2018 Ford Escape No-Drill Install

[KI5IRE]

Recently purchased a 2018 Ford Escape and am looking to do a no-drill install for a VHF/UHF mobile.

The radio I am wanting is the Radioditty DB-25 D (I know it’s only 20W, I am mainly just wanting to use with my DMR hotspot and with the external antenna for very near repeaters).

As far as my options for mounting an antenna, what are some options for best reception without drilling? I have a mag mount antenna I could use, but would prefer something like a lip-mount, but have no idea where I would put a lip mount. Also trying to run the cabling as cleanly as possible.

Also, if possible, I know this is probably a stretch, but I am looking for options that I might still be able to use drive-thru car washes without having my antenna mount ripped off.

Thanks!

 

[slowmover]

Your vehicle has dozens of holes straight from the factory. Alternatives aren’t really worth it. They don’t perform as well, and they don’t last.

Recommend you take some time reading to see what others have done. As well, can have your hand held all the way thru, here:

Mobile Install Bible

One works from a plan. Which has stages. Each has a list.

What tools, what supply, is more daunting than the work itself.

Drilling a hole is a few seconds.
A nothingburger.

Conversely, the complete process (and follow-up) is several days once one has a handle on THE SCOPE OF WORK.

An NMO-Mount is a fine upgrade to a vehicle, and, as the coax & power are custom-installed they’re never in the way, can’t get damaged, and provide reliable longest-term service.

There’s zero reason to do it half-assed. The radio is not important. Not what matters. The coax, antenna mount and DC power are the key components.

I could leave home without my aligned/tuned AM/SSB Radio and pick up an inexpensive truckstop replacement and it will still outperform the $600 custom big radios where it matters as the SYSTEMS installed in the Kenworth are so much better than 99% of what’s to be found across several million big trucks.

Drove home in a rental awhile back using a mag-mount, cigar lighter plug and my back up radio. Terrible in comparison, laughably bad.

Do It Right so that the supporting systems are transparent.


See BREEDLOVE MOUNTS for a selection.

 

[KC3ECJ]

I just got this radio under the Retevis RT73 branding.

Their software is a bit wonky programming this radio. I had one zone I programmed for DMR write over another zone I dedicated to analog. In that other zone, the channels got overwritten with the frequencies I intended for DMR, but for some reason they also got written in that wrong zone as analog.

That aside, the sensitivity of the radio is great and the front end is decent too.

I'm using a magnet mount whip that's about 1/4 wave for 2m band.

 

[KC3ECJ]

Mounting, maybe go with a lip or magnet NMO mount if you don't want something more permanent.

With the car wash for example, if the antenna isn't too tight on the mount, you can unscrew it before you go into the car wash.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Drill a hole in roof use a tri band Larsen and be done. Dont even need to remove going thru car wash.

 

[KC3ECJ]

Drill a hole in roof use a tri band Larsen and be done. Dont even need to remove going thru car wash.

Tri band for what? It's a dual band radio.

 

[belvdr]

Can you lip mount at the top of the rear hatch?

 

[mmckenna]

Tri band for what? It's a dual band radio.

The Tri-Band Larsens will work well even on a dual band radio. The newer ones have a highly flexible whip as well as a spring at the base. I've been running one on my work truck for about 6 months now, including running up/down some overgrown site access roads. No issues.
Larsen does not currently make a similarly flexible antenna in a dual band only antenna.

 

[mmckenna]

Can you lip mount at the top of the rear hatch?

Crappy ground plane, which will work against him with only 20 watts. All these no-drill solutions have drawbacks. If the owner can deal with those drawbacks, then there is a lot of options. If he wants the better working solution, then paying attention to things like ground planes is worth the effort.

 

[Motoballa]

The Tri-Band Larsens will work well even on a dual band radio. The newer ones have a highly flexible whip as well as a spring at the base. I've been running one on my work truck for about 6 months now, including running up/down some overgrown site access roads. No issues.
Larsen does not currently make a similarly flexible antenna in a dual band only antenna.

