Xodius

For my CB antenna mount, I just cut off some angle iron, drilled a hole in it, cleaned it and painted it then attached it behind my spare. Wires, were run in the roll bar foam and the CB was mounted, originally on the footman's loop on windshield. I had to change that though since I put up the Smitty Gear overhead storage, I ended up just ziptieing it to the rack while using some extra materials that came with my Smitty. I will take a couple pics a little later.

Xodius

Here is a pic of the inside.

wb9rde

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Randy---

I got the mount from Tower at the Wheaton Hamfest about two weeks ago. I don't see it in the on line. They had a box of them with the 3/4 and a box with the 3/8 hole for the antenna mount. You may have to give them a call. The plate is 1/8 steel chrome plated about 6" x 6" with rounded corners and offset by about an 1/8 inch. It projects about 4" beyond the hood line. (they also have the actual mounts, coax, connectors and a selection of antennas) I have done business with them before; they are reliable

de Sam, WB9RDE

k4lja

I've gotta say --- I sure admire "Angry_Fisherman"s attitude concerning mobile cw. A man sharing my own thought patterns. And Xodius -- real good stuff, too. All of you folks are giving us some real good ideas and methods of doing things.
Changing the subject a bit to antennas --- any reason I can't use a mounting bracket to put a hamstick on the driver's side in the back -- by the spare tire carrier? Also -- I assume one removes the spare tire from the carrier in order to attach an antenna bracket. Right? Will the spare tire be too heavy for most of us to lift? Some of us are limited to around 50-pounds lifting. Just wondering.
Anyway -- good thoughts people. Appreciate the tips. Thanks. Randy K4LJA

Xodius

Depends on your tire. Mine are sitting at about 78#'s if I remember right. If I am near you, I didn't look, I will help you out. Jeeper helping jeeper.

k4lja

Xodius --- very kind offer of help and I appreciate it. However -- I have two strappin' 30-year old sons and I can always blackmail one of them into helping --- 'specially if I'm cooking cajun that night.

By the way -- I love your town. I lived in Vegas 3-years --- about 30-years ago. I would get lost there today. I was 6 & 11 PM news anchor for Channel 3 KVBC back then. Loved the town.

Randy K4LJA

k4lja

Xodius -- in a way I guess I'm hijacking my own thread: I noticed in your profile that you're SuperChipped --- and loving it. I would be interested in that. How expensive, how difficult, and what do you like about it? Please pass along to tips n' techniques. Thanks -- Randy

Xodius

I picked up the tuner early last year. On another forum a sponsor had them pretty heavily discounted so I snatched one up. It is model 3875. At first I was hesitant to pick one up, I think I paid around $150 for it and at the time I believe they were...375 or so. They are usually on here for a good price, especially now. When I got it in, I tuned my jeep for the 87 oct and noticed a slight improvement. Not a lot but enough to seriously notice. As a bit of a benchmark I used a hill/mountain here in vegas on the way to Boulder City. Without the tuning my wife said, "WTF, this thing even have a motor?!" Which was pretty darn funny, especially since we were in a convoy going to a funeral. Shortly there after I got the tuner and installed the 87 and did the same track and she noticed it more than me. One thing about my wife, I joke with her calling her Mariana Andretti as she has a HUGE lead foot, thank god she has a 4 banger in her rav. Things that I noticed were the shift points in my transmission. While they are not huge, they are enough to make it worth it, at least in my opinion. Then, I adjusted for my larger tires...and then again when I jumped to 35's. I have since adjusted it to 91 Oct and I think that is perfect for how mine is setup. I have had people ask me if it makes it more peppy and while it does to a very small degree I just tell people if I wanted speed I would have bought a vette. Does it improve my MPG's...I would say no, maybe a tad but that would be a huge maybe and one that would be better asked of a true diagnostic/test center. The things I like about it are, the various preprogrammed settings, I can adjust the speedo, modify the TPMS sensors and a couple other things. Those items make it worth it to me. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it and it might actually be the first thing I would do.
Do I think it is worth 300+ No but if you can find a used one that is reset and not programmed to a vehicle already and it is up to around 2-250, I wouldn't think twice.
Now to play devils advocate, I talked this product up and down to my father in law, who is also a jeep freak due to me and while he likes it's features he is going to go in a different route. He wants one that he can attach to his dash or somewhere nearby so he can adjust on the fly. He got used to that with his F350 Super Duty. FOr the life of me I can not think of the name on that one though...maybe Edge Chip? Tuners like that were either not available or insanely priced when I got mine. Is that feature nice, yes. Would it be useful when offroading, yes. Is it a deal breaker not to have it, no.
Well, that should be enough wall-o-text for now on it, lol. If you have any questions just let me know.

Sahara_Maverick

Welcome aboard and nice thread!

The tuner you are referring to is the Bully Dog? I have one on my Jeep and it's designed to have its dash permanently mounted and allow for changes on the fly. It can also display up to four engine parameters and monitor stuff like temperature and sound an alarm if it goes beyond your setpoints.


As for the radio, I'm also planning to install my mobile rig (ICOM 706MkIIG) in my Jeep. Just got an ICOM AH-4 tuner and a 7ft whip for the HF part and will use a dual-band Wilson for the 70cm/2m part. Since I also have a CB there will be four antennas sticking out of the Jeep if counting the standard radio antenna.

I got the separation kit and plan to hang the ICOM's head to the Vector e-dock using a RAM mount. The radio will go close to the tuner, which I'll also install as close to the HF antenna as possible.

I see several people placing the HF antenna on the front bumper's passenger side but still could not find a very good explanation for that. Anyone here ever tried this? Is it just to keep the antennas as far apart as possible?

JK-jeepit

Once you get your HF setup you should create a thread and tell us how it's working across the HF bands...
I have this setup and so far the tuner didn't play very well.... I was using an untune hamstick (ie no specific band) which I would say might have been why it didn't work really good. Hopefully your 7ft whip works better..

my HF mount is on the rear tailgate.... which I was able to contact Europe with using 20M/100W, so it seems to work good enough for me and for all the place I could put it (lack of places) I like it there most.

back to the topic...