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97 Ford F150 install

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Tom1200

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Apr 13, 2008
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3
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Dayton, Ohio
Hi all,

Was wondering what you guys think of my radio install plan for my truck. It will have a psr-600 and a small cb radio, not sure of the model. First is the antenna configuration - I plan on doing one nmo hole mount in the roof for a larsen tri-band scanner antenna and then a hood lip mount on the drivers side for the cb antenna which will be a larsen nmo27B. Do you think the CB antenna will still perform decently well even though it is not on the roof? My reasoning for putting it on the hood is because it is tall antenna and the scanner antenna is short, still (hopefully) allowing me into the garage.

Here are a few pics of the truck for a better idea:


Also I am trying to find a good place to mount both of the radios. My current idea is to mount the scanner using the mounting bracket under the dashboard below the heating controls and cigarette lighter socket/cupholders. Then I could place the CB in the small cubbyhole under the right side of the steering wheel. I could not see the CB then, but it will probably only be on Ch 19 for travel purposes, so I would not need to be pressing buttons.

If anyone has any better ideas I am open to suggestions. I might also be up for some sort of small 2-3 space console type thing, but I have yet to find one that does not cost as much as a new scanner ;). Here is a pic of the dash:


Thanks for all the help!
 

clanusb

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280
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Northern CA
i have a 99 F-150 with a bench seat..and Ive been looking for a way to mount my radios into a console like that, but have the ability to just disconnect them quickly and drag the console inside when i need too. can you elaborate on your set up please?
 

KC4YIN

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Messages
448
Location
Kinston NC
i have a 99 F-150 with a bench seat..and Ive been looking for a way to mount my radios into a console like that, but have the ability to just disconnect them quickly and drag the console inside when i need too. can you elaborate on your set up please?

Yes! Please elaborate. I'm also looking for something like that.
 

Fury853

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Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
59
Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
Well I just had it set in there. It wasnt mounted down to anything. So if you were to put some type or quick disconnect on it then you would be set. I just figured out how big and far out I want it to come out from under the dash. Then cut out one side to fit with the curver of the dash as well as the other side. They are both dif. So after that I clamped one on top of the other and cut the angel from the top to the bottom. This way they would both be equal. Then I made my face place and to do that I just figured out the size of the radios and where I wanted to place them. Also make sure you save room for your mics. Gotta get them on there some where. Thats pretty much how it was done. This was a very easy project. If your good with wood and a saw. To pretty it up you can cover it in a felt (cheapest), A thin area rugg ( Can look really good! ), or tweed. ( This is what they use for speaker boxs! $$$ its can be a little pricie!! )
 

clanusb

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Messages
280
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what material did you make it out of? and how did you mount the radios on the inside of that to have them stick out?
 

Fury853

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Messages
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Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
Any kind of wood. I went to some mission rescue place and got a 10 foot x 10 foot peace or partical board for like 2 bucks. Ply wood works great! Dont get a pricie peace of oak if your just gonna cover it. If you dont wanna cover it in felt or anything like that you could sand it really good and paint it. I seen a guy paint his in that bed liner paint. It looked good! But thats alot of money. To mount the radios in the console, I just used L brackets. I figured out how far I wanted the radios to stick threw the wood. From there I drilled the holes on the brackets and mounted the L brackets to the face cover.
 

KC4YIN

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Well, I was on the right track. I had started making one out of some scrap MDF but wasn't sure how to finish it. ie painting and so on. Now the thought occurred to me to hinge it at the bottom front to be able to access radios. I like the idea of using felt too. Thanks for sharing this with us.
 

KM4WLV

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1,050
Location
Rockwell (Rowan County), NC

KM4WLV

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Location
Rockwell (Rowan County), NC
I've worked in radio repair/installations/maintenance since 1999. I've worked for a 2 Motorola shops, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, and car streo shop doing custom sound systems. I've always roof mounted my antennas on my trucks & SUV's, and trunk mounted (drilled) on my cars. I've got no problems drilling holes. Some of the pics show L-Bracket mounted and thats because I just didn't have time when I was installing the stuff to take the time right off to do that, but I always go back & permanent mount them. It signifigantly improves performance, even with the scanner antennas. Hope you like them & maybe they'll help. Here are links to all my previous installs:

They include : 2002 F150, 2004 Explorer, 2003 Mazda 3, 2005 Ford Five Hundred

http://forums.radioreference.com/pictures-your-shack-mobile-setup/64085-2002-f-150-setup.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pictures-your-shack-mobile-setup/80746-my-2002-f-150-a.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pictures-your-shack-mobile-setup/93937-2004-mazda-3-a.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pictures-your-shack-mobile-setup/109928-2004-mazda-3-update.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...e-setup/131537-my-new-2004-ford-explorer.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...-setup/134978-2004-ford-explorer-updated.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...le-setup/163181-my-new-ford-five-hundred.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...05-ford-five-hundred-revision-7-2-2010-a.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...ford-five-hundred-revision-3-8-16-2010-a.html


*** To the original poster, I'm not trying to hijack your thread just showing the last poster my roof (permanent) antenna installs. ****
 
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Fury853

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Sep 5, 2010
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Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
Help please?

Hey! I like the pics on all your antenna mounts. Can you give me some tips and ideas on mounting some on my 98 Ford F150 ? Im a little worried about things like resale value after I drill threw the roof, and water leaking threw! Since you have been in this longer than I have do you have any tips or ideas for mounting. I have a 144/440 dual band antenna, short 800mhz antenna, and a Short VHF antenna. I wanna mount this to where they look like a pro did it!
Thanks for you time!
John.
 

