Mounting CB/2 Meter Antennas on Slee Rear Tire Carrier.

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jonharis

jonharis

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I've been wanting to ditch the magnetic mount antenna Ive been using for sometime and go for a clean permanent setup for my CB and 2 meter radio antenna's. The Slee tire carrier has 2 antenna mounts. A couple of questions specific to that setup.

1. Is anyone running both CB and 2 meter from those two locations?
2. What position do you have each antenna mounted?
3. What length antenna has worked well? The lower mount will accept a 4" antenna and the upper will accept a 2" without the need to remove them to get in the garage. I am willing to use a quick disconnect if getting the best reception means having the antennas above the roof line.
4. Is there any interference reason why I shouldn't mount both antennas in this location?
5. Does one or the other (CB/2M) react worse to not being installed with the coil above the roof line?

Currently I'm looking into the following setup.

2M
Firestick 2M15-B (1/4 Wave) which would work well in the upper position @ 15"
or
Firestick 2M-4 (5/8 Wave) which is 48" so would require a quick release for either that or the CB.

CB
Firestick FS in either 4' or 5'. If I use a quick release I will go 5' if I go no quick release and the lowr mounting position I will go 4' (which doesnt clear the roof line by much)

Thanks for your input. I plan on ordering the antenna's/cables very soon.
 
Last edited:
You will definitely benefit from a higher antenna in either case. The cb more than the ham. Also, I would stay away from the qds they have a tendency to be more trouble than what they are worth. More later, I am on a flight.
 
SHAGGY101 said:
You will definitely benefit from a higher antenna in either case. The cb more than the ham. Also, I would stay away from the qds they have a tendency to be more trouble than what they are worth. More later, I am on a flight.
Click to expand...

Thanks Shag. Looking forward to hearing about it.
 
jonharis said:
Thanks Shag. Looking forward to hearing about it.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I do not have any experience with the slee bumper and its mounts but I do have some insight on antenna "stuff." (Only CB)

1. Stay away from the qds, they are more trouble than they are worth (reception and durability wise)
2. Get a mount that can be adjusted 3 dimensionally so you can lower it to get into the garage or whatever
3. Stay away from inflexible fiberglass antennas. They will snap in half if you forget to put then down when going into the garage or get into some brush. I personally run a 4' wilson flexible fiberglass antenna with an adjustable tip. It is mounted on a diamond hatch mount (let me know if you want any pics). This antenna sticks about 3' above the roof and has been bent over numerous times in brush and parking garages.
4. Run a spring on the antenna base. Nothing too soft or too large. Most springs tell what size antenna they are rated for.
5. Tune the antenna with an SWR meter! This is where you get your maximum reception and is the difference between talking to the guy in the car behind you (Jon) and to the guy at to end of the pack.
6. I am assuming you have everything but if you don't, rightchannelradios.com has most of this stuff and full kits if you need them.
7. Make sure you ground your antenna WELL. It will cause you a lot less headache as far as alternator noise and better transmitting and receiving.

Bottom line, you really want an antenna to stick up above the roof line to actually be able to reach out to other vehicles. With my current tuned setup I am able to get about 5 miles out of the 5W CB on the highway which I believe is pretty respectable.

This is all I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any more questions.
 
Good info^ I had my CB antenna on the lower mount and the top of the antenna was just at my roof rack. It worked ok, until I mounted the RTT. Then it sucked. I moved it to the mount behind the spare, removed the RTT and get much better reception and range. It is above my roof line about 2 feet now.
 
1loudLX said:
NMO mount your CB antenna and 2M in the middle of your roof. BEST option.
Click to expand...

I really like those NMO Mounts but really don't want to drill my roof just yet.

