Antenna pass throughs

[WanderingOak]

New member here. I'm an amateur radio operator (KD2AQY), and I would like to install a mobile rig in my 2019 Ranger. Obviously, I don't want to be drilling holes in my (nearly) new truck. Are there any factory cable pass-throughs between the cab of my truck and the bed. I used to have a 2008 ranger. On that truck, I ran rg8x behind the headliner and up over the lip of the passenger side suicide door. My new truck is a full quad cab, and the rear doors are used almost as often as the front, so I'm not sure that will work. Are there any Hams or CBers out there who have dealt with this?

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[Frenchy]

On both passenger and drivers side behind the rear seat there is a small rubber plug that goes to inbetween the cab and bed. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Fawnbuster]

Several. There is someone who makes a third brake light antenna mount I've seen on here FYI only. I ran bed lights for my truck this month and used a small hole under the plastic plate rear drivers side, fished a wire down to the back corner of the cab and out thru an oval grommet. Not sure what your termination point will be but I then used a threaded hole in the bed to bring the wires in. Not sure if your antenna lead will fit thru that threaded hole, it is right above the front tie down (nearest the cab) .

There are also grommets on the bottom of the cab in front of the gas tank but my undercoating has them covered so I chose the other grommet. It popped out easy and I poked a hole in it, slid the wire thru and put clear silicone on the back of the seal and both sides of the hole/wire and pushed it back into position. The hole under the plastic trim (where u step in) is one that had a nylon push in plastic rivet. I don't think I need the rivet as the 2 spring steel clips at each end hold firm.

 

[Frenchy]

Several. There is someone who makes a third brake light antenna mount I've seen on here FYI only. I ran bed lights for my truck this month and used a small hole under the plastic plate rear drivers side, fished a wire down to the back corner of the cab and out thru an oval grommet. Not sure what your termination point will be but I then used a threaded hole in the bed to bring the wires in. Not sure if your antenna lead will fit thru that threaded hole, it is right above the front tie down (nearest the cab) .

There are also grommets on the bottom of the cab in front of the gas tank but my undercoating has them covered so I chose the other grommet. It popped out easy and I poked a hole in it, slid the wire thru and put clear silicone on the back of the seal and both sides of the hole/wire and pushed it back into position. