glenyoshida

I've been looking for a 2 meter HAM antenna that will fit where the stock FM antenna used to be in my passenger front fender. I'm using the FM antenna in the glass now and thought it would be a nice place to mount a HAM antenna but can't seem to find one.

Anyone heard of this being done or the parts needed to do so?

Mtn Mike

iTrader: (1)

Me too. Subscribed. The best option I could find was "hatchback" mount.


But I'd rather use my stock antenna hole, if possible.

ToyRunner1

I haven't found anything like that. I use an NMO mount that mounts on my spare tire rack for a dual band NMO antenna. Love it so far. I have a glass mount dual band on the Jeep, but couldn't use that on the Runner since it has metal screening over the rears on the 1st gen tops. I think I like the NMO mount better as far as everyday use, but the glass mount hasn't let me down yet. Both were very easy to tune.

eric-the-red

Good luck finding one, I searched everywhere for a VHF/UHF dual band antenna that would fit in the stock location but no luck. I ended up using a hood channel NMO mount.

VSU_4runnin

those hatchback ones mount nicely to the hood...



check out my buildup for more pics

glenyoshida

Very cool.

Know of anyone that's used the stock FM antenna location for HAM instead of a the hood mount?

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Glen, there is a thread in this section where I mounted one on my ARB bumper.
But I took the 2 meter one off and got an all band one for my setup.

If you decide not to do the FM location, the bumper is a good area to put it.
https://www.yotatech.com/album.php?albumid=100

glenyoshida

Thanks for the link and the write up. Looks like yours turned out pretty sweet! It's starting to look like it's going to be a custom mount time. Maybe I'll be able to come up with something that can be easily duplicated in case others want to do the same.

VSU_4runnin

ive seen people replace their fm antennas and put cb antennas in there so id assume you just have to go custom and take the NMO or SMA or what ever base connector your antenna uses, cut out the stock antenna and tac weld. or something to get the base stable... i would just go the easy route get one of those trunk mounds and just slide it up the hood.. let me know and ill take a pic of it slid to rite next to the fm antenna

scaesare

I've just finishished mounting an NMO base under the cowling just to the outside of the driver's side windshield wiper. I ordered my Comet antenna today to attach there.

Plans are to duplicate the install I had done on my F-350:



I'll try and snap some pictures of the version I get done for the 4Runner.

Any recommendations on a good rubber whip replacement for the factory antenna?

Thanks.

-Steve

glenyoshida

Great! Can't wait to see how it turns out!

scaesare

OK, I finally got the project completed.

I mounted the HAM antenna and radio a while back, but I waited to take pics until I got my replacment AM/FM antenna, which had been back-ordered. I replaced it with the Taco Whip antenna.

A little examination under the windshield cowling revealed space on the driver's side near the hood hinge that looked like a likely spot for my NMO mount. Pulling the four fender bolts only takes a couple of minutes (with an air ratchet ), and provides more access:



I didn't get a picture before I modified it, but I bought a slotted NMO mount bracket that was straight with a small offset in it. I re-bent it to fit under the rear hood hinge bolt, and then used a cutoff weel to remove excess materal that would hit the sheetmetel under the windshield:



As the NMO mount I bought was desgend for a thru-roof mount, the underside is not expected to be exposed to the elements, so I sealed the underside with silicone sealant after I mounted it in the bracket. (The top side of the mount is gasketed):



After a little modification of the hood hinge (there's a "tab" that serves as a hood-stop that I ground off), I mounted the bracket under the hood hinge. There's a washer that's under the hinge, so removing it and replacing it with the bracket maintained the same "shim level" for front and back bolts. A 5/16" self tapping machine bolt was added for good ground between bracket and body:



To align the necessary hole in the cowling I traced the cowling profile on to cardboard, which I then cut out and fixed temporarily in to location (using the screw and "push fastener" body locations) on the truck. I then used a small sharp punch to make a series of small holes until I located the center point right above the NMO mount.

I then removed the cardboard and used it as a template to locate the center point on the cowling in order to drill a hole with a holesaw to fit the antenna base. I thenreinstalled the cowling:



The test fit worked first time:



For the HAM radio head unit mount, I bought the appropriate Metra kit to replace the double-DIN factory unit with a single-DIN aftermarket radio. The kit includes space below to either mount an equalizer, or secondary storage pocket. I modified the parts to instead match the shape of my Icom 2100H.

