Installing a CB Antenna on the Roof- Is it Safe?

thomsonc · Aug 21, 2007

I'd be interested in anyone?s expertise who have installed an antenna or drilled a holes in the roof. Being in Alaska, cell phones don?t work everywhere and services like On-Star aren?t available up there. CB radios do work though and in some areas of Alaska this is how many areas communicate.

Anyway, the Dodge dealer in Anchorage said they could install the CB antenna I purchased, which is about a foot in length, nothing major, but a nice one at $75. Brought the Durango in today and the mechanic surveyed the situation and was reluctant to go forward installing it. He was worried about it eventually leaking after a hole was drilled in the top and secondly he stated that it'd be very risky drilling through the roof because of the massive amount of wiring towards the rear in the roof as he stated. More specifically, he said because our Durango has just about every option available for that year, the wiring up there would be even more intense.

He also added it'd have been about 4 hrs in labor, mentioning the headliner would have had to come down. I?m sure it'd have to be dropped a bit in the rear, but 4 hours?

Is our Durango in danger if the antenna gets mounted on the roof? Should I take the Durango to a car audio type place that specializes in these type of car accessories?

FSTDANGO3 · Aug 21, 2007

First off Welcome!
OK I drilled a hole in my roof for my off road lights 3 years ago and then I painted around hole to prevent rust and then I sealed the hole with a fine Grade RTV No Leaks at all since.
I also removed my headliner to upholster it in suede it took me 4 hours total removal upholstery and reinstall.
Bring the D to a Private Stereo Install shop and see what they say.
I have every option on my D and there are virtually no wires running down in packs in center of roof. He just got cold feet
Steve
DOC Pres

thomsonc · Aug 21, 2007

Thanks Steve. I feel a bit better now. I'll take it to a stereo install shop and see what they might be able to do. I guess I'm lucky he got cold feet before he started the project, rather than during or after.

Did it take four hours to lower the headliner or did that include putting the suede in?

Bimmer · Aug 21, 2007

Here's my CB radio setup, I use a fender mount antenna and sometimes I use a Wilson 1k mag mount on the roof.
I wish I could find someone to install a roof antenna, couple of people I talked with around here don't want to do a roof mount because of insurance. Good Luck

http://www.durangoclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6755&sid=9e5c56d408f3bd48ad389d36a7ed989c

These CB radio forums I visit on a daily basis might help also.
http://www.cbradioforum.com/
http://www.cbradiotalk.com/
http://forum.worldwidedx.com/

FCLT56 · Aug 21, 2007

I use Wilson mag mounts on both the D and the Van. They're the 1000 also the D has the short center load whip and I have the regural long whip on the hood of the Van. But yea if there sealed properly you shouldn't have any troubles with leaking. I opted of the mag mounts. I was never too kean on having holes drilled in so I used the mags. Although the wiring for the lightbar had to be drilled through which I wasn't thrilled about but it was the only way to feed it through. It was way to thick to run down the door jam.

MWeed · Aug 21, 2007

Go to the Antenna Specialist web site. They have a mount for the D that uses the top rear fender bolt, with no drilling. I run a co-phase set-up with twin 4' antennas with my ssb rig. Works like a champ.

RobDA · Aug 21, 2007

Couldn't help it?

FSTDANGO3 · Aug 21, 2007

There may even be a Grommet type plug for drilling a hole on roof for this purpose as someone stated above check out the antenna specialist shops
Steve
DOC Pres

BigDog · Aug 21, 2007

I've got a Firestik DS-14 CB antenna installed the roof of my Durango near the rear liftgate. It's been there since 1999. I just replaced the entire antenna this Spring because the mast broke, and Firestick changed the design of the base. Firestik has great customer service by the way. The shipped me a mast free of chage a few years back, but they couldn't do it this time because they didn't have any left on hand.

I'm happy to report that there was no sign of water intrusion around the hole or on the inside of the headliner. I highly recommend the Firestik DS-14. The Firestik has a soft rubber gromet at the base that keeps the water out.

http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/NGP_DS.htm

When I purchased my new antenna, I went with the No Ground Plane (FG) antenna, and I find I get much better reception than with the standard model because of the placement of the antenna (near the edge of the roof.) If it were mounted closer to the center of the roof, the standard version would probably work fine.

FSTDANGO3 · Aug 21, 2007

Well there ya have it!!
Chuck did you install the new Bumper yet?
Steve
DOC Pres

BigDog · Aug 21, 2007

Still haven't installed the bumper, hood or grill as of yet. I just picked up a Bondo Bumper Repair Kit to patch the extra license plate frame holes. I should get it on sometime this fall. Until then it'll be dented and slowly rusting.

FSTDANGO3 · Aug 21, 2007

Body guy should have been able to seal those up before prime and paint
Steve
DOC Pres

Uncle Frodo · Aug 21, 2007

No leaks and no rust since 2000

I installed a K40 thru the roof just behind the rear A/C assembly, but forward of cargo carrier brackets in the middle.
As others have stated prime & paint the bare metal.
Use silicone sealant around the base, above and below (inside)

I use 2 different length antenna whips, a full straight for highway and a bent one that stays on for local use (Durango Express is parked in the garage and the bend is required to clear the door)

The K40 cap cover is also used for truck wash or roof cargo.