SHAGGY101 said:
Ok, so I do not have any experience with the slee bumper and its mounts but I do have some insight on antenna "stuff." (Only CB)

1. Stay away from the qds, they are more trouble than they are worth (reception and durability wise)
2. Get a mount that can be adjusted 3 dimensionally so you can lower it to get into the garage or whatever
3. Stay away from inflexible fiberglass antennas. They will snap in half if you forget to put then down when going into the garage or get into some brush. I personally run a 4' wilson flexible fiberglass antenna with an adjustable tip. It is mounted on a diamond hatch mount (let me know if you want any pics). This antenna sticks about 3' above the roof and has been bent over numerous times in brush and parking garages.
4. Run a spring on the antenna base. Nothing too soft or too large. Most springs tell what size antenna they are rated for.
5. Tune the antenna with an SWR meter! This is where you get your maximum reception and is the difference between talking to the guy in the car behind you (Jon) and to the guy at to end of the pack.
6. I am assuming you have everything but if you don't, rightchannelradios.com has most of this stuff and full kits if you need them.
7. Make sure you ground your antenna WELL. It will cause you a lot less headache as far as alternator noise and better transmitting and receiving.

Bottom line, you really want an antenna to stick up above the roof line to actually be able to reach out to other vehicles. With my current tuned setup I am able to get about 5 miles out of the 5W CB on the highway which I believe is pretty respectable.

This is all I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your detailed post. Gives me some good ideas for sure.
 
Hey John,

I have used a dual band 2m antenna and mounted that on the back hatch of my 4runner, I was thinking of doing the same on my 100 series.

Seems to work well, I can take a pick of the mount. A lot of the guys in Rising Sun have the same mount.

Then I mounted the Firestick 48" for the CB on the opposite side on the rear bumper. They need to be opposite or at least far enough so they do not touch, but you probably knew that.
 
Pics would be great and very useful! Thanks.
 
hi jonharis, have you made any progress on this project?

A friend of mine who is a long time ham radio operator and electrical engineer looked at my vehicle. Of course he recommended drilling a hole smack in the middle of the roof for the antenna. That area will soon be unavailable due to a roof rack so he said if I use the Slee tire rack location that I may need to add a grounding strap between the swing away arm and the truck body since the bearing won't be the best conductor. I am currently leaning toward the Wilson 5' Silver Load FGT antenna.

Does anyone have advice on routing the antenna cable from the rear of the truck back to the dash? I have searched this forum but have not found much discussion on the topic.
 
jonharis said:
I really like those NMO Mounts but really don't want to drill my roof just yet.
Click to expand...

You're never going to put the truck back to stock, and even if you do, just pull the antenna off and put a cap on the mount. You can use the same mount for a cell phone booster antenna.
 
jonharis said:
Currently I'm looking into the following setup.

2M
Firestick 2M15-B (1/4 Wave) which would work well in the upper position @ 15"
or
Firestick 2M-4 (5/8 Wave) which is 48" so would require a quick release for either that or the CB.

CB
Firestick FS in either 4' or 5'. If I use a quick release I will go 5' if I go no quick release and the lowr mounting position I will go 4' (which doesnt clear the roof line by much)
Click to expand...

It's highly unlikely that you'll have enough of a ground plane on the tire carrier for either a 5/8-wave or a 1/4-wave antenna; a 1/2-wave would be a much better choice.

Firestick makes an OK cb antenna (I run one on the back of one of my trucks) but do yourself a favor and buy a Larsen or Comet for your 2M antenna. Larsen makes a great 2M 1/2-wave; I have one on the spare tire carrier of my 40 and it works great.
 
1loudLX said:
You're never going to put the truck back to stock, and even if you do, just pull the antenna off and put a cap on the mount. You can use the same mount for a cell phone booster antenna.
Click to expand...

True, and after watching several videos on NMO installs, It looks like it can be done very cleanly. The big concern I have now is that I'll have a roof rack in the next year or so and need to consider an antenna coming through the rack and interfeering with what ever I want to put on top.

1911 said:
It's highly unlikely that you'll have enough of a ground plane on the tire carrier for either a 5/8-wave or a 1/4-wave antenna; a 1/2-wave would be a much better choice.

Firestick makes an OK cb antenna (I run one on the back of one of my trucks) but do yourself a favor and buy a Larsen or Comet for your 2M antenna. Larsen makes a great 2M 1/2-wave; I have one on the spare tire carrier of my 40 and it works great.
Click to expand...

Again after more research, I'm inclined to agree that Larsen/Comet are the way to go. I'll stick with the firestick for the CB but am now leaning towards a Comet SBB-5.
 
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