I also bought an external monitoring speaker for the HAM radio from Parts Express, and removed the back housing from it. I then drilled a hole in the lower shift console and mouned the speaker & grill there:



Finally, you can see why I wanted to replace the stock antenna... it came from the previous owner this way and had seen better days (yes that is metallic foil tape holding the sections together):



Here are some shots of the final product:







A few notes:

- I also got the Metra wiring installation harness for using an aftermarket radio with the factory wiring. Well worth it. However be aware that there is an external factory module that the factory radio plugs in to. You need to use the connectors on the bottom of that module to interface with the Metra adapter harness, NOT the plug that connects to the back of the factory head unit.

- I used the firewall plug right above the accelerator pedal to route antenna and power wiring in to the HAM radio.

- The writeups available for installing a aftermarket AM/FM radio, and for performaing the Taco Whip Antenna Mod were very helpful for figuring out how to take the dash apart, etc...

- Taking the cowling off and the adhesive on it's gasket was an interesting story... I've posted about it seperately on the forums if you are interested.

- The antenna is a Comet 3.0dB gain 2m half-wave coil loaded unit. So far I'm very pleased with it's performance.

- The part #'s for the Metra kits for anybody interested: Mounting kit for 3rd Gen ('97) - 99-8101; Wiring Harness - 70-1761. Parts Express stocks them.

- The new AM/FM radios with Bluetooth for audio streaming (from iPod/PDA) and hands-free for your cell phone are very cool.


73's...

-KF6NNR (Steve)

predator_machine

thats slick, first glance i would never suspect ham operation from that truck

aviator

That is a sweet looking job... on the F350 it looks completely factory...
On the runner it looks just as good. I'm half wondering if you could use a similar idea for a CB whip. I know the bases are a little different...
On an 89-94 truck runner you would be drilling through a smooth cowl surface... to clean up the edge you could install a grommet and have a more factory appearance...
More things to spend money on... once I have some extra...

scaesare

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah, the "corrugated" cowling surface on my 3rd Gen would make finding a grommet a bit more difficult.

On my F350, I tried to keep my out out for something that would fit the diameter of the lower antenna barrel, and follow the contour of the cowling, as it's not a curcular hole, but rather a bit more of an oval, as you are drilling through a sloped surface.

Nerver really found one that would seem to work.

That having been said, the base of an NMO mount antenna is larger than the lower barrel, so having a grommet would mean not being able to remove it easily for car-washes, etc... so I'm not terribly obsessed with trying to find something. For me it looks pretty-good as is.

-sc

toyospearo

here is mine Diamond antenna 2meter 440 dual.
Not such a great pic but you get the idea.

scaesare

Toyospearo- that buper mount looks very nice. I really like the look of accessories that look "integrated" rather than "bolted on".

How are you running your coax? Is that a mount welded on somehow, or was it built in to the bumper during fabrication?

How is your propagation with it at that position?

I have a hard time comparing my current cowling-mount to a roof mount that I had before, because my roof mount was a full-wave antenna, vs. my current half-wave. Nonetheless I suspect that propagation towards the rear-right of my vehicle is compromised somewhat.

It's still a decent tradeoff for me to be able to park in garages easily, not have to give up usage of my luggage rack, accomodate the sunroof, etc...

toyospearo

It is an NMO mount. I drilled a 3/4" hole with a step drill bit through the bumper plate on the top and screwed it in. The coax runs through the engine compartment and through the firewall on the passenger side.
I get "full quieting" no issues whatsoever. Its a great set up for my little Icom 207h 2 meter 440 meter.

scaesare

Niceley done.

I get full quieting for most situations as well. It's hitting the repeater 30 miles away where I really should pull in to a parking lot somewhere and see how my vehicle orientation affects the pattern.

Thanks for sharing that.

-sc

AlexJet

Steve,
My radio antenna is in better shape then was yours, but doesn't move. I was thinking on switching to Wip Antenna, but can't find any write-ups of how to do it. You've mentioned that there are some available. Do you remember the link to it? "Forum Search" didn't find it.