Clean and Unclean radio install pics- post 'em!

[kjp1969]

Post up the good and the bad, but especially the good.

Personally, I don't like exposed wires and brackets. I hate mic wires dangling down from the roof. Bonus points for radios that "disappear" in the car.

The first is awesome- remote faceplate that goes away easily, no exposed wires. I don't know how easy it would be to see down at knee height, but at least it's angled upwards.

The other too, not awesome. No. 2 looks functional enough, but look how much dust and dirt its collected. Plus the power cords and cables are dangling out the back, ready to be kicked loose. All he would have to do is make a little doghouse and cover it with black vinyl and it would be fine. No. 3 is awful, I hope its temporary. How would you see the displays while driving? And the cords- couldn't he route them away under the console?

 

[kjp1969]

Lovely- the only thing nicer would be recessing it into the panel behind it. Are there even wires coming out of this thing? You wouldn't know it.

 

[Chazz Layne]

Here's what we did in the wife's Ranger by making 3 cuts in the headliner, then folding a small rectangle up on the 4th "edge". A small strip of aluminum sandwiches the material to keep it all steady.



The visors on a Ranger are made stiff by plastic, and the whole unit can be replace for about $20, so we just mounted the mic holder to it. It'll be cheap enough to un-do if we ever change our minds.


I'm not sure I would call my other setup "clean" exactly...

 

[rusty_tlc]

IMHO this is about as clean as a roll cage install can get

The radio is up high, when the bikini top is on this eliminates glare, the slack in the wires is to allow me to remove the unit quickly if I need to leave the truck parked outside

I use Trick Tabs to provide mounting points on the cage for the factory bracket

More trick Tabs for the speaker, which is located directly behind my head. This allows me to hear it even over tire and wind noise on the highway

The antenna mount, you guessed it another trick tab.

All the wires are secured with black zip ties and routed on the top of the cage so you can't see them when the bikini top is on. I considered drilling holes and routing the wires inside but did not want to compromise the strength of the cage.

 

[kjp1969]

Chazz,
Very nice- looks like it grew there.

Rusty,
Roll cages are tough- there's nowhere to hide anything without going inside.

 

[gary in ohio]

AV with 706MKGii

Here is my Avalanche with my Icom 706mkgII

Here is my old blazer and the radio stack.
The old analog cell phone sure does data the picture a bit

 

[HenryJ]

BLT Offroad Avalanche
Yaesu FT8800R

Transceiver is hidden in the console.

 

[Ludedude]

 

[slomatt]

I removed the stock ash tray on my 4runner and replaced it with a CB. To get it flush with the faceplate some people heat and bend the heater pipe behind the dash so that the antenna cable will fit, instead I modified the radio so the antenna connection is now a piece of coax that comes out of the back and goes to a PL259 jack. This adds a lot of clearance and lets the radio sit flush. The antenna is a magnet mount and I used a 50 ohm BNC connector to make it easy to install and remove.

- Matt

 

[4x4mike]

This is in my 3rd gen 4Runner. HAM and CB radios.

 

[1911]

Roll cages are tough- there's nowhere to hide anything without going inside.

Mine is very similar to Rusty's except that I ran all my wires and coax inside the roll cage:

I have two radios that I swap-out between trucks, using the same mount for both:

Since that photo, I have also hard-wired in the GPS and ran those wires through the cage also.

Chicken Band radio is hidden away inside the center console:

In my other 4WD truck, I mounted the same 2m/dual-band radios to the roof and ran all the wires and coax above the headliner and inside the A-pillar (but not the GPS to radio wire yet):

cb radio in this truck - removed when not needed on a trail:

 

[Bennyhana]

There's not really a sweet spot to mount a radio in the JK's. This spot works fairly well other than the mic cord. I now have the mic cradle mounted on the right side of the raido.

 

[kjp1969]

Some really nice stuff here. Its amazing how far a little thought and creativity will go.

And some, well, difficult situations. :ylsmoke:

And some of you guys have A LOT of radios. :Wow1:

I have the Wilson 75wxst that hides away when not in use, and the 60" whip comes off for day-to-day. I'm trying to figure out the Ham right now. I don't know if I want to spring for the dual band remote faceplate model or a cheap one-piece. Aesthetics are important- I like the interior to look stock if possible, and uncluttered especially when I'm not using the radio.

With the remote faceplate models, can you run the mic from the radio body, or does it have to come from the faceplate?

 

[rusty_tlc]

There's not really a sweet spot to mount a radio in the JK's. This spot works fairly well other than the mic cord. I now have the mic cradle mounted on the right side of the raido.

I believe you can use a regular phone extension cable with a coupler for the mic. on that radio. That would give you some flexibility on where you put the mic.

 

[kjp1969]

Here's one that's not so nice, but a nice install in an F250. Guy said the only wire you'll see is the mic cable: