mhockey9090

Ok so im looking at the Uniden 880 or 980 CB radios. Seem to have that modern look and look to be pretty decent radios from my understanding and reading. Main use is trail but would like to get most out my money and a radio. Opinions and differences of these two ?


Heres what i would like to do as far as mounting the antenna. Has anyone else done this before? I will drill through the top point of the tire carrier and use a shop vac to get the wires does to another hole at the pivot point and then into the Jeep from there. If i can't get the wires through the pivot point i will just drill another hole on the underside of it and just zip tie the wires to the underside of the tire carrier down.


Red= Antenna
Blue=1st planned route
Green=2nd planned route

wcjeep

Proper tuning with an Swr meter is the most important thing. Recommend not using a CB until tuned.

mhockey9090

I guess i should of added, i know that i would need the CB tuned.



Can anyone help with the questions in the OP ?

OH9JK

Uniden makes great radios and have really done a nice job with modernizing these models. The 880 is 40 channel CB with NOAA weather.

The 980 has same features but is also a side band radio. This means it has the normal 40 channels every other CB has but then you also get 40 upper and 40 lower side band channels.

If you are just looking for a trail radio I would stick with the 880. But if you are looking to get into CB as a hobby I would get the 980.

It sounds like you have a good plan to mount the antenna. You just need to make sure you have a stud and can get that securely mounted and still able to fish the wire inside the tube frame of the carrier.

mhockey9090

For $20 more i will probably end up going with the 980, even though i probably wont need it. Yeah the mount for the antenna i was looking at some of the quick disconnects that are out there. I was only wanting to do this to keep people and their hands from stealing my antenna off the Jeep. I can always drill the hole and do a simple tack weld on the stud to ensure it wont move at all.

Ive been seeing the mounts that go to the stock tire carrier location. Have you or anyone that you know run this kind of bracket?

darkknight1999

I have the 980 SSB. Its been great so far. I don't pretend to be a CB expert, but here is how I mine unit installed:

I molded my CB into my dash. Saves space and works great. I opened up the CB and disconnected the internal speaker, and connected an external one. I have this mounted behind the lower dash panel below the steering wheel. I drilled holes in the panel so you can hear the sound very clearly. I don't have a picture of that though. I'm planning on molding that into the soundbar in the spring.




I mounted the antenna directly to the body to provide the best ground I could, as well provide a metal surface for the signal.




I had to sand down to the metal on the inside to make sure I had good contact. Once the antenna bracket is installed I had to repaint the inside of the body to prevent rust. You can do that by removing the foam in the wheel well and reaching up inside with the can of spray paint:


Here's the Antenna mounted up. I ran the wire through the license plate bracket, to keep it hidden and protected and to keep the install as clean as possible. I don't care for chrome... not one bit. So I plasti-dip the mount black:

mhockey9090

Darkknight I like the way you took your time in order to get that in your dash. I have the factory radio still so that wont be an option for me at the moment. I will most likely be building that overhead rack another member shared and mounting it there. Thats also a good place for the antenna due to it being protected for trail riding, which is a concern of mine sense i take mine out and can get into pretty tight spots.

ybugly

You might want to find a truckstop that has a cb shop. Let them tune and peak your radio. It will give you a lot stronger talking radio for only $15-35. More. They get max power out of some radios. Used to work with a guy that did this and substantially increased talking distance. Along with tuning your antenna.

mhockey9090

Yeah after seeing people have issues with tuning i was thinking about doing the same thing you mentioned. I do all the installation and have someone just fine tune it in.

darkknight1999

Thanks man. Its fair amount of work to get a CB in the dash, but its nice having it out of the way.