external wiring to the inside?

[srschick]

those of you with external lighting, antennas, etc - how did you go about getting the cable routed to the inside?
I know some people just have it come in one of the door openings, I don't feel like compromising the seals is a good idea.
If you drill a hole in the roof, what do you use to seal the opening? I'd think that would be the best way to go, but I want it to still look good. Rubber grommets and a dab of silicon?

Also, can "signal" cable such as antenna wire be placed next to power wiring? Would there be any interference issues to deal with?

my plans are for a light bar and CB antenna on the LR3.

 

[libarata]

As long as everything is properly shielded, there should not be too much interference with them being sidexside. Just refrain from coiling them too mush. I've seen folks use marine grade grommets, and caulking after they drill their holes.

 

[1stDeuce]

I push wiring through the OE firewall boots. I use a utility knife to make a small slit, then push the wire(s) through. Works great, and seals very nicely. For antenna wires, I actually run them out the doors. But if you are OK with putting ends on yourself, you could do the same with them. or you could slit the firewall boot in from the edge and push the wire in, then put the boot back in the firewall.

I concur that there's no real harm in putting an antenna wire near power wiring. If you find that you're getting a lot of static, put a noise filter on the power wire, or hook it straight to the battery. Hasn't been a problem for me though.

CB antennas are not ideally mounted in the roof. Their mounts don't normally seal well enough. Ham antennas have mounts more suited to roof mounting. If you want a roof mounted antenna, I'd suggest going with a Wilson Little Will mag mount. They work awesome, and if you trek under something too low, it just tips over rather than mangling your roof, or breaking.

 

[pugslyyy]

Marine deck fittings like this work really well, and have the advantage of being reconfigurable (you can add/change cables) and large enough for the cable end connector to fit through so you don't have to splice.

http://www.bargainboatparts.com/p-95538-dx-series-thru-dex174-waterproof-fittings.aspx

 

[srschick]

I'll be mounting to a Baja roof rack.

 

[Lajning]

On our work cars we run the cable from the roof lights along the windshield and into a fuse box under the hood. Works great even with HAM-radio wire. The guys who install it use a high grade superglue to fix the cable.

 

[Arclight]

You can also use a cord grip. I had my side-facing off-road lights powered using some liquid-tight plastic ones:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-cord-grips/=vsaw7j

Arclight

 

[AFBronco235]

The proper grommet should be all you need. No caulking needed. Just make sure you drill the hole a little smaller than you think for the grommet and that should keep things tight enough to keep out water, so long as you don't submerge it.

 

[Hilldweller]

I put a Blue Sea fuse panel under the glove box of the Jeep and run all my inside accessories off it. My two antenna coax cables come from breaches that were already there, one in the firewall and one in the tailgate ----- Jeeps come with holes since they expect us to use the vehicles like a set of Lego blocks.
Maybe the LR had some holes there already too?

And a roof mount CB antenna works great if you have a metal roof and do it right. A K40 is very hard to beat; I know people who've had them on their trucks for decades without a leak or rust.