Install on a 2001 F150

[MacGyver]

I have a 2001 Ford F150 (single cab, short bed) and I'm looking to get a CB in it.

I'm not sure what I will get for a radio yet but I'm thinking of going with the K40 antenna.
I was thinking about using the trunk mount on the hood, drivers side. But I want to avoid engine noise.

The other question I have is how to I get the coax through the fire wall. I figured I would run the wires from the radio positive and negative directly to the battery. But again, where can I run the wires through the firewall?

I don't really want to have the antenna on the bed because I have a cap for the truck which I use for camping and in the winter time.

Mag mount is a maybe but again I will need to get the coax into the cab some how.
If anyone has done similar installs like this I would like to know how you mounted your antenna and how you ran your wires.
Thanks,

[weatherman]

I have a 98 F150 and ran a President Lincoln and a Wilson mag mount 5000 on the roof. The coax was run thru the cab brake light housing and had no problems with it leaking. Power was run to the battery and went thru the firewall thru an existing rubber grommet. I would run a test to see if your motor has a bad noise problem before mounting the antenna close to the motor. I have a bad noise problem with mine that i am still working on. Ground straps, new plug wires, new spark plugs, fuel pump kit from Ford(almost blew up the truck), have not run beads yet but working on it. Good luck with the install.

[MDYoungblood]

Hi MacGyver,
To get your coax inside the truck isn't a problem, there are plenty of knock outs under the cab that goes thru the floor and you can run the coax under the carpet. If you use a magnet mount, put it in the center of the roof, best location. Even if you hard mount it the roof is the #1 location and a K40 or Wilson base loaded antennas are quick to remove for parking garages, etc. As for the power lead you only need to run the positive wire in from the battery and make the ground as short as possible. Make sure you put a fuse close to the battery just in case the wire does short out, run it thru the firewall with the speedometer cable grommet. A good ground under the dash is the bolt to the steering column. Look thru the posts for noise related topics to help you with that problem. Have fun with it.

Greg

[Slim Pickins]

When I installed mine in my 2000 F150 I just drilled a hole where I wanted the wires an put in a grommet from the local auto parts store. That way I could keep the wires away from sources of noise. Ford recommends running both the power and ground to the battery. I hard mounted my antenna on the roof and have no regrets. The mount I used lets me choose any antenna with standard 3/8" 24 thread base.

[MacGyver]

Thanks for the info.
I was thinking of trying the K40 mounted to the hood first. As long as the mount will work and I can still open my hood. If that doesn't seem to work then I can try the mag mount for the K40.
Then I'll probably run the pos and neg directly to the battery.

What type of wire is best to run from the back of the radio to the battery?
also what is generally used for a fuse on the positive side?

[Slim Pickins]

Does your truvk have the coil on plug setup. They can be a bit noisy too. I haven't had problems with mine but my antenna is in the middle of my roof. Also the fuel pump can be a bit noisy in these trucks. A couple of ferrite beads on the wires going to the fuel pump should cut out that. I say go with the biggest wire you can then you won't have to worry. I just put the same rating fuse under the hood close to the battery as what comes with the radio. Then you have 2 fuses in line....can't hurt. Also if you check your Ford owner's manual it probably suggests twisting the +&- wires around each other as a method of curing stray noise from getting into your radio. i did this on mine, can't say for sure it works but I don't have a lot of noise in my radio like some other guys i have heard about running a similar truck.

Good Luck, and have fun
Slim

[MacGyver]

I was thinking of using #10 wire to run from the radio to the battery. I was wondering if they make any special kind that's shielded? Stuff that's made for radio equipment.

I have never heard of ferrite beads before, but from internet searching they don't seem expense. Is there a particular kind I should be using?

[Slim Pickins]

You may not need anything but a radio and antenna. Won't know till you try. Here is a site with tons of information on mobile installs. [Please login or register to view this link] Have a look through some of the information there. I have heard of guys using coax cable for power wires before in cases of extreme stray noise. Just using the center conductor and leaving the shield un-attached. You can get shielded cable for powering audio amplifiers and stereo systems from most mobile stereo shops.

[MacGyver]

Thanks,that site does have a lot of useful information.

I have been thinking about the K40 antenna with the trunk mount. I was thinking of using the mount on my hood, but I don't to pitch the coax at all.

So I was looking into using this kind of mount with the K40, if its possible. [Please login or register to view this link]
I don't know what the K40 comes with for coax but I would like to use RG-8X with it.
What do you think?

[Slim Pickins]

Looking at that mount I would say that as long as your K40 has the same threads at the bottom then you should be good to go. Coax is separate with that so you could get whichever coax you like so long as it is 50 ohm.

Paul

[MacGyver]

Right now I'm thinking of trying that mount with the K40.

I like the Cobra 29 LX and would like to go with that radio as well. I'm just not sure of where I'm going to buy it from. I've been reading a lot of different options of some of the sponsors. I tried calling a few with no luck. I differently want this radio peaked and tuned by someone that knows what they are doing.
But I was wondering if there is any kind of amp that would give me like 10 or 20 watts more? With the 29 LX.

[radiocheck]

I thought I had issues with engine noise from my antenna picking it up but I bought a ferrite choke and put on the coax right behind my box and no noise at all. 5 at radioshack and it works perfect. The one I used was from a projection tv and its amaZing

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Jr750]

I think that even with the cab on your bed you will still have run a wilson SW-2000 between them,
[Please login or register to view this link]

[Jr750]

I think that even with the cab on your bed you will still have run a wilson SW-2000 between them,
[Please login or register to view this link]

That there is a Wilson Trucker 2000 with a 18" shaft, I can turn the mount to face the back window and still have run to put a cap on the back, you can also go with a 22" shaft and it still put the coil above the roof

[MDYoungblood]

Hi Jr750,
Very nice and clean installation. Now we are interested in how you installed the radio, take a pic of that and post it. Thanks and 73's

Greg

[Jr750]

Hi Jr750,
Very nice and clean installation. Now we are interested in how you installed the radio, take a pic of that and post it. Thanks and 73's

Greg

I'm going to flip the mount so that you can see the coax, I'll post that one when I do it.

I'm still working on a permanet install because I also use my radio in my work truck, just trying to make up my mind wich one I sould leave in my work truck and in my pickup.

[MacGyver]

That set up might work, but I think I will try the k40 with the hood mount first. The space I have with the Leer cab on the bed is so limited.

It sounds like I should get my hands on some of these ferrite chokes and try them out.
So I have spent some time trying to figure out which radio I want to get and from where. There is no local CB shop around me that I know of, I'm in NH.
So I was thinking of getting the Cobra 29 LX from Custom CB radios.
Just wondering if anyone here has gotten a radio from them and what their thoughts were on it?

[MacGyver]

I'm having a really hard time deciding on where/who to buy my radio and antenna from.

Just wondering if anyone here has ever dealt with this guy?

[Please login or register to view this link]

[Slim Pickins]

I have never heard of that shop so I can't offer an opinion on it. But I can offer an opinion on cb shops in general. Beware of shops that are making claims that are much different than what most shops are claiming. If you talk to a bunch of shops and most tell you they can get 20w swing out of a Cobra 29 and one guy says he can get 30w, what is he doing that the others are not? Is there a reason the other shops are not doing it? My guess is yes. It is fine to have a radio with a few extra watts but not at the cost of clarity or being clean. I know one guy that splatters 5 channels each way from about 2 miles away. Does his radio look impressive on a watt meter? I am sure it does, but it doesn't impress me. Remember, the difference between 20w and 30w will likely only be noticible to you when you are looking at your power meter, not to anyone who is listening. Get your antenna installed well and fine tune the system, then, take thing from there. Need more power? Try getting an amp. Turn your 20w radio into a 400+w set-up that sounds great on the air and works like it should. try checking out the sponsors here. They are here because the CBRT community feels that these shops fit the model of what cb is about, and they are interested in selling well tuned radios. Maybe not the most watts out, but better sounding, and working radios.

Good luck with your decision
Slim

[MacGyver]

Its hard to trust anyone these days.
I don't need my radio to be doing 50 watts. I want one that is tuned up and sounds good. And if it happens to be doing 50 watts and sounding good then I guess I found the right guy to buy radios from.
I'm sure I'll find someone, right now I'm emailing and calling to try and get a better idea of who does good quality work.

[Slim Pickins]

Did you find anything yet?

[MacGyver]

I haven't gotten anywhere yet.
I have been reading about the K40 and the Wilson 5000. Trying to figure out which one would be better. Also which one would work with a variety of radios if I ever decide to get
a different radio.