Mounting GMRS antenna

Akitadog said:
There used to be Marine antennas that would work without a ground plane to go on fiberglass boats, but it's a compromise.
Does your tire mount have steel bolts thru the tub if so it might be already grounded. VOM would show this.

Most of todays modern auto electronics have built in filtering, which was not the case in radio's of 40 years ago.
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Stainless thru-bolted, nyloc nuts, with steel reinforcement plate on the inside. There is a rubber isolation pad under each point where the carrier is bolted to the tub. I could back out a mounting bolt and ground to that but it isn't as good of a ground point as the front factory ground on the frame considering the rubber pads and nyloc nuts.
 
MikekiM said:
... it isn't as good of a ground point as the front factory ground on the frame ...
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On the TJ, the tub and engine are well grounded, but the frame is not. On most TJs, the frame is kinda-sorta accidentally grounded via the front brake lines. It's a fairly good ground for low current stuff, but you might get glowing red brake lines if it's your only path back to the battery for a winch. There have been some very interesting discussions on the forum about it. And various opinions on whether that was on purpose, and whether or not you should add ground straps from tub to frame.
 
OldBuzzard said:
On the TJ, the tub and engine are well grounded, but the frame is not. On most TJs, the frame is kinda-sorta accidentally grounded via the front brake lines. It's a fairly good ground for low current stuff, but you might get glowing red brake lines if it's your only path back to the battery for a winch. There have been some very interesting discussions on the forum about it. And various opinions on whether that was on purpose, and whether or not you should add ground straps from tub to frame.
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So the ground bolt on the passenger front frame rail just behind the sway bar mount.. Better or worse than say.. the roll bar mount at the passenger rear corner under the carpet? Those would be the two most obvious options given the two locations I am considering.
 
How do you all tighten this down? It's a 24mm the best I could figure out and I don't have any thin wrenches that large.

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I think I was able to tighten it enough by hand. I might have used a pair of needle noise pliers to help a little. It’s been a while.
 
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Wildman said:
How do you all tighten this down? It's a 24mm the best I could figure out and I don't have any thin wrenches that large.

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I think you might have it upside down. Mine has the flat sides facing up, making tightening it pretty easy.


Wildman said:
And then while we're at it, which antenna?

6db
View attachment 443653

Or Stubby?

View attachment 443654
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For a tailgate mount, I personally prefer the look of the 6db. No input on functionality.
 
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PNW_LJ said:
I think you might have it upside down. Mine has the flat sides facing up, making tightening it pretty easy.
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There is a rubber o-ring on the side without the notches so I'm fairly sure I've got it facing the correct direction.

PNW_LJ said:
For a tailgate mount, I personally prefer the look of the 6db. No input on functionality.
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I agree that the 6db antenna looks better. Just not sure which is the better version for functionality. I'm sure one of the more experienced members will comment soon.
 
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Wildman said:
Why would the o-ring be on the side I have up?
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That, I don't know. I've just seen pictures and videos with the flats up. I guess the o-ring seals against the bottom of the screw on antenna.
 
MountaineerTom said:
That, I don't know. I've just seen pictures and videos with the flats up. I guess the o-ring seals against the bottom of the screw on antenna.
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That was why I was putting the o-ring up. Figured it was designed to seal against the bottom of the antenna.
 
Wildman said:
That was why I was putting the o-ring up. Figured it was designed to seal against the bottom of the antenna.
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Oops, I got confused, the o-ring is on the opposite side of the flats. Not paying attention on my end. I have seen the flats up though. I guess the o-ring seals against the mounting surface?
 
MountaineerTom said:
Oops, I got confused, the o-ring is on the opposite side of the flats. Not paying attention on my end. I have seen the flats up though. I guess the o-ring seals against the mounting surface?
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Yes I think so. I'll have to try and do some research when I get home. See what I can come up with. Will keep you posted.
 
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Looking at videos of people who installed this antenna cable the flats are facing up & the o-ring is facing down. But this is how it comes form the factory which was why I was mounting it back this way.

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Go to around the 5 minute mark and it's being shown with the flats up & the o-rings down. So I'll go swap mine over.

 
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