate your choosing 4xGuard, and hope there may be other items we can help you with in the future. "

Crap!
 
#15 ·
cico7 said:
any thoughts on this type of antenna?

Midland® 18-258 27MHz Window Mount CB Radio Antenna
Was on Radio Shack website....

Have a guy in my shop that had this on his LandRover and needless to say, he doesn't have it anymore. He said it had no distance on it and did not receive real well.
 
#17 ·
cico7 said:
That is a good looking mount. did you order it? I am going to best buy after work and look around at the store.....maybe circut city too.
Yeah, I went ahead and ordered it. I'll post up some pics once it gets installed. Will probably throw a coat of "hammered" black paint on it before mounting, though.
 
#18 ·
sciron4x4 said:
Tried ordering this yesterday... no good. They said....
"We are sorry, this item is no longer available. We do appreciate your choosing 4xGuard, and hope there may be other items we can help you with in the future. "

Crap!
Holy smokes! I just ordered that while they were on their Christmas break and got it the first week of the year, which was literally a month ago! I finally got it installed last weekend. I found that because it is made for a WK, only one screw will actually go into metal. I plan on installing a second CB in my truck today so I can test it. Anyways, when locating the mount, since I placed it above the brake lights, the two bolts that are closest to the outside of the XK scrape across the glass of the gate. So, for now, I only have the inside two bolts holding it, and it seems to hold just fine. If I have trouble, I'll see about getting bolts with smaller heads.

I will get pictures up, but I can't guarantee how soon.

The CB was mounted inside the cubby hole to the left of the steering wheel. It is a Uniden CB Radio, and I originally wanted it at the bottom of the center stack, but after seeing what was behind the center stack, the radio was too long. A dremel cuts the back of the cubby hole very nicely.
 
#20 ·


I was looking at my Commander this weekend and the picture of that CB antenna mount and couldn't figure out how it would work on the flatter tail end of a Commander vs. a GC. Now I see from Mike's pic that it wouldn't really work with the Limited's grab bars.
 
#21 ·
Yea, it won't work too well with the grab bars. I wanted them, but they only came on the Limited and we didn't want the leather seats. If you can't use the mount due to the grab bars, but you have the luggage rack, you may be able to find a mount that you could get to work on the luggage rack.
 
#23 ·
My CB arrived today, Now I need to pick and antenna and mounting method.
 
#26 ·
Looks great. If you get a small lot made, let us know!
 
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