Advise where to hide, run power wire and coax into the cabin for Ham & GMRS radios - JCR Off Road MOLLE Panel

[Sniper]

I have the Ecodiesel Rubicon with the AEV JT 370 upgrade and have been collecting parts to install a ham radio with two antennas and a GMRS radio with one antenna.

I'm going to mount three antennas on a plate I'm going to have fabricated on the corner of the rear bumper then the 3 coax cables needs to be run to the over head radios inside the cab. How do I get these coax cables to these radios so they are not seen?

Next I'm running a 30 amp service which is heavy duty wire to these two radios off a relay near the battery, how do I run it up to these radios so they are not seen? I'm guessing I have to take the molding off up the corner near windshield and through the area where visor and mirror mounted but has anybody done this and is there enough room?

Advise and any pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks

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[Kevin_D]

It might be easier to run everything low along the rocker panels to the B pillar, then go up to the sound bar.
These things with all their removable panels and folding windshield don’t make running wires easy…

Kevin

 

[Jems007]

There’s a place on the drivers side firewall you may be able to use. There’s a black plug there, pop it out snd see if there’s enough space. I ran my coax cable through that for a gmrs antenna, along the side of the floorboard under the plastic panels to under my seat where the radio is.

 

[SelfmodJT]

I have the same overhead panel. I didnt install an after market attenna but itll all fit above the windshield and then run it down the pillar. Becareful not to pinch any wires. I used molle pouches to put the mic wires in while not in use because it hanging down while driving would have driven me crazy. I basically cut a hole in the pouch in the bottom. I also am using the usb from the gsmr to charge an olight flashlight i have mounted on the other side of the pouch.

 

[Radio Guy]

You can run the antenna coaxial cable into the hollow frame which runs the length of the vehicle. You can pop the cable out and go through existing rubber plugs under the rear seat or exit the frame at the firewall and run the cable through existing rubber plugs on the firewall.

I'm a little concerned hearing about antennas mounted on the rear bumper. That is kind of ok for HF or CB but VHF/UHF would be a problem.

 

[Sniper]

I'm a little concerned hearing about antennas mounted on the rear bumper. That is kind of ok for HF or CB but VHF/UHF would be a problem.

Would you please elaborate about the VHF/UHF problem?

Thank you for the help

 

[Sniper]

It might be easier to run everything low along the rocker panels to the B pillar, then go up to the sound bar.
These things with all their removable panels and folding windshield don’t make running wires easy…

Kevin

Regarding your rocker panel suggestion, would you please explain more? Do you mean under outside then bring it in by the B pillar or do you mean I take something apart and get it inside the rocker panel? Thanks for the help.

 

[Sniper]

You can run the antenna coaxial cable into the hollow frame which runs the length of the vehicle. You can pop the cable out and go through existing rubber plugs under the rear seat or exit the frame at the firewall and run the cable through existing rubber plugs on the firewall.

So I understand the running thru the hollow frame and understand the plugs under seat, how to I plug the entry of the coax thru the floor and then do I run that thru pillar B up to the top then? Thanks again for the help

 

[MrFahrenheit]

I just ran a CB antenna cable into the cab through the rear passenger floor. If you pull off the trim at the rear door on the passenger side you can pull the carpet back a bit. Just an inch or two from the edge on the floor board you will see a sticky pad painted the same color as the truck. This covers a plastic plug in the floor board. You can either pop this plug completely out or drill through it if your cable end is small enough. Once the cable is run through, you can just restick the pad to the floor board covering the hole back up.

Found this location when looking at how Rockslide Engineering runs its power wires to the steps. They show where this location is in the JT install instructions on thier site. I did not need need to take the storage thing out under the seat. This also gives great access to run the cable through the factory cable runs along the edge of the cab on he inside.

 

[Radio Guy]

Would you please elaborate about the VHF/UHF problem?

Thank you for the help

As I imagine a VHF/UHF antenna on the rear bumper I see most if not all of it being blocked by the tailgate and rear fenders, etc. The bumper is a very low spot and VHF/UHF is mostly line of site, so right out of the gate you don't have very good site off the bumper.

For CB or HF its not a big problem due to the wavelength and the tailgate is a very small fraction of a wavelength and just a "speed bump" to the RF. The only real problems with a bumper mount CB or HF is the lack of ground plane and the feedpoint is low to the ground introducing a little more ground loss than mounting it higher up.

 

[Radio Guy]

I just ran a CB antenna cable into the cab through the rear passenger floor. If you pull off the trim at the rear door on the passenger side you can pull the carpet back a bit. Just an inch or two from the edge on the floor board you will see a sticky pad painted the same color as the truck. This covers a plastic plug in the floor board. You can either pop this plug completely out or drill through it if your cable end is small enough. Once the cable is run through, you can just restick the pad to the floor board covering the hole back up.

Found this location when looking at how Rockslide Engineering runs its power wires to the steps. They show where this location is in the JT install instructions on thier site. I did not need need to take the storage thing out under the seat. This also gives great access to run the cable through the factory cable runs along the edge of the cab on he inside.

This is exactly what I did for both 4ga power cables and coax on both sides under the rear seat area. On the large power cables I had several layers of hot glue heat shrink over the cables as they went through the hole then used a stiff curing sealant to cement the cables in the hole and weatherproof the entry point.

 

[Kevin_D]

Regarding your rocker panel suggestion, would you please explain more? Do you mean under outside then bring it in by the B pillar or do you mean I take something apart and get it inside the rocker panel? Thanks for the help.

I’m referring to running it inside. There are channels under the interior trim panels just for wiring.

Kevin

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