5th gen (WL) Jeep Grand Cherokee install

[mrweather]

Going to be getting a new 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee soon. I'm planning to install at least one if not two NMO mounts on the roof. Has anyone done this before? Anything to watch out for (bracing, wiring, etc.) or should I just pull the headliner down a bit and look?

I know the main battery is under the driver's seat so getting power should be easy.

And as usual with modern vehicles, it'll be a remote head mount.

Thanks in advance!

 

[slowmover]

Search is your friend:

Vhf/Uhf antenna Mount

Anyone have any ideas or suggestion of mounting a vhf/uhf antenna mount on a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee? I have look for any info but haven't found anything so far. Thanks k5ziv 73's

forums.radioreference.com

Vehicle Manufacturer Two Way Radio Installation Instructions should be the search priority.

The LIDO L-ML MAX Radio Seatbolt Mount is impressive. Get speakers, microphones and telephones mounted onto it as well. (Use as reference).

Pictures always welcome.
Help the next guy.

Good luck

.

 

[mrweather]

Appreciate the feedback. I have done some searching around for videos but nothing specific to mounting NMO's in the roof.

I guess I'll have to just dive in and document it.

 

[ambdrvr]

Appreciate the feedback. I have done some searching around for videos but nothing specific to mounting NMO's in the roof.

I guess I'll have to just dive in and document it.

I have a 2025 Grand Cherokee for work. Tomorrow I will go out and take a few pics. I have 3 NMO antennas on the roof, center line. I also have the sunroof so that was a challenge but all worked. I have 2 APX radios, remote of coarse, and mounted the head units in the center where the USB and power port was.

 

[ambdrvr]

 

[jeepsandradios]

You need to upgrade that 07 to another E5....

 

[mrweather]

Awesome thank you for the pictures! I dove into it yesterday and had success.

GC is a 2025 Altitude with the V6, trailer towing package, 20" wheels, Baltic gray.

Two NMO mounts, the front about 18" from the sunroof edge, the rear 19" from the front. Will mostly use the front mount with the rear being a spare for future use. Antenna is a basic Larsen NMOQ 1/4 wave with spring.

Found a YT video on pulling down the headliner. I didn't need to pull it all down, just slightly lowered on the driver's side so I could see any roof bracing, sunroof positions, etc. The front NMO just cleared one roof brace; the rear NMO was wide open. Ran the coax behind the driver's rear curtain airbags and down the C-pillar.


Radio is a Yaesu FTM-400XDR with the head mounted where the wireless charging pad is (I'll never use it). Radio drawer is under the driver's seat. Power was easily obtained from the 12V battery under driver's seat. So far I haven't felt the need to add an external speaker, the audio is pretty loud from the radio drawer itself. I have since put a mic mount just below and to the right of the start button.


Final product! It was an all-day project but I'm happy with the results.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Nice install. How well does the GPS work in that location. I had tried similar in my wrangler and didn't get decent GPS so moved it up to windshiled height. Wish you could still get the FTM...

 

[03msc]

Nice install. How well does the GPS work in that location. I had tried similar in my wrangler and didn't get decent GPS so moved it up to windshiled height. Wish you could still get the FTM...

I'm not he OP but the 400DR I had at first was very weak at capturing GPS. Then the XDR came out which fixed that GPS issue...I've seen some installed on the headliner (no sunroof) and they will lock on GPS within seconds.

 

[mrweather]

Nice install. How well does the GPS work in that location. I had tried similar in my wrangler and didn't get decent GPS so moved it up to windshiled height. Wish you could still get the FTM...

Thanks! I don't use any of the GPS features but it locks in just fine (according to the satellite icon). And as stated above, the XDR version fixed the GPS issue.

 

[clovisb31]

Going to be getting a new 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee soon. I'm planning to install at least one if not two NMO mounts on the roof. Has anyone done this before? Anything to watch out for (bracing, wiring, etc.) or should I just pull the headliner down a bit and look?

I know the main battery is under the driver's seat so getting power should be easy.

And as usual with modern vehicles, it'll be a remote head mount.

Thanks in advance!

I had the local radio shop install my NMO mount on my Grand Cherokee L, 2023 model. The installer pulled down the headliner a few inches on the drivers side to look for obstructions, then drilled the hole. Fished the coax down the pillar behind drivers seat to the battery area. Battery is right under the seat so easy access to DC power.
I used a cell phone mount for the control head. Several mounts are available.

 

[PhillyFireFeed]

That's the locations I chose for my 2023 GC. I don't have a sunroof, so there is plenty of real estate for an antenna farm up there. Pull the trim panels off at the B, C and D pillars, remove the rear seat pull handles and the headliner will drop down plenty far enough to fish your cables. I chose the driver's side C pillar for the CS800D Plus antenna and passenger C pillar for the APX7500 antennas. I fashioned a board to mount the radios, fuse block and switch panel (used for lighting). The remote head sits very nicely in the cubby, and even sits flush with the little divider inside the cubby. I simply used a little piece of 3M tape to make sure it didn't move.

 

[PhillyFireFeed]

I recently purchased a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I decided on only 2 radios and 3 antennas for this vehicle.
Up front I have the Motorola O3 HHCH for the Motorola APX7500 on a mic clip mounted to an L bracket that attaches on the inside of the cubby to cut down on visible screw holes.

In the cubby is the remote head for the CSI CS800D dual band mobile. It sits in the cubby nicely, and only required a small piece of 3M tape to keep it from moving around. The mic is mounted on the driver's side of the console down by the floor near the Motorola speaker, as it won't be used much.

The rooftop features 3 NMO mounts. The center antenna is a dual band VHF/UHF for the CSI CS800D Plus. The 2 rear antennas are UHF and 700/800 for the Motorola APX7500. I chose to run the dual band cable down the driver side C pillar and the 2 Motorola cables down the passenger side C pillar.

At the spare tire well I opted to custom cut a piece of 1/2 inch plywood for mounting equipment. I drilled a hole in the center to fit around the spare tire bolt. I ran power from the battery back to a fuse block for powering all of the accessories. I also added a switch panel for controlling the emergency lighting. I chose to retain the cigarette plugs on 2 of the lights so that I have the option to change the flash patterns in the future if necessary.

Plans to clean up the wiring and secure it to the board are in the works. I even added a rechargable LED Streamlight flashlight in the back!

 

[OpenSquelch]

Clean install. Is that the Comet B-10 in front of your shark fin? That antenna pleasantly surprised me performance-wise.

 

[PhillyFireFeed]

Clean install. Is that the Comet B-10 in front of your shark fin? That antenna pleasantly surprised me performance-wise.

It's a Comet, but I can't remember the model offhand.

 

[prcguy]

You need to upgrade that 07 to another E5....

What's wrong with an 07?

 

[PhillyFireFeed]

I don't know what brainiac decided to merge the 2 threads, but these are 2 entirely different threads about 2 entirely different vehicles...

 

[mrweather]

They're both WL Grand Cherokees. Guess that's why the threads got merged.

 

[PhillyFireFeed]

Great. But this forum is for people to post their individual installations... And now I can't even delete what I posted. Ridiculous.

 

[AK9R]

This isn't the "post photos of your shack" forum.

This is the Radio Equipment Installation forum and the forum's description is "Forum for discussing how to install radio communications equipment in Mobile, Base, Command Post, EOC, etc configuration." When it comes to installing radio equipment, a 2023 GC is the same as a 2025 GC.