MWeed · Aug 21, 2007

Problem with roof mounts is that you can't go anywhere with low clearance without dragging, stressing and/or possibly breaking the mount. With the fender mount it puts it near where the radio antenna is on the D, so that it won't drag, unless you run a long set of top loaded Firesticks like I do, then I always drag on the parking structure ceilings. I can't clear a 7'2" height limit with the antennas. Even with spring mounts it's still a hard and noisy hit, with a real nasty dragging sound. I could always go shorter, but the match is so right I don't want to mess with it. I just take them off when I get to town like that.

shadango · Aug 23, 2007

MWeed said:
Problem with roof mounts is that you can't go anywhere with low clearance without dragging, stressing and/or possibly breaking the mount. With the fender mount it puts it near where the radio antenna is on the D, so that it won't drag, unless you run a long set of top loaded Firesticks like I do, then I always drag on the parking structure ceilings. I can't clear a 7'2" height limit with the antennas. Even with spring mounts it's still a hard and noisy hit, with a real nasty dragging sound. I could always go shorter, but the match is so right I don't want to mess with it. I just take them off when I get to town like that.

Any chance you have pictures of your setup?

I hate to drill into my roof?but am not sure I'll like the look of the fender-bolt route?I want good reception and transmission too, and I heard that to get that you need to mount on the roof?

Thanks!

dizzyD · Aug 23, 2007

My past on having mounting the antenna's in different parts of the vehicles I owned, was the top of vehicle is the best overall. the fenders are ok but has bad tx & rx behind you (when mounted on front fender.) rear or front bumper mounts aren't good in my opinion. no rx, poor tx. A lite bar on top of vehicle is ok also, my old truck setup had this and a top cab mount k-40. k40 mount was a lot better. I also ran 300 Watts during skip.
Now all this is nill if you're running a convoy, but if your looking for skip it makes a diff where it's located.

thomsonc · Aug 29, 2007

Great information. I just got a bit concerned after what the technican told the Service Advisor and I'm ready to proceed.

Big Dog- That's the same Firestik I bought. Nice and low, yet good reception. What I'll do is drop the headliner and bring the antenna to get mounted, from there I can do the rest. It's drilling that hole I want to make sure is done properly, although how could it not be done properly. The more I think about it, the more I think I might be able to do this myself. If I get some silicone in addition, I think I may just mount this myself. Need a drill and a drill bit though for the job.

Now that I thought outloud, I'll get this accomplished next month as my project for September. Bimmer- isn't that a great place to mount a CB radio? That's where I mounted ours and it really fits nicely. It does get in the way a bit of the gear shift for the transfer case, but we hardly use it.

Bimmer · Aug 29, 2007

I moved the mount over enough to use the gear shift for the transfer case.

Bimmer · Aug 29, 2007

thomsonc said:
It's drilling that hole I want to make sure is done properly, although how could it not be done properly. The more I think about it, the more I think I might be able to do this myself. If I get some silicone in addition, I think I may just mount this myself. Need a drill and a drill bit though for the job.

thomsonc, I'd post in those CB forums that I posted first before drilling any holes. That way you get some great ideas and less room for error.

BigDog · Aug 29, 2007

thomsonc said:
Big Dog- That's the same Firestik I bought. Nice and low, yet good reception. What I'll do is drop the headliner and bring the antenna to get mounted, from there I can do the rest. It's drilling that hole I want to make sure is done properly, although how could it not be done properly. The more I think about it, the more I think I might be able to do this myself. If I get some silicone in addition, I think I may just mount this myself. Need a drill and a drill bit though for the job.

I drilled my own hole. I tend to trust my own work more than most shops. I don't think you'll need the silicone, the Firestik has a soft rubber grommet that seals the hole nicely.

Make sure you scout the location carefully with the headliner out of the way. You don't want to be too close to the reinforcement or you won't be able to tighten the nut on the base of the antenna.

Good luck.

BigDog · Aug 29, 2007

thomsonc said:
Great information. I just got a bit concerned after what the technican told the Service Advisor and I'm ready to proceed.

Big Dog- That's the same Firestik I bought. Nice and low, yet good reception. What I'll do is drop the headliner and bring the antenna to get mounted, from there I can do the rest. It's drilling that hole I want to make sure is done properly, although how could it not be done properly. The more I think about it, the more I think I might be able to do this myself. If I get some silicone in addition, I think I may just mount this myself. Need a drill and a drill bit though for the job.

Now that I thought outloud, I'll get this accomplished next month as my project for September. Bimmer- isn't that a great place to mount a CB radio? That's where I mounted ours and it really fits nicely. It does get in the way a bit of the gear shift for the transfer case, but we hardly use it.

I drilled my own hole. I tend to trust my own work more than most shops. I don't think you'll need the silicone, the Firestik has a soft rubber grommet that seals the hole nicely.

Make sure you scout the location carefully with the headliner out of the way. You don't want to be too close to the reinforcement or you won't be able to tighten the nut on the base of the antenna.

Good luck.

BigDog · Aug 29, 2007

Thompsonc - I drilled my own hole. I tend to trust my own work more than most shops. I don't think you'll need the silicone, the Firestik has a soft rubber grommet that seals the hole nicely.

Make sure you scout the location carefully with the headliner out of the way. You don't want to be too close to the reinforcement or you won't be able to tighten the nut on the base of the antenna.

Good luck.

Siggi Gunda · Aug 29, 2007

I have worked in a car stereo shop where we both sold and installed a lot of cb and gps antennas on roofs. It's very important to put a rust primer in the hole and some paint like Steve said and seal it of with a good RTV the rubber doesn't hold the water out for ever but the RTV will.

Installing a CB Antenna on the Roof- Is it Safe?

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