joe002

Many still exclusively use CBs to communicate on the trails. A CB (I have a Midland 75-822: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...506#post760506) along with this external antenna permits us to join in on the conversations.

The salesman at FireStick recommend the Firefly over the FireStick because the Firefly is more top loaded. I got a 3 foot Firefly, and the FireStick stud mount with 18 foot FireRing coax:


Here's the stuff removed from the packaging, plus a ground wire that I purchased that will be run for a good ground:


First drill a 1/2" hole in the spare tire mount (which is aluminum). Use the FireRing mount to measure where to drill the hole:


The tire mount is not a good ground source, so I figured I would have to run a ground wire to a good source. I spliced in a ground wire, soldered it in place, and wrapped the spice in wire and soldered it:


Cover the splice with heat shrink tubing and added some tie wraps:


With the coax prepared, clean off some of the powder coating around the hole (to give the tire mount a ground) and mount the FireRing on top of the hole:


Next, remove the panel from the inside of the door:


Remove the grommet:


Run some wire protector hose from the grommet hole to the hole inside the door:


Feed the coax and round wire thorough the hose and secure the wires with a rubber coated hook and add more wire wraps. At this point the mount is done, the wire just needs to be run:


The hose and wire coming out the other side of the door:

Cut the hose to size, run the wires with the factory wire bundles, and tape and clean up (I purchased two new wire bundle clamps from a local auto parts store so I didn't have to worry about destroying the clamps):


Inside the Jeep run the new wires down:


The screw for the rear speaker made a great ground:


Run the coax under the carpet up and under the dash to the passenger side, and bring it forward to just past the screw on the console. Use another rubber clamp to hold the wire in place:


A furniture leg cap can be used to cover the end of the coax connector to keep dirt out:


A furniture leg cap can be used to protect the antenna connector when the antenna isn't connected:


A cap can also be used on the threaded part of the antenna to protect it when not in use:


The antenna can be stored just under the storage bin door:


Antenna on the mount:


Shot of the rear:


I’ve used the antenna with my Midland 75-822 CB on one run and was told my transmission was clear. I could also receive the transmission from others on the run with no problems. I’ve also made some runs without the antenna installed and had no problems with the storage area (I did cover the ends with socks for a little extra protection.

joe002

Thanks. Yeah, FireStick has a number of different mounts/coax, and I ended up purchasing the FireRing connector. Whatever works.

joe002

I didn't happen to have a 1/2" drill bit, so I had to purchase on for the job.

JK-Rubi

x2 re the setup theft.

Nice write-up though.

I did goof the initial grounding. In the hopes that someone else may benefit, here's a pic of my error.

joe002

Thanks. We’re all thieves!!!



Right, when you mount the FireRing on top of the metal the ring under the connector is the ground. I was initially going to make the ground as a separate wire and connect it just under the round connector, but it looked like the FireRing would not seat properly, which is why I just spliced it in.

davidmech21

Great write-up. Thanks for the detail!

jsmoriss

BTW, you may find that your coax gets damaged after opening/closing the tailgate a bunch of times. It happened to me. Check your SWR once in a while, and if you see it jump to 3+, it might be your coax that's damaged.

I've since installed a new bumper & tire carrier, and ran my (new) coax up from behind the passenger side taillight.

js.

jcmrubicon

Nice install!

joe002

davidmech21, jcmrubicon - thanks!

jsmoriss - yeah, I did notice the entire wire bundle does bend when gate is shut. Chrysler designed the bundle so it is clamped on the gate, and is also clamped in the Jeep. I was thinking of leaving the claps off in the Jeep so the entire bundle would just slide in and out, but decided I would first see if the stock design worked OK. I will check the SWR from time to time - thanks for the tip.

Denny2565

This is a great write-up and deserves a bump to the top. I stole a few things from the thread and improvised on a few others.
I used a mirror mount bracket for my antenna. I had to file down a corner and bend the bottom of the bracket to get it to fit in the recessed opening of the spare tire mount. The bent portion of the bracket made a perfect place for the ground.


I ran the coax and ground wire through 4' of heat shrink tubing and then through the "afterburner"(joke from another thread).



I was going to run the coax and ground through the harness, but after reading what jsmoriss wrote, I decided to leave it out of the harness and give it some extra slack. This worked out great. Now when I close the gate, there is one big coil behind the sub and hardly any coax flexing at all.



And finally, I followed the wire bundle and ran the coax down the side of the jeep and by the door sills. I was going to tie it to the bundle of wires, but since I have a 4 door, I needed every bit of the 18' length of coax.



By the way, I have a K40 antenna and K40 coax. I put a meter on it and got 1.3 on channel 1, 1.1 on channel 20 and 1.4 on channel 40.