"Thought I would do a write-up on the install of a Kenwood NX-5600HFB3 into my 2016 Jeep JK.

Before I get started, I want to thank Greg (VA7TD) for all the technical advice and fielding about a million questions over the last few months - thank you, mate !.

Ok, so let's get into this - soooooo here it is, 110 watts of pure Low Band FM Joy !


Now, as with all my radios, I wanted to make this install invisible - so you can see the first issue I had to contend with - the dimensions on the 5600 is a whopping 7" x 2.5" x 14" !!

This sucker wouldn't fit under any seat, obviously no room under the dash, and wouldn't fit inside or under the centre console. I was about to give up the whole idea of hiding this monster when I remembered there was hidden, recessed tub in the floor at the rear of the jeep.


The 5600 just barely fit inside the ABS liner, but if I pulled the ABS liner out - the radio would fit deep enough so the carpet cover / moulding would fit over it (with about 1.5" clearance) and conceal the install.


So now I had a place to mount the 5600, but I noticed that if I removed the entire ABS liner, the carpet cover would not fit as well as I would of liked it to, so I decided to leave the ABS in place and just cut the bottom out of it to give me the depth I needed.
I pulled out the ABS insert and filled it with water to where I wanted to cut it - then just ran some painter's tape along the water's edge - there was my straight edge.


I picked up some rubber moulding / trim from Amazon and the job was done.


I needed to raise the radio off the floor just enough so the radio bracket wasn't touching the sides of the curved compartment bottom, but would still be low enough that the carpet lid would still close on top of the install - the solution was to use 1" square tubing. Here they are after they have been powder coated and plastic plugs have been installed into the ends.


I decided that the best option for mounting the 1" square tubes to the floor would be tape. I used 3M VHB tape 5952 which is specifically designed for these surfaces.


Next I mounted the 5600 bracket to the 1" flat tubes - now the bracket was just missing the sides of the floor recess, with the added benefit of a little cushioning that the tape thickness would give.


Ok, so next up was where to, and how to mount the antenna for this bad boy. I already have two antenna's on the front of my jeep for my NX-5700, NX-5800 and my D710, so the front of the truck was out. I decided to use a rear window hinge bracket to keep the antenna up and out of the way.
So that leads me to my second call out on this install - my good friend Taran at Big Country Customs (BCC). Taran fabbed up a great rear window hinge mounting bracket that fit perfectly - and the build quality .... well, you could probably lift the truck with it. He has saved this bracket in his CNC machine so if any one is interested - easy peasy job to make more.
I'm using this bracket as an antenna mount, but it could be used just as easily for a back-up camera or a rear facing flood light ....

Oh, and for those interested, Taran won a hard fought 2nd place finish at this year's KOH EMC !


The first photo is when it was first just fabbed up, the other two photos are after it had been powder coated.






Now, as I park in a carport with limited clearance, I wanted to be able to lower my antenna down - so I purchased a Rhino-Rack Folding Antenna Mount to install on my hinge bracket. The Rhino-Rack bracket was slotted on the top, so I had Taran fill in the slot (weld) and then re-powder coated for the factory look.







And then here is the Hinge Bracket and the Rhino-Rack Mount together + mounted on the Jeep ...




Ok, so I now have the radio installed, and the antenna mounted - I just have to connect the both of them ...

A you can see form the previous photo, the coax travels from the antenna bracket to under the rear window. The coax then follows the weather stripping to just below the driver's side rear top corner of the hardtop - it then enters the hardtop at a 45 degree angle. Here is a view of the routing and the grommet I used.





Because the Rhino-Rack and Hinge Bracket were mounted to fibreglass hardtop, I had to find a way to ground the both.
My idea was to run the ground wire to one of the hard top hinge bolts, then connect a wire from the other end of the hinge bolt (which was inside the hardtop) and run it inside the hardtop down to the body. Unfortunately those hinge bolts are treated in Back Oxide, which, as it turns out is a really good insulator - sigh .....
So to make my idea work, I had to replace one of the hinge bolts with a stainless version and then run the ground wire from the other end of the hinge bolt into the hard top via the opening used for the wiper / washer connections. Now just in case you are wondering, no - you cannot insert a cable into the washer / wiper harness, you have to run it separate, but the good news is you can rout the cable (and in this case the coax also) all the way down to where the wiper / washer plug is on the inside of the hardtop !!




Here is the Coax and the Antenna Bracket ground wire emerging from the interior of the hardtop (zip tied). From here I routed the coax under the carpet, then behind the ABS moulding on the side of the truck to the radio. The ground wire went to one of the cage bolts - continuity was perfect.


Finishing things up -

I wired the data wires up to my existing KCH-20R Head - see my NX-5700 / 5800 install write-up:
I wired the power cables up front to my SPod - so that all my radios turn on with one switch. Pretty much the only thing left to do with this install was to sweep / tune the antenna.
The first photo is where I started from (SWR of 1.024 at 50.520 MHz), the second photo is where I ended up after trimming the antenna (SWR of 1.059 at 52.253 MHz).





For those HAM enthusiasts wondering - I made use of my Genright cage as a counter poise.


And here is the finished install - with and without the carpet covering.





Neville