Toyo,

There's a sorta blurry pic in my write up: http://www.4runners.org/articles/cobra

You should definitely consider doing the auxiliary fuse box mod. It makes hooking up future 12v accessories soooooo much easier (thanks, Corey).

Bob

 

Yea I did use the write-ups. But Bob used a fuse box, and you just ran it to the battery (which is what I did)

Bob the reason I didn't get an auxiliary fuse box was because I didn't want to pay for it....I guess I'm cheap, or don't really want to buy anything more. My roommate said they were pretty expensive. So...yea, I guess I'm gonna go to radio shack and buy a soldering gun now.....:pat:

 

Rob,

The fuse box wasn't expensive at all. I believe it was under $10. I bought mine from waytekwire.com. a GREAT site to buy stuff, fast shipping, good customer service, etc.

Anyways, you're way past that point but its definitely something to consider when your next 12v powered mod comes up.

Bob

 

See my write-up in the Tech section under Electrical.
A total aux box setup can be had for under $15.
I have my CB and light switches, and other stuff all wired to it.
https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech..._box/corey.htm

 

Yes I will definitly put in a fuse box for my next 12v set-up. I'm to the point where I don't really care how I do this now, I just want it done and working because I really don't have the time to mess with it this weekend cuz I have to study for exams. And our Attica trip is next saturday.

Just picked up a soldering tool and some solder for 8 bucks.

Last quick question, how did you guys with the hood mount run your coax out to the mount? Did you just go straight between the fender and hood? Cuz it seems like there is enough space in between.

Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.

 

http://www.pnw4runners.com/tando/cb.htm

See my old hood mount setup.
The coax comes out the firewall the same as it does now for my ARB bumper CB setup.

You can see the coax for the fender mount how it has plenty of room for the hood to close around it.

 

Drilled a hole w/ a rubber grommet. More effort for which you don't have time to do. take the thickest coat hanger you have and jam it through your existing firewall boot. Follow thru w/ your coax.

Bob

 

Yep, Bob's trick works well for getting through the grommet, and there is definitely enough room in the channel between the fender and the hood for the coax.

 

I've done the same thing in the past with a hood mount and it works great, lots of room for the extra cable.

 

I actually went around the firewall.
Wired the coax from the glove compartment behind the kickpanel into the door jamb where the fender connects.
Wired it from under that to under the hood and eventually to the antenna.

No drilling necessary and my coax actually came already all together. I didn't need to solder. Have to admit it had me stumped for a while but I prefer it this way.

It doesn't crimp my coax all that much either.
Just a little bit.

 

yea we finally got it done. It was a pain in the a$$ because it was our first time, but we definitly learned a lot from it. I would take pics but I can't upload them cuz I have no internet at home.

 

hey, did you tune your antenna yet? I went to a CB shop (a little shack at a truck stop) and I asked him to tune it for me. Before he even tuned it, he unhooked my unit (cobra 75wx st), plugged in some contraptionand told me that my SWR or something was 35, and that I may have a bad ground, or where the coax connects to the antenna, he said that might be bad. I checked both, and my ground is fine, also the connection of my coax to antenna seemed fine too. he said he couldn't help me unless he ripped everything out and did it all over again. I told him "no thanks" and left. The CB works, b/c I can here truckers on the radio, and they come in pretty clear esp. on channel 19, and I can also get the weather channel. But I just wanted to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong, here, or is there something else I can do to get better reception on all the other channels.

 

Hey actually Mike tuned mine for me. He has an swr meter. All we did was plug one cable from the swr meter into the CB, and the coax into the swr meter. We then just calibrated, and checked every channel, tunning it buy just twisting the tip because mine's the one with the tunable tip. It's really easy, you can pick up the swr meter at radio shack for like 8 bucks. Hey you can even come down to lafayette and tune it lol.

Man 2 days!!!

Hey I'll be in Whitting Indiana Friday night for some polka festival (it's for a chick). It's like 20 min. away from downtown chicago. We should meet up and maybe I can help you tune your antenna.

btw, what's ur phone number again?

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but SWR readings don't matter with receiving transmissions.

Sending transmissions with a high SWR reading (3s and such) lead to radio frying.

I don't know any of this by personal experience or expertise. I'm just telling you what I've read.

 

That's true, the lower the better for transmitting. SWR registers the amount of energy being reflected back to the antenna and the radio by things such as walls, your car, etc. That's why a roof mount is best for an antenna followed by the hood. The radio can't handle a lot of reflected energy so when it gets overloaded, it heats up and burns out the circuitry.

 

so I shouldn't use my radio??!?!?! Or how can I fix this?

 

You can use your radio for receiving all you want w/o damaging anything. But you should tune it before you use it for transmitting to minimize the risk of damage to it from power overload.

 

Check out this link
Maybe you'll get some info there. I printed all this stuff up and put it in a binder. A wealth of good information I tell ya

 

Agreed, I spent some serious time on their site before doing my install.