Which one do you run? I'll look into getting it

 

[mmckenna]

Which one do you run? I'll look into getting it

Pulse / Larsen Antenna - NMO Tri-Band 150-174/430-520/750-870 MHz - NMO150/450/758SF - Tessco

NMO, Tri-Band 150-174/430-520/750-870 MHz, Super Flex Whip

www.tessco.com

 

[KI5IRE]

Thank you for all of the responses.

Personally, I am not interested in drilling holes in the roof. I am trying to keep the resale value as high as possible in case I decide I want something different down the road.

I am considering a lip mount on the back hatch, but was also curious if anyone has made or seen any kind of brackets attached to the tail light area, I've seen it on other vehicles but not this one. Didn't know if anyone found it to be a possible mounting point or not.

As far as the radio goes, I don't think the 20w will be a big deal, I'm only trying to hit repeaters within 5-10 miles of me right now. I am also looking for something with a higher output though and with a remote head due to space issues. Something like the Kenwood NX-5000 would be nice, but out of my budget at this time. The main features being VHF/UHF, DMR, APRS.

 

[mmckenna]

Personally, I am not interested in drilling holes in the roof. I am trying to keep the resale value as high as possible in case I decide I want something different down the road.

A properly installed NMO mount will not impact resale value. I've been installing them on my own personal vehicles for about 30 years and never had a problem. Last truck I sold had 2 NMO mounts on the roof and I received high blue book value for it.

I am also looking for something with a higher output though and with a remote head due to space issues. Something like the Kenwood NX-5000 would be nice, but out of my budget at this time. The main features being VHF/UHF, DMR, APRS.

Look at the NX-3000 line of radios. They will do remote head and give you the option of Analog + DMR -or- NXDN. However, only single band and do not have the dual/triple RF deck capability like the NX-5000 mobiles.

 

[KC3ECJ]

Thank you for all of the responses.

Personally, I am not interested in drilling holes in the roof. I am trying to keep the resale value as high as possible in case I decide I want something different down the road.

I am considering a lip mount on the back hatch, but was also curious if anyone has made or seen any kind of brackets attached to the tail light area, I've seen it on other vehicles but not this one. Didn't know if anyone found it to be a possible mounting point or not.

As far as the radio goes, I don't think the 20w will be a big deal, I'm only trying to hit repeaters within 5-10 miles of me right now. I am also looking for something with a higher output though and with a remote head due to space issues. Something like the Kenwood NX-5000 would be nice, but out of my budget at this time. The main features being VHF/UHF, DMR, APRS.

I've been getting into distant repeaters with mine reasonably well.

I've mostly been using it with a magnet to NMO mount with a 1/4 wave 2m antenna.

Where it's positioned is a less than ideal ground plane. There is an FM repeater over a mountain or two and other rough terrain on 70cm at about a 35 mile shot that I've been able to get into well.

 

[AK9R]

Personally, I am not interested in drilling holes in the roof. I am trying to keep the resale value as high as possible...

It's your vehicle, so do what you want. But, make sure you are making this decision objectively.

Your Escape is now 4 model years old. A new 2022 Escape SEL AWD 2.0 Ecoboost would be about $35,000 MSRP. A clean used 2018 Escape SEL AWD 2.0 Ecoboost with about 40,000 miles would be $22,000. In other words, your car has lost about 37% of its value just due to depreciation. Unless you plan to get rid of the car tomorrow, it's just going to continue to lose value. As mmckenna states above, a properly installed NMO mount is going to have very little impact on the value of your car. And, if your car has roof rails as many Ford SUV/CUVs have, the mount would be barely noticeable. If you trade your car in, the dealer taking your trade probably won't take any notice. A very picky individual buyer may notice it, so you knock of $100-200 to placate them.

Any other cobbled-together mount on the fender, hatch, or taillight is going to have compromised performance. Do it right the first time and drill the hole.

 

[izzyj4]

When I had my 2008 Mercury Mountianeer, I couldn't do a roof mounted antenna due to my in use roof rack I had. My solution was a tri-axis lip mount from Comet.

Here is an Comet link to the same mount I had, scroll down to the RS-720 its a NMO 3/4 mount version: Mounts/Brackets only | Comet Antenna

I attached this to my left side of my rear hatch and was utilizing a dual band Comet NMO mount antenna (I forget which model). Paired up with my Yeasu 7800, I had great reception and also fairly low SWRs. I added some extra grounding wires on either side of the hatchback near the hinges, similar to the upfitter's tricks for front fender mounts with engine hoods. Speaking of front / cowl mounting, I'm sure there are several other options for brackets you can use to mount an antenna to as well. They do make vehicle specific mounts, but you can also fabricate them as well, if you have the capabilities. And installed right, you won't get the dreaded engine noise problems.

Yes, popping a hole in the roof and mounting an antenna there is always the best option for operations. But its your vehicle and do what you feel comfortable doing, there are many options. Good Luck!

 

[slowmover]

It’s an upgrade to do it properly.

Less damage than a lip, hood or fender mount that takes a whack. A mag mount always leaves scratches.

Car value rides on other things.

Replace the NMO at sale with a cheap telephone amp antenna. Downgrade a genuine improvement

The car couldn’t be any less unique.

Do it right and tag the power and coax with the specs & radio type, instead.

My father went thru a half dozen highly expensive cars in the 1960s and 1970s with a plug installed where the Motorola RadioTelephone antenna had stood on the starboard quarterdeck.

Zero issue even fifty years ago.

 

[sfd745]

Between my wife and I, we have gone through approximately 10 vehicles in the last 15 years, all with permanent mount antennas. We have dealt with three different dealerships and NEVER once had a single place mentioned the antenna plug hole in the valuation of the trade-in.

The one time I had any radio related issues for a trade in was on a Subaru that I took out the center console to install 3 radios. That car was destined for the scrap yard anyway but they haggled me down an additional $500 on the trade-in.

 

[slowmover]

That enormous power cord was not removed. (Just controls). Where the 125W transmitter mounted in the trunk was obvious. (80-lbs of gear, all told). And, then the body plug near the rear glass, couldn’t miss it (grey).

The second owner couldn’t have missed that something was once in the vehicle that now wasn’t. (Possibly helped sell it based also on exclusively dealer-serviced records; repeat customer; radio guys are “brainy”, remember, they even read the owners manual).

A modern digital radio almost doesn’t have a footprint.

Lay out the job in parts. Power, Coax, Bonds, Mounts, etc. The logic of EACH PART of the whole causes it to come together versus trying to see it as all of one job.

I talk to my truck-driver friends and we go thru each step to get the parts and tools necessary. The willingness to get new tools (or not) kind of drives the thing. Their personal vehicles and their home base station WILL ALSO benefit by a dedicated tool bag when those are seen as follow-on projects.

OP, your reluctance is shared by many. It’s the unfamiliarity that’s the real problem.

As one is not tying into vehicle systems, it’s not that easy to make a mistake. (Really).

Good luck!

.

 

[bharvey2]

Unless you're talking some sort of show car, a properly installed NMO mount / hole isn't going to cause any resale problems and, as was mentioned above, on an SUV style vehicle it's even less obvious that on a sedan. Concern about it just isn't warranted. That being said, if you're dead set against drilling the hole, consider a Diamond NR770 (UHF and NMO both available) and a lip / hatch mount. The antenna is 1/2 wave on 2M and 5/8 wave on 70cm so it's more tolerant of a poor ground plane. I've used them with the aforementioned mount and they work okay. However, they are more visible and more fragile than the NMO hole in the roof.