I trashed the crummy plastic factory console between the front seats, bought a nice one from Tuffy, and now have all the room I need for as many radios as I desire inside, plus, there's a little security in that I can lock the box shut, and nothing shows (except of course antennas)!

 

I like the velcro idea

 

Speaking as a nearly one million-mile ex (thankfully) over-the-road owner/operator, I would choose to mount a CB squarely under the left rear tire.

 

Behind my rear tire. They make great wheel chocks.

 

Yes, that's great when the truck isn't moving, but when you're driving:
1) How do you turn the unit on and off?
2) How do you change the channel?
3) How can you hear what's on?
4) How do you keep road debris and water from damaging the unit?
5) How do you keep it from being stolen?

And then for good measure I will add a smathering of:

What's the biggest tire I can fit on my truck and will my tires rub?
Why is my cab light still on with the door closed?
Fabtech or Edge?

and a pinch of:

Which is better, gas or diesel?

You guys haven't given much thought to the CB thing, have you? (Or maybe you have!)

 

As I said, I have driven close to a million miles in a tractor-trailer. I have given the CB thing plenty of thought.... I would definitely mount it under the left rear tire.

But seriously, it shouldn't really matter where its mounted as long as it doesn't overheat. If you are going to leave it on one channel all of the time, it doesn't really even need to be very accessible; a toggle switch and relay could even control the power.

 

Shane - Can you provide a little guidance on what I can expect up there? Are there anchor places just behind the headliner? What should I be aware of in getting the headliner down in order to get the mounting bolts in place?

Thanks
Charlie

 

I mounted my cb on the tranny hump behind the 6spd shifter standing straight up against the seat. I have an extended cab, so i figured if i had passengers they would be in the back anyway. I dont like anyone sitting in the middle up front because they just get in my way when i try to shift. For what its worth, the power wire come through a factory grommet on the fire wall and run under the scuff plate on the left side then under the factory rubber mat to the cb. The antenna coax runs along the frame under the truck to a grommet near the left outboard seatbelt anchor under the scuff plate, then it too runs under the mat. I have pictures but im not sure if i can get them to work here. If you would like, email me and I will send the pictures to you.
Later
Tim C

 

Well, I just finished the overhead mount. I have pic of the roof underneath and it wasn't too hard. I will post the story and pics tomorrow.

-C

 

There are pics of the project in my Gallery

My biggest worry was the headliner. But it turned out OK. Take off all of the sun visor stuff and pull out the two plugs and the front is free. Then remove the grab handles in the back, and the light pods. After taking off the two plugs at the rear, the headliner is ready to come down.

To make it easier, you will want to pull at the trim pieces on the pillars. You don't have to take them off, only loosen them at the top. I only did one side. I could bend the headliner a little and take it out of one side, then lift it out of the other. One thing to note though, the headliner doesn't fit through the doors easily, so I had to work around it. It was also a lot easier to deal with with an extra person helping from the back seat.

The mounting slots for the overhead console are in the perfect spot to mount the CB. I got an assortment of nylon fittings from AutoZone and found a pair that fit exactly into the slots. Next I took a piece of Cardboard and screwed the sun visor clip screws through it. That allowed me to "paint" the new nylon fittings with marker then press the cardboard onto it so as to get a perfect template. When the headliner is back in place, I will use this to place the screws exactly.

Next I looked at many options for power. There is plenty of space to run the power lead around the top and down the pillar, but that could get a little hairy around the dashboard, so I looked at other options.

It turns out that the power leads to the overhead lights are always on. (even with the fuse removed, so be careful) I decided to run the hot wire to the light pod mount, and the ground wire got screwed in with the sunvisor clip. I noticed on the light pod, that there is a place for an accessory plug, and if anyone knows what the part number is, I will get one and make my install a little prettier. As it is, I just added my lead to the screw that makes the connection for the light.

After leaving the wire sticking out where I could reach it, I put the headliner back in and put the radio bracket in place using my template. Then I made the electical connections. And finally, I put all the trim pieces and grab bars back on. It looks good, and only took about an hour and a half. But I did stop to take pics. Also, I was real careful with the headliner, but I don't think that I had to be.

Good luck to everyone else who wants to try it.

 

Good illustration. Do you write instruction guides?
Good set up, looks nice.

 

Looks good. Anyone have any experiance with those glue through glass antenea? you know, two pieces one goes outside one inside, and antenea is part of the outside piece, wire comes from the inside piece. I seen a few nicer ones with bigger antenea last time i was at the truck stop. just wondering how well they work. I usually dont need a great range (use it when traveling in groups, but if its really gonna cut back (off road every little bit counts), i'll go with either a rigid mount or a mag mount on the roof. Just figured if they work well, it would be a clean and easy install.

 

You did a nice job, both on install and in your write-up. Looks real nice, thinking of doing the same thing myself.

 

Cool.... thanks for taking the pictures... these will help a lot of different projects.

 

Thanks for the step by step procedures and detailed pics.. That's a real clean mount..

Russ