Do you think the stock auto cupholder will support a Cobra 29? I was thinking of using the plastic velcro stuff to stick the radio to the underside of the cupholders while they are folded down. That way, when my g-friend wants to sit hilbilly style next to me, I can just fold up the cupholders, and the radio will be out of the way of her little feet? Will the weight have negative affects on the cupholder assembly? I can't see the radio weighing more that two huge mcd's drinks?

 

I would be more worried about the velcro, not to mention the inevetable bounce and rattle that the radio is going ot experience.

 

The velcro won't fall off. I'm talking about the 3m plastic stuff, like what is used to hang the "IPASS" transponders on the front window. It is more of a 'snap in' than a velcro. Being 3M, it sticks until you want to take it off. I think I may have screwed up though. I was having good luck in the past using magnetic mounted antennas, but I just ordered a stake pocket antenna mount. The problem with that is that I forgot to take grounding it into account. The bedliner in the truck will likely not let the mount ground, so I'll have to figure something out. Maybe attaching a ground wire to a smaller magnet and sticking that under the bed rail? Will that create a ground, will I have to run a ground wire to some other part of the bed or frame, or should I run a ground wire with the coax into the interior and ground it under the dash were I won't have to deal with bare metal / rust? Maybe I should just hook it up without a ground wire and see what happens?

All of these options . . . .

 

The cup holder doesn't seem to bounce to badly in my truck, yet anyway.

 

How about one of these?

 

I like your mount, Bob, but i'm concerned about the woman's legs (she sits in the middle next to me a lot).

 

Check my photo gallery. $5.00 piece of sheet metal mounted to the tunnel, then the factory CB mount bolted to that. Stout, and does not interfere with my leg or seat.

 

Go for it, Cobra 29 is'nt as heavy as a export radio...Yes ground the mount, Ground it from the Stud and antenna straight to the frame. What kind of antenna are you running??

 

It's a 4 foot firestick firefly (tunable). Where exactly should I attach the ground wire to the antenna / mount?

 

Anywhere that you can find a good solid steel bolt going into the frame.

 

Please explaine? What exactly are we looking at?? How did you mount the $5 sheet and to what??

Also, Where can I find or what is a "Stake Hole" mount?

 

firestik.com look at there mounts

 

I cut a 6x8" piece of sheet metal and mounted the stock CB bracket to that. Then, I used self tapping sheetmetal screws to attach the whole thing to the side of the tranny tunnel. Move the seat to the full forward position to make sure the location won't interfere with seat movement.
Stake hole mounts go in the rectangular holes on your bed rail, and can be found at a CB shop or truck stop. Antennas work best when centered on the vehicle, so I used an 'L' angle to mount first to the front of the bed, and now to my new tool box. My SWR's are still kinda high, so I'm going to a Wilson 5000 Mag mount on the roof when I get the chance.

 

I use a uniden PC 78 Elite and a wilson 1000 mag mount. i love this setup. my SWR is extremely low and i get out great. I have mine mounted like Big Bobs mounts and one day i spilled a whole glass of iced tea down the whole CB. it wouldn't work right for 3 days but on the fourth day everything cleared up and has been working perfectly. i thought for sure i toasted the radio. i highly recommend the uniden CBs and the wilson antennas

 

I hate to be the one to tell you but you are not going to be impressed with your stake pocket mount. I am amazed at how many people I see rolling around with antennas that to dang short.

FireStick type antennas are what you call loaded.(top, center, or bottom type loads are available) This means that there is a coil wrapped around them to fool mother nature into believing that they are longer than the really are (usually 1/4 to 5/8 wave length {1 wave length = 36 feet}). That coil must be at a higher point than the roof line for it to work properlly. These things are meant to be mounted either on a semi mirror or in the center of your roof.

You are going to want to move that thing to the rear stake pocket if you plan on having a reasonable VSWR. The closest stake pocket on your rig is going to bring the coil in that thing to close to the cab and rear window causing reflection (reflection is a bad thing) and making your setup very directional. (also not good)

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