Ed-N2QBZ

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Oct 22, 2002
Messages
42
Location
Rochester NY, Previously from Cedar Grove and East
Hey! I like the pics on all your antenna mounts. Can you give me some tips and ideas on mounting some on my 98 Ford F150 ? Im a little worried about things like resale value after I drill threw the roof, and water leaking threw! Since you have been in this longer than I have do you have any tips or ideas for mounting. I have a 144/440 dual band antenna, short 800mhz antenna, and a Short VHF antenna. I wanna mount this to where they look like a pro did it!
Thanks for you time!
John.

The antenna mounts come with gaskets or O-rings to help prevent leaks. As long as they are installed correctly and the hole is round (sharp drill or hole saw), and they are tightened down they shouldn't leak.

As for affecting the resale value if you drilled holes, consider your vehicle is over 12 years old now, it probably has more than 120,000 miles on it. Unless it is something spectacular in meticulous condition with low milage, if you were to trade it in, the dealer would probably sell it at wholesale or at auction and . While it does have value, a few holes for antennas aren't going to affect the resale significantly, the vehicle already took it's depreciation hit. Consider how much longer you intend to keep it.

The buyer is going to pay what they want to pay, you can ask for whatever you want, but it's the buyer's call. If you are concerned about leaks for this guy, remove the antennas, but leave the mounts and then get caps to cover them. Otherwise, remove the mounts and insert snap-in hole plugs.
 

KM4WLV

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Messages
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Rockwell (Rowan County), NC
Hey! I like the pics on all your antenna mounts. Can you give me some tips and ideas on mounting some on my 98 Ford F150 ? Im a little worried about things like resale value after I drill threw the roof, and water leaking threw! Since you have been in this longer than I have do you have any tips or ideas for mounting. I have a 144/440 dual band antenna, short 800mhz antenna, and a Short VHF antenna. I wanna mount this to where they look like a pro did it!
Thanks for you time!
John.

Ed is right. I've never had it affect the resale value of any of my vehicles. NMO is about the only way to go as far as roof mounting antennas. The nut that is used to screw down to hold the mount in place had a rubber gasket that makes a seal so no water leaks through. Larsen & PCTel include a rubber o-ring that goes around the mount & when you screw the antenna it will create a seal there as well.

As far as making it look professional...... Just take your time & do it right. You will need a 3/4" hole saw. No smaller & definately no bigger. Take a peek above the headliner to see where the ridges in the roof are. If you drill into one of those it's going to turn into a big pain in the a$$. You can also "sound out" the roof and find them that way. Just remember this tip : Measure thrice (3 times), Mark Twice, Drill ONCE.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have. You can put them here, or you can PM me. If it would help I can email you some pics of the stuff we have talked about. Seeing a visual may help you better understand. Just shoot me a PM with you email address, or email me directly using the address in my signaure.

Talk to later !!!!
 

Fury853

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Messages
59
Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
Ok, One last question before I jump into this! Does it make a big deal as to where the antennas are mounted on top of the cab? and does is make a dif as to how far apart they are on top of the cab?
 

KM4WLV

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Rockwell (Rowan County), NC
Ok, One last question before I jump into this! Does it make a big deal as to where the antennas are mounted on top of the cab? and does is make a dif as to how far apart they are on top of the cab?

1 - How many antennas are you putting on top of the cab?

2 - Which of those antennas are you going to be using to transmit on, and what band(s) / frequencies?

3 - As far as spacing there isn't a whole lot of "real estate" on top of the cab of that model truck.

If you are transmitting on VHF (Low Band, or High Band) you'll want the antenna as close to center of the roof as you can get. If you're tranmitting on 800 you really don't need that much of a ground plane. If you are going to use any of them for a scanner then ground plane really isn't an issue. As far as appearance & asthetics go if there is more than 2 antennas on the roof you'll want to make a uniformed distance between them if appearances are a big thing for you.

If there's anything else I can help ya with just ask !!!
 

Fury853

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Messages
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Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
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KM4WLV

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Location
Rockwell (Rowan County), NC
1 - How many antennas are you putting on top of the cab?

3 antennas

2 - Which of those antennas are you going to be using to transmit on, and what band(s) / frequencies?

All 3 antennas One is a VHF only, one is a Dual band VHF/UHF antenna, and the last in an 800mhz antenna.

Here are some links to pics of the antennas im using.

http://i20.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/79/b4/dce2_1.JPG

Dual band

http://i10.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/26/58/ebad_12.JPG

VHF

http://www.gtwantennas.com/files/eb301105.jpg


First off, not a bad choice in antennas ! As far as where to put which antenna..... If it was me I would evaluate which radio I would be transmitting on more. The VHF, or the VHF/UHF dual band and put that antenna in the center of the roof to acheive optimum performance. I would put the other antenna to the rear of the cab & the 800 closest to the front. Thats what I would do. Hope this helps ya out. Just let me know if ya need anymore help !!
 

Fury853

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Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
59
Location
Alleghany County, Virginia
Well I got all my antennas mounted on my rig! They look good! Thanks for the help! Im going upload some picturesreally soon. One last thing and ill stop bugging ya! Your FM/AM antenna for you stereo! What kinda are you using? and how does it preform? Im wanting to use a low profile antenna! But I dont wanna loss signal!
 

KM4WLV

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Jun 7, 2006
Messages
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Location
Rockwell (Rowan County), NC
On my current vehicle I am using the regular (factory) antenna only because the station I listen to mostly now is pretty far away & I need the taller antenna. However on my Ford Explorer & my F-150 I had a cell "lookalike" and it worked great. I can't remember if I got it at Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts but it was relatively cheap. Around $20 I think.

Look forward to seeing the pics !!
 
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