nakman style ham radio install. Yaesu FTM-400 in a 2018

[nakman]

I finally got my radio operational yesterday, been poking at this install for a few months now. Had some fun with this one, so thought I'd share some of the highlights for your amusement & maybe give some ideas for your next install.

For the antenna bracket, nothing too surprising there... using a Gamiviti passenger side antenna mount, which did require a little manipulation to fit just right as the gap between the fender and hood is really tight, but I got it in a pretty good spot. The Comet CK-3M is my favorite cable as it's got that really skinny part towards the end, to go in that little gap.

Fishing the wires through the firewall is always a fun challenge, didn't take a pic but it's all running through the PS firewall grommet, power directly to the 2nd battery. The radio is mounted below the passenger seat, I just cut the carpet a little more and folded it under to create space, which as it turns out there's a good amount of space down there for this. Plus the added bonus of being directly below the fan for the seat cooling. Hardest part on this one was I could not for the life of me figure out how to undo 2 of those electrical connections... so after 15 minutes of failed attempts I just did the job with the seat propped up with a hammer.

The wires all follow the other wires under the door threshold, then under the carpet to the radio. At this point I don't have a remote speaker, and not sure I'll do one as I can hear the radio pretty well like this.

Now the fun part- for the mic holder I replicated what I did on the GX470 install, and used magnets on the hand mic and behind the dash pieces. I mounted the magnets using silicone, which is a combination of something I already had, and also something that's easy to peel off later should I want to remove it all. Here is a pic:

To hold the magnets in place while the silicone dried I simply used more magnets... in total I have 3 positions, 1 below the start button on the DS, and 2 on the PS, The polarity of the magnet on the hand mic matches up, so these attract each other.

 

[nakman]

The head unit is mounted above the radio with a Ram mount, and bolted to my new speaker grill accessory mount. Most of you have already seen this in the Gamiviti products thread... I'll most likely continue to mess around with this, likely swap it out for the lower version down the road, but today this is the one I have on hand so here we go. I like the location and the mount is super solid.

Getting wires up to the middle there is a little tricky... but with the dash pieces removed I was able to kinda go halfway, then ultimately fish them up using a wire. Tough to get pics, but it's possible just had to be patient with it.

And once installed the hand mic just magically sticks to the padded side pieces.

So I can pretty quickly undo the head unit and toss it into the glovebox, and stick the hand mic under the seat to make the whole mess disappear, which is what I was going for. Plus no extra brackets that stick out, or extra holes in the dash pieces. what do you think?

 

[CharlieS]

I finally got my radio operational yesterday, been poking at this install for a few months now. Had some fun with this one, so thought I'd share some of the highlights for your amusement & maybe give some ideas for your next install.

For the antenna bracket, nothing too surprising there... using a Gamiviti passenger side antenna mount, which did require a little manipulation to fit just right as the gap between the fender and hood is really tight, but I got it in a pretty good spot. The Comet CK-3M is my favorite cable as it's got that really skinny part towards the end, to go in that little gap.

View attachment 2862930
View attachment 2862931

Fishing the wires through the firewall is always a fun challenge, didn't take a pic but it's all running through the PS firewall grommet, power directly to the 2nd battery. The radio is mounted below the passenger seat, I just cut the carpet a little more and folded it under to create space, which as it turns out there's a good amount of space down there for this. Plus the added bonus of being directly below the fan for the seat cooling. Hardest part on this one was I could not for the life of me figure out how to undo 2 of those electrical connections... so after 15 minutes of failed attempts I just did the job with the seat propped up with a hammer.

View attachment 2862935
View attachment 2862940

The wires all follow the other wires under the door threshold, then under the carpet to the radio. At this point I don't have a remote speaker, and not sure I'll do one as I can hear the radio pretty well like this.

Now the fun part- for the mic holder I replicated what I did on the GX470 install, and used magnets on the hand mic and behind the dash pieces. I mounted the magnets using silicone, which is a combination of something I already had, and also something that's easy to peel off later should I want to remove it all. Here is a pic:

View attachment 2862936

To hold the magnets in place while the silicone dried I simply used more magnets... in total I have 3 positions, 1 below the start button on the DS, and 2 on the PS, The polarity of the magnet on the hand mic matches up, so these attract each other.

View attachment 2862937
View attachment 2862938
View attachment 2862939

Smart! I think I'm going to have to copy this. Are they rare earth magnets? No issues with the magnet on the handset? How did you attach the magnet to the handset?

 

[nakman]

Smart! I think I'm going to have to copy this. Are they rare earth magnets? No issues with the magnet on the handset? How did you attach the magnet to the handset?

they are neodymium magnets, so yeah I guess rare earth? And I just get the ones with the hole in the center, that way you can unscrew the button on the back of the handset, and screw on the magnet. something like this:

Amazon product ASIN B07CZGWY93
No issues so far with performance, going on about 4 years now on the GX install. And you can get a replacement hand mic on ebay now for like $20, so kinda low risk...

 

[DasKeyserSoze]

I contemplated a similar install for the radio's main body, but I opted to mount it to the kick plate by the driver's left foot because:
1. You need access to the main body for data cards
2. The main body acts as the speaker unless you run/install a remote speaker

I ran a kill switch for the radio since I too am running it off the secondary.

I have my antenna clamped to my Gamiviti rack, but leave it capped when not using the radio.

 

[nakman]

Yeah I'm going to have to tip the front seat up again to use data cards. Not sure how often I'll really need to do that?

And I'm suprised how well I can hear the speaker from under the front seat... most of the time I use the radio there's not a lot of highway noise to fight off, so hoping this will be ok w/o a remote speaker.

 

[teejnut]

Any tips/pointers on getting the antenna bracket to fit correctly? I saved your bracket I used on my GX470 and thought the fender/hood gap on the LX570 would be too small to fit the bracket but will give it a try.

And the magnet mount for the mic is great. Will do the same!

 

[nakman]

Any tips/pointers on getting the antenna bracket to fit correctly? I saved your bracket I used on my GX470 and thought the fender/hood gap on the LX570 would be too small to fit the bracket but will give it a try.

And the magnet mount for the mic is great. Will do the same!

Remove the plastic inner liner and you will see the bolts you can work with, I thought it was easiest to use one that was pretty high up on the fender not close to the headlight. Then you can run the cable under that plastic piece also when you reinstall it.

And it just took a few trials in the bench vice to get the bend just right... it still barely touches the hood but so far the paint still looks ok so I'm going for it. It's dang close though tbh... here's the before pic:

and the after

 

[linuxgod]

Pro-tip for future fishing wires through the firewall grommet - I tape the wire to a coat hanger, which will push right through.

 

[82SC]

Nice. I put my ARB linx in that spot under the pass seat.

Working from the second row with seat all the way forward I could stick the module in and route the wires.

I bet if you move that box rearward a bit…if you need access to it you can get it by moving pass seat forward. And the box will still be hidden by the floor vent.

And if that causes issues with the handheld piece’s wire length, those switch blank replacements with a outlet for the hand pieces look pretty slick too.

Love the hidden magnet idea. At first I thought you had attached those gnarly washers on the pleather trim and was thinking what a shame. Lol

 

[doktorno]

Have been looking for an antenna base with the right angle cable entry.. Thanks for the write up!

 

[kcjaz]

I finally got my radio operational yesterday, been poking at this install for a few months now. Had some fun with this one, so thought I'd share some of the highlights for your amusement & maybe give some ideas for your next install.

For the antenna bracket, nothing too surprising there... using a Gamiviti passenger side antenna mount, which did require a little manipulation to fit just right as the gap between the fender and hood is really tight, but I got it in a pretty good spot. The Comet CK-3M is my favorite cable as it's got that really skinny part towards the end, to go in that little gap.

View attachment 2862930
View attachment 2862931

Fishing the wires through the firewall is always a fun challenge, didn't take a pic but it's all running through the PS firewall grommet, power directly to the 2nd battery. The radio is mounted below the passenger seat, I just cut the carpet a little more and folded it under to create space, which as it turns out there's a good amount of space down there for this. Plus the added bonus of being directly below the fan for the seat cooling. Hardest part on this one was I could not for the life of me figure out how to undo 2 of those electrical connections... so after 15 minutes of failed attempts I just did the job with the seat propped up with a hammer.

View attachment 2862935
View attachment 2862940

The wires all follow the other wires under the door threshold, then under the carpet to the radio. At this point I don't have a remote speaker, and not sure I'll do one as I can hear the radio pretty well like this.

Now the fun part- for the mic holder I replicated what I did on the GX470 install, and used magnets on the hand mic and behind the dash pieces. I mounted the magnets using silicone, which is a combination of something I already had, and also something that's easy to peel off later should I want to remove it all. Here is a pic:

View attachment 2862936

To hold the magnets in place while the silicone dried I simply used more magnets... in total I have 3 positions, 1 below the start button on the DS, and 2 on the PS, The polarity of the magnet on the hand mic matches up, so these attract each other.

View attachment 2862937
View attachment 2862938
View attachment 2862939

Hey @nakman are the magnets in the pic above just showing where the "behind the panel" magnets are or do you attach the mic magnet to them? What I think you did is just put magnets behind the panel. That is a pretty cool idea.

 

[nakman]

Hey @nakman are the magnets in the pic above just showing where the "behind the panel" magnets are or do you attach the mic magnet to them? What I think you did is just put magnets behind the panel. That is a pretty cool idea.

the magnets on the exposed surface are there just to hold the magnet inside the panel in place long enough to let the silicone dry... so next day just take the magnets off and it's all invisible.

 

[CharlieS]

@nakman I'm following in your footsteps for my gmrs. I'm hoping my MTX unit with all the junk in the handheld doesn't overwhelm the magnets.

I ordered the magnets that you pointed out. They are so strong, it is incredible.

I took the plastic frame off the back to make it easier to put the magnets in. Not sure if that was necessary. I'm glad the messy job with the rtv is hidden!

 

[nakman]

@CharlieS yeah looks great! the only thing I discovered long term was the mic would leave a little indent in the padding, if left in one spot for a long time. that foam can develop a little memory to it and get an indent... but moving it around every few days seemed to take care of it, or just putting the mic back in the glovebox when not using the radio. But you may want to hunt for one rigid surface to also mount to, just in case the indents bother you.

Hope you like the setup! I've since replicated the same in my 2008 and so far it's working great. But no padding in that one.

 

[CharlieS]

It works great here at home in the driveway. I'll try it out on the trails next. Super stealthy and useful mod! Thanks, @nakman.

Note, that is pollen on the infotainment screen!

 

[CharlieS]

This worked great on a week long trip into the Canadian bush. Like you said, it leaves a little indentation in the fake leather. Small price to pay for the convenient mounting.

Cool trick I learned by mistake was that it stuck to my pocket knife that I had clipped in a thigh pocket, which placed the mike in a handy position.

Cool pic taken by another driver (thanks, Lazz M.).

 

[nakman]

cool pic! and great that this is working, I dig the pocket knife trick. I've occasionally hooked mine to the shoulder belt mic holder when things get really chatty, it still works somewhat with the magnet... but it usually finds it way back to my lap or snapped to the dash at some point. good to have options!

 

[kcjaz]

Finished mine. Magnet idea for mic is awesome! No good place for magnets on driver side though for 2013 LC though. Gamiviti speaker cover is awesome too and works well with Tesla style HU.

 

[greynolds]

Gamiviti speaker cover is awesome too and works well with Tesla style HU.

Yeah, the Gamiviti speaker cover is pretty nice. I haven't have time to get mine coated / painted, so the one big downside is that it is shiny and reflects onto the windshield. Nothing some paint or other coating can't solve though. It looks like it works a bit better with your head unit than the 16" one I installed on my 2020 as the 16" head unit sticks up higher and partially gets in the way of using RAM mounts.

How are you finding glare on the screen on your Tesla style head unit? That's probably the one big negative with mine - even with a glare reduction screen protector, there's a ton of glare.