PSA: make sure your NMO antenna mount is properly seated and secured in place before tightening [NSFW, cable gore]

[K7MFC]

When checking the rubber gaskets on the antennas on my F-150 (they dry out fast here in AZ!) I noticed one of the antenna mounts had become a bit loose. I was away from the house, but I do have a toolbox in the truck so I grabbed the large adjustable wrench and gave it a quick tighten. I didn't have a spanner to make sure the base of the mount stayed put when tightening down the nut but I went a head anyway, and as I was truing the wrench I didn't realize I was spinning the entire mount . Just a half turn was enough to mangle the coax connection at the base of the mount, pulling an inch or two on the cable that was secured to the ceiling with aluminum tape.

So I spent a Sunday before it gets brutally hot here pulling off all the body panels and getting above the headliner to install a new NMO mount and run the coax, following all the same steps I documented last time.

tl;dr right tool for the right job, etc..

 

[mmckenna]

Take an old antenna whip, preferably one of the thicker 1/4 wave types that have a 0.100 diameter whip. Bend it to the right shape and you have a cheap/easy wrench for holding the center section.



Silicone lube on the O-rings might help with the drying out.
Spent a day in Phoenix helping my sister in law move. She wanted to start at 5am, I thought she was nuts. By 9am I understood why.

 

[mc48]

Needle nose pliers work as well. You could also try replacing the O-ring with a Silicone one and that should take the heat better then Buna.

 

[OhSixTJ]

I’ve used small needle nose pliers and snap ring pliers to hold it while tightening.

 

[mmckenna]

I’ve used small needle nose pliers and snap ring pliers to hold it while tightening.

Yep, both work well. I've got a pair of 45º bent nose pliers that are my favorite.
The bent whip trick is just a cheaper alternative.

 

[N9JIG]

Years ago my department's install shop gifted me with an NMO Installation Kit, I think it came from Laird. It had a bent wire contraption like McKenna's picture (to secure the mount when tightening the nut), an open-end wrench with one side to fit the brass nut, a 3/4 inch sheet-metal hole saw (with shallow blade so that it does not dig into the headliner) and a metal fish-rod used to fish coax from the hole without totally removing the headliner. It also had a de-burring tool.

I don't recall if all this came as a package but it did come in a box, along with a dozen NMO mounts. I have since used up all the mounts but still have the hole saw and wire tool.

 

[mmckenna]

Years ago my department's install shop gifted me with an NMO Installation Kit, I think it came from Laird. It had a bent wire contraption like McKenna's picture (to secure the mount when tightening the nut), an open-end wrench with one side to fit the brass nut, a 3/4 inch sheet-metal hole saw (with shallow blade so that it does not dig into the headliner) and a metal fish-rod used to fish coax from the hole without totally removing the headliner. It also had a de-burring tool.

I don't recall if all this came as a package but it did come in a box, along with a dozen NMO mounts. I have since used up all the mounts but still have the hole saw and wire tool.

The wire wrenches I've seen before, pretty sure it was Laird. It's pretty much what I copied. Once I realized I had 20 inches or so of 0.100 diameter whip material, it was just as easy as putting it in a bench vise and shaping it how I needed. I made up a couple of them. Have a few at home and a few at work. I don't do installs at work very often, but I have had to tighten up several after the upfitter shops deliver the cars.
There was a guy selling seriously overpriced "wrenches" on E-Bay for a while. Interesting tools, but we all have the right stuff in our tool boxes, probably.
One of the vendors used to sell something similar, but haven't in a while.

The 45º needle nose pliers I have were my go-to tool for decades. I think I picked them up at a flea market in the 1980's. Open end wrench and you're all set.

Ripley makes some nice hole saws.

 

[a417]

There was a guy selling seriously overpriced "wrenches" on E-Bay for a while. Interesting tools, but we all have the right stuff in our tool boxes, probably.

I remember seeing those. He was upwards of $40 for them at one point.

 

[ladn]

Antenna Specialists used to include one with every mount! I still have some and they work just fine.