overhead CB mounting - just do it

[auswee]

For awhile I have been debating the best place to mount my CB. A lot of guys have them screwed to the plastic on the bottom of the dash, and other guys have them mounted on the passenger side of the console. For me, I liked the between the visors solution.

On some of the threads I've searched for people have said that while they liked that idea they were too lazy or didn't know what the deal was. Rock Lizard had a mounting bracket kit but has since stopped selling it so I decided to just get it done today.

At Home Depot I found a Simpson Strong tie, I think they're used to screw two 2x4's together. This was like $7 and was just long enough to fit between the visor clips.

The visor clips themselves are each held on by one screw each. There's a molded plastic pin that's part of the clip that fits in to a 2nd hole, just to keep the alignment correct, so you'll have to trim that off.

I took the visors completely off, and on my 2001 XJ the visors have little lights, and the wires go across in between the two between the headliner and the roof. I have heard some people talk about just drilling and mounting the CB hanging bracket directly to the roof, but I would advise against this if you have lighted visors as you could cut the wire.

You'll have to re-drill some of the holes on the mounting bracket as they don't line up correctly, mount the hanger to the bracket with some quick nuts and bolts, and then screw everything on, but when you do, you'll have a super-sturdy and secure platform that keeps the CB right at arms reach, the speaker near your head, and everything pretty much out of the way of the rear view mirror.

All told I think I have $12 and an hour into this project, including buying a drill bit. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a secure place to mount your CB.

 

[ehall]

that looks good, slip it behind the headboard and it will look even nicer

 

[dgrigorenko]

nice. yeah if you can get your wires into the headboard that would be sweet. looks good and solid tho

 

[auswee]

The antenna is a temporary magnetic one, so I have the wire run very temporarily. I'm just about to pull the trigger on a JCR Stage 4 rear bumper and will mount my antenna permanently on that. Then I'll run the wire so that it's nice and clean.

Likewise, the power supply has been temporary. I had modified it to plug into the cigarette lighter, but now that it's permanently mounted I'll run it through the headliner and down to the fusebox on the passenger floor.

 

[fyrfytr1717]

I think ehall's post was suggesting that you slip the tie-plate behind the headliner. Tucking the wiring away would be good too, but hiding that big ugly hunk of galvanized steel would really improve the look of your mount IMO. You've already got the necessary holes drilled and it would distribute the weight of the CB better if it was above the headliner. Should be pretty easy to do.

 

[crimsondragon]

Might be a dumb question but how come no one seems to mount their CBs on top of the dashboard?

 

[rweaver138]

Might be a dumb question but how come no one seems to mount their CBs on top of the dashboard?

seems like it woud just get in the way :dunno:

 

[fyrfytr1717]

Sure you can't boost the power on it or anything (so far as I know) but I think the Cobra 75WXST is great given the limited mounting space in our XJ's. You just tuck the little box behind your dash or under the carpet and hang the all-in-one mic wherever you want it. You don't get some of the fancy features that the big box units have, but it is more than enough CB for group trail rides.

It was funny how many pictures of installs in XJ's I found while trying to google a picture of it. I mounted my mic next to the gear selector, but you get the idea...

Sorry, hijack over.

 

[TRCM]

mine is mounted to the stock cupholder, with the mic on the pass side of the CB.

works great, and since I only use it during hunting season, I can easily remove it when not needed.

it does make using the E-brake kinda difficult tho.

Biggest thing I don't like about the overhead mounting is the mic cord slapping me in the head when bouncing around off road.

 

[auswee]

The reason I don't mount the bracket inside the headliner is because then I'd have to drill through it or cut it. It doesn't look so bad to me here but I could see where if you weren't worried about cutting or drilling through the headliner you could get a cleaner look out of it.

 

[fyrfytr1717]

Oh, OK. I thought the bolts securing the CB bracket to the tie-plate went through the headliner. I didn't realize the heads were just sandwiched between the tie-plate and the headliner.

 

[Veeb0rg]

I have a 29LTD mounted above the rearview.. I have nailed my head on the corner of the sucker 2 times, its not an issue as long as your not like myself.

 

[RCP Phx]

Sure you can't boost the power on it or anything (so far as I know) but I think the Cobra 75WXST is great given the limited mounting space in our XJ's. You just tuck the little box behind your dash or under the carpet and hang the all-in-one mic wherever you want it. You don't get some of the fancy features that the big box units have, but it is more than enough CB for group trail rides.

It was funny how many pictures of installs in XJ's I found while trying to google a picture of it. I mounted my mic next to the gear selector, but you get the idea...

Sorry, hijack over.

Gotta love this unit,specailly if you have more than 1 rig like I do.Mines mounted under the center console.Theres nothing like saving space in an XJ!

 

[bojanglesracing]

Hey looks good. I wanted the same when I put mine it. My jeep had a chip right there for key less entry that did not work. so i took it out and mounted a small midland 1005z. Then i got a cobra 29 which is a lot bigger and made a custom mounting bracket. I got some more work to do to it as i want to fill in the sides and front up to the roof, And put some switches in for light and things.