I want to install a heavy duty antenna mount for ham radio. I think sheet metal on side panels is too thin. Bumper would be great, if I can get to some metal under there. Anyone know what's underneath the rear bumper's plastic cover, or how to remove it? I understand the bumper is held on by six bolts but not sure if the plastic cover can easily be removed.

 

There's a metal cross member back there, but the bumper is almost all plastic. There's metal in there, but if i remember it might be thinner than the body. Aslo I think the stock bumper is only held on by FOUR bolts.

 

The bumper itself is just plastic with some studs in it for the mounting bolts.

There is metal, but it does not project out beyond the sides and back of the Jeep

If you look under the Jeep and see where the tow hook and/or the trailer hitch is then you see what is really there.

Taking the bumper and reinstalling it is easy too, if you want to look in more detail.

If you can you can make a bracket and use some of the holes to mount it on the rear. To have the gate open I would use some of the bolts on the side/corner. I am not sure if you could still make this mount come out in the rear corner so you have to look yourself. To see what I am saying look at some threads on the install of the Gobi roof rack. This rack uses the area under the rear bumper, but its brackets come out the side on the rear

 

If you remove the rear bumper, you will see the frame that sticks out past the rear gate. You might be able to mount it there then just pop a hole in the bumper to slide the antenna into.

 

What kind of antenna? I mounted a dual band Diamond on a lip mount. When I disovered the Scorpion for HF work my first thought was to replace the rear bumper. That required steel with a large flat area on top. Once I had all of the components I had to relocate the license plate to the passenger side. The antenna would have covered the plate and it could not be installed on the passenger side due to the swing of the tire carrier.

The specific antenna may define your requirements. You might be able to use one of those hitch extensions out the rear or across to the side. If you do not have a top installed you could mount directly to the roll bar. The front bumper may also be an option. You could remove the plastic piece in the center and replace it with a (winch) plate to mount the antenna.

 

Two actually. One for 7 MHz (HF CW) and the other for 144 MHz (local repeaters, scanner). For HF I'm using a Hustler RM-40 resonator/whip, hopefully on a 2-foot mast, but if it proves to be too much weight for the mount and thin sheet metal, I'll mount the resonator right down onto the ball mount, with no spring. Not great for performance, but receiving should be fine, which is what I'll mostly be doing. Not a big fan of transmitting CW while driving. That heavy duty spring is HEAVY and leaving it off might let me get away with using the thin sheet metal on the rear sides. On the 144 MHz side, a Hustler resonator and whip - 5/8 wave - very light.

Both antennas are 3/8 x 24 style so I'm going with the same heavy duty ball mount on each. It's a fantastic mount. This will also let me swap out the 144 MHz antenna for an HF antenna if I want to run another HF rig in there. Flexible.

I have a trailer hitch and thought about the antenna mount on the receiver hitch thing, but I don't like the look of the antenna centered at the rear. Gotta be off center. Besides, there are two antennas.

For camping/portable/parked use, I can always put up a taller mast on the mount -- as long as I'm not driving, the mount should be fine on the thin sheet metal.

 

Sounds like a good set up. I haven't ever picked up one of the Hustler antennas but it doesn't look like it would be too heavy. The rear side mounts should be OK. The only problem is that if it isn't OK, when you find out it will be too late.

Breedlove makes a ball mount that includes a backing plate. I can't bring myself to drill holes in body work. It would require 1 large hole in the center and 4 smaller holes outside for attaching the backing plate.

 

I was suprised that the bumper was so light weight. It only took a few minutes to remove the bumper. I replacedthe bumper with a Smittybilt XRC and tire carrier.

 

mostlystock,
Yes there is metal under the bumper
and its really not to hard to remove..
Here is a photo of my rear bumper removed

 

I built a bracket that hooks behind the spear tire on the lug bolts. Take a peace of plate put holes it where it will go on the lug bolts behind the spear tire. Then weld a paece of 1X3/8 flat bare onto that and a little heating and bending with a tourch and you've got an antenna mount that you can take off later and there will be no holes.