What's up y'all! I'm new to the place, y'all seem like a cool crowd. My SVT focus got totalled a year ago, and now here I am with an 04 3.0 Ranger which I love. Anyway, I was wanting to mount a CB somewhere in this thing, but can't think of a good place, the underside of the dash is too rounded, and I think it might be too cluttered looking on the top of the dash, do any of y'all have suggestions or have a CB placed somewhere? Any suggestions would help. Thanks y'all, peace

 

Mine will be mounted inside a custome center console. Full length. That is, if I ever get around to building it....
For now it will be mounted in a center console that fits in front of the extra 20%/armrest...did that make sense?

 

I put mine at the back of the console.
Not easy to see, but mainly we decide on a channel and I leave it there.
The cab is tight on Rangers and there was no place up front where I could mount it without impacting leg room.
Also the dash is curved and rounded to prevent injury in an accident and I did not want to fool with that setup.

 

I put mine in a weird place but you dont see it and its real easy to get too...if you have single cab it would be perfect but extended cab i dont think it would work...here are some pictures. Oh and welcome to the site!

 

Here's my setup. There are three two way radios in the picture. On the drivers side, under the dash, is a 50 watt 144mhz FM transceiver, in the middle, an a "RAM" rubber ball mount is my 100 watt "shortwave" transceiver for long distance (cross country and transcontinental) work. Under the ashtray is a compact Maxon MCB-30 CB.

If you have a fairly small rig you can mount it there. I had not yet secured the ashtray closed tightly, so you can see it is gapping open slightly here. But if you have the ashtray (some rangers don't) and you don't need it, that area is good for mounting. Also, where I mounted the VHF rig under the drivers side works. All the geometries change if you have a manual shifter, though. I have the automatic.

But the CB is no longer where I show it in this picture. It's mounted to the roof, just behind my overhead console. I'll get a picture later and post it. I like it better up there. The speaker is in the bottom so it's now close to my ear to hear it, and it's easier to reach up and grab the mic than it was to reach down and over when the radio was under the dash.

 

Good gawd that picture makes me laugh! John Griggs, mr radio man! He he.. That is a LOT of gear in a LITTLE space right there..

I have a ~20 year old Realistic (Radio Shack brand) handheld portable. The few times a decade when I actually need a CB I just use that. I've got a 12 VDC adapter, a hand-mic, and a magnet mount antenna. I run the antenna lead out the rear slider and I'm done. The handheld fits quite nicely between my center console and the shifter. I drop the mic wherever it lands, usually in the cup holder. Worked real well for Centralia. And now it's back in my closet until next time..

 

Yeah, the CB is only for offroading, but I used it when traffic was stopped going down to Baltimore a while back to listen to the truckers and see what was happening. It's good for that also. Otherwise, CB is just too much of a wasteland for me.

I'm trying to figure out how to fit MORE radios in my truck...muah-hah-hah! :p

 

Don't you have an old hand-held tucked under the dash somewhere too?

 

Yes, it's another VHF handheld (7 watt) who's only purpose is to repeat GPS position data to the local VHF data net, and from there to the international net. However, it's shutdown right now while I troubleshoot a battery problem. I had a couple of mornings when the truck wouldn't turn over and I had to jump it -- no obvious reason. Since I shut down the positioning system, it hasn't happened. It's possible the transmitter is turning on and staying on due to a failure in the automation or something, so I shut it all down for now. When I get a chance, I'll troubleshoot it.

If you go to my tracking page http://map.findu.com/n3elz-14 you'll see that there's been no data for a week or so.

 

Okay, here's what I did with mine when I relocated it recently. I put it on the roof, and ran the wire to my overhead console and in through the door to the compartment I never use. The fuses and quick disconnects to allow easy removal are inside there, which is kinda neat. I run it off map lamp power, and grounded it to the roof framework.

The microphone cable tucks in neatly above it so its not dangling in the way when you're not using it. I wrapped the power harness and antenna wire with some spiral wrap, but it could be better looking. Still looks better than individual wires though. It actually looks better than it does in these pictures overall. I'm quite pleased -- especially when I use it it makes it much easier to hear without turning it up so far.

 

I mounted my cb radio on the passenger side side of the little cupholder console. I also shaped a little piece of metal and made a bracket and screwed the mic clip to it, to fit into the hole where that little useless vent is between the radio bezel and the passenger airbag. I don't have any pictures of it but it looks very clean and OEM (for lack of a better word) with the mic mounted where the little vent used to be.

 

u have a lot of crap in u're truck n3els :)

 

Yes. Yes, I do. :p

I like crap.

 

That's pretty slick there John!

Just saw on ORR a guy mounted his in the slot above his aftermarket head unit.

 

Hey y'all are awesome, I really appreciate all of the suggestions and help. n3elz, you are the man, wish I knew half the stuff about wiring things up as you. Thanks y'all, really appreciate the help and i'm glad to be here. Think i'm going to attempt the overhead console and CB set up, or go with Yellers setup, I really liked that alot too. Anybody in here from around N.C.?!

 

i mounted mine where panel witht the airbag light and key slot went, i removed it and mounted it there. some people dont even notice it. im in Nc in fayettville, there are afew of us around. we are thinkin of gettin togeather this weekend

 

I mounted mine in between the sun visors on the ceiling. I took a small peice of bend-able palstic taht you can get from walmart, and used teh screws from the sun visor clips to screw it into the ceiling, therefore no extra hoels, and then cut two holes in teh plastic, and used small bolts that go through the plastic and to teh cb mounting bracket. [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/678000-678999/678949_11_full.jpg[img] I dont know if that is how you put a pic or not but Ill try, if not its on page 2 of my car domain page.

 

You had it right, except the trailing tag is /img not the img again. Here's your pic:



Hmmmm...Cardomain is up to something. I don't know what. I'm getting nothing and that SHOULD work. I use that all the time from there.

 

 

Seriiously Neil, any chance on resize next time?! I think I can read the SN on the CB from here!

 

Yea - I have a problem with resizing.
I think they are small enough, and then BAM!!
Some sites automatically reside and provide have you click to get the full view.
I guess I am just spoiled - sorry guys. :D

 

Can the roof liner support a Cobra 29LTD. what exsactly does it screw into?

 

Your set up looks oddly familier for some reason...



Good choice on mounting and CB's... :D

 

There is a brace that runs the entire length of the middle of the roof from front to back. The OHC rear mounts, and the domelight all screw into it. You need to use a drill with a sleeve on it so you don't drill through the outer roof if you slip, lol. Screws an inch or less long are fine. Actually, I think you can go longer but you don't need anything near that long anyway.

There are a few holes and slots cut in that brace, however. I had to use a different mounting hole on my CB bracket because my first choice went to "empty space" behind the liner.

If you have an extended cab, remove the dome light and you should be able to get an idea of how the brace is set up.

 

My grandpa had one of those and now it's mine, he never used it. :D

n3elz can you pick up alien signals with all that? You should hook a tv up next, i bet you could pick up the signals with all you gear.