boardmanXJ

ok so i bought a cheapie CB at walmart but i am having trouble with eveything else. a friend of mine is going to give me a four foot cb antenna for free. i think its a firestik and what ive heard that really good. i dont have access to metal nor are my fabricating skill good enough to make a bracket. i want one like REWSTER's where the bracket is right above the tailight, but i would have to have someone else make it for me. i also herd that side side of the cherokee isn't much for a reflective wave surface. so i was looking at a roof magnet mount but someone told me that they knock off really easily, not just on the trail but also on the highway. so which one would be better: rear liftgate mount, or roof magnet mount?

SeattleCrwlr

not on roof. rear liftgate or front in crack between hood and fender. as for a bracket thats easy. just find anything in the shape of an L for the rear(bend some sheet metal found anywhere) or an s for the front. Drill a hole in it(large enough for the bolt end of the antenna to fit through, and some self tapping screws to mount it with. easy it probobly took more time for me to type this than install the antenna

Crizza

Mounting the antenna is the super easy part. As SeattleCrwlr said . .just a sorta "L" bracket anywhere in the gap above the tail lights. I'm over my Drivers side light. Lots of room to run the cable in the rear door, under the seal, over the seal . . .where ever you want.
If you're using a "cheapie" radio, make sure that the antenna you get is ok for your set up. Best advice is to check and see if there's any amateur radio clubs in your area to heol set up and tune it.
There's lots more to a fully functioning CB then just plug and play.
Good luck, and have fun

Programbo

OK..This is right up my alley (Aside from the where to mount it part)..I worked in a CB shop and did CB competition stuff for years so know a few things..Firstly any stock radio especially a cheapie is gonna suck straight from the box..FCC regs prohibit CBs from putting out more than 5 watts and most are set to dead key not much below that so you need to get whatever you have fixed up to put out more and have more modulation...DON'T hook it up to the cigarette lighter or fuse box as you`ll get all sorts of vehicle electrical interference..Run it right off the battery..And finally (Just for now) if you get a decent roof magnet mount like a Wilson 1000 it won`t come off unless it`s smacked pretty damn hard right on the base..I mean real hard...So that`s not a concern..Now a cheapie mag mount I`d worry about...If you don`t mind drilling a few holes in your Jeep a basic cheap ball-mount is that way to go.

boardmanXJ

i am going to have to wait for the firestik antenna so for the time being i bought a used 2.5 foot one. its really old and thats what i am going to be using for about 6 weeks. the radio i bought is a cobra 19 from walmart. it was 30 bucks so i called it cheap. the magnet mount i was looking at was an offbrand one at a truckstop near my house. i really dont want to drill holes but i dont want my antenna to be ripped off. i think i might just bite the bullet and start drilling unless i actually see the magnet mount in use. thanks for all the advice i am going to check out some amerature radio clubs tomorrow

Stillwater Outfitters XJ

the walmart CB works great i have my antenna mounted to my roof rack but i like the mag idea so if you dont like it you can take it off vs drillin holes hard to fix if you dont like lol

kamokid

i have a ball mount with a spring and its on the body, on the opposite side of where the gas door is, and it looks and operates great.. (with a 10 ft whip)

rustface

Ditto, except I used a marine mount like this:
http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/mo...findmount=4186

Which turned out to be a pain. Not as simple as a standard ball mount would have been.

But the whip, even on the side of the body, pulls in signals from 10 miles easily, with no tuning yet...

kamokid

id love to boost my signal.. its so fun to talk to peopl in arizona or texas when your in florida..lol when all i can do is talk to buddies a few miles away.. But yeah the whips are a must have, i wouldnt get anything smaller, plus they just look plain sweet!

REWSTER

if you cant make your own you could always buy this one

http://motionoffroad.com/catalog/ind...roducts_id=369

xj4life2

i just switched to the motion off road tail gate brkt and it super can't say enough good about it as for the "whip" i have a 4" firestick . carefull on whip lenghts as most ohv parks and trials do not allow long whips anymore. As for signal boosting look online there are hundreds of DIY articles on how to get more power.

Programbo

I was going to suggest just this set up...You see it a lot on state police cars..Plus you can bend the whip over and secure it on the front when you want it semi out of the way...As for talking to Texas from Florida..You can`t do that directly on a cb unless you are "shooting skip" which basically means the signal goes up and bounces off the atmosphere when conditions are right and comes down elsewhere..It`s fun to do but this is something you have no control over ..Ordinarily the most distance you`ll get from a mobile even running some high wattage is like 50 miles and that`s a long ways.

newageoutlaw

I found a really cool bracket at my local cb store. It allowed be to mount it behind my rear lights so when i drilled into the body you can't tell when i take the bracket off. It also gives it a really neat look.

XJmanXJ

i just bought a magnetic antenna and just threw it on the roof is this bad?

mrmikey32

i use a magnetic k40 or something. i like it because i can take it down and toss it in the truck when not using it.