I've always had a bit of a fascination with CB radio despite them being somewhat antiquated. I've been tossing around the idea of throwing one in my F150. It must've had one in it at some point because there are two sets of holes drilled in the very bottom of the dash. One I presume was for a TBC, the other for a CB. I have an old Cobra 25 NW LTD Classic that I got for a couple bucks at a flea market years ago. I've been thinking about installing it with some twin 4' fiberglass antennas in the stake pockets. I know, my inner redneck is showing. If anyone has a CB I'd love to see where you mounted your radio and antenna(s).

 

Dont have one on this truck, but had several on past vehicles. 4 foot sticks right behind the cab will limit forward range as the cab will cause interference. I never ran a stainless stick less than 102" after I broke my 84" fiberglass one. And I always mounted them on the rear corner of the bed or body. Get a good standing wave meter to tune if you're planning on being serious, otherwise mount where you think they look good.

 

I'm installing it more for the novelty than actual functionality, but I do want it to work. The only place I would want to mount antennas is behind the cab. I would think 4' sticks would stand up high enough that the cab shouldn't interfere excessively. I really don't want to go much if any taller than 4'.

I have a SWR meter to tune antennas.

 

Should be good for what you want then. When I was younger everybody in the group I ran with had CBs. And were always on, hell you could get an answer fast than a phone call back then. I had an old Bearcat that the local radio guy tweaked with a big booster and a good whip, I'm gonna guess at the range between 10 and 20 miles. But I could also jack the mic button and mess with florescent lights at a gas station...
Not a good pic but heres some of the antenna lol this was the short 84 inch fiberglass one before I went to the 102" steel one

 

Lol! Yeah I certainly don't need 10 miles of range, but 3-4 or would be great, just on the highway and such for traffic conditions and smokey reports. Of course there is always the benefit of being able to pretend I'm Kris Kristofferson in "Convoy" whenever I want too

 

I was partial to a Wilson 1000 magnet mount on the cab roof. Better ground plane, so you will transmit and receive better, and not be as directional as other mounting locations. Antenna quality is more important than radio quality; if the antenna isn't good, you won't have good results. A magnet mount also allows for quick removal and storage when parking, making the truck less enticing to thieves.

If you are dead-set on using the stake pockets, a top-loaded antenna (where the coil is in the top of the antenna, like a Firestik) would be the way to go. Grounding may also be an issue. I haven't messed around with dual antennas, trying to get them tuned and so forth.

I used to have some "accessories" for greater range, but they have been gone for 18 years now. At one point I had found a small fluorescent tube that went in a countertop display or similar, and taped it to my antenna. It would turn on while transmitting.

As for mounting, location is a personal preference. Some people like under the dash, others like it up high. Used to be able to get a shelf that bolted to the sun visor brackets,then the radio could go on the shelf, or bolted to the underside.

 

I am running a Cobra 29 with a 4' Firestik NGP (no ground plane) antenna right behind the cab and have had great results. For mounting, I pulled out the ashtray and mounted the CB bracket right to the ashtray bracket.

 

I have my 102" steel whip mounted to the passenger frame rail between the cab and bed. The antenna whacks the cab every once in a while but no real paint damage yet.

My radio came with the 76 high boy I bought 4 years ago, works good but no clue what the range is on it.

 

Not to hijack but, many states have laws against using "hand held" devices. I was thinking about installing a CB in my 79 F150, so I asked NY State Police about it. After a bit of research they said it was ok. Now more confused than normally.

 

I hung my CB under the dash, in center. The antenna is mounted to a hand fabbed bracket on the drivers side hood/fender. Just in front of the cowl panel. They used to offer brackets like this way back in the heyday. I used some 16 ga, bent a Z and bolted it to the top fender bolt. Hangs over the outside edge of fender so the cable fitting clears the fender. Cable runs in that corner, through small hole near wiring socket. Clean and simple. No holes to worry. It's a 4ft Francis?(fiberglass). I can get picture later.


GLR, I don't think the states were even thinking that CB's were even around to worry about as a "hands free" device. Not that there are many that still use one? They do come in handy when traveling, sometimes. Finding someone else with one is kinda the hard part. Gets pretty quite on the highways anymore. I typically leave mine on with squelch turned way up for only someone really close to break in.

 

 

 

Mine is mounted on the transmission hump below my dual band dual mode vhf/uhf amateur radio in a bracket I made, the dual band radio gets an NMO mount on the roof, the CB antenna is a 5' fiberglass Fire Stik on a spring that is mounted to a stainless steel plate in the passenger side rear most stake hole, that replace my wilson 1000 that I need to rebuild. CB is a 1983 model 40 channel sold by Sears I have been running since 1986, also have a scanner antenna on a custom magnetic mount I made for the scanner I have in the truck.

 

Wowo those are some really clean installs. I didn't realize so many of you here were running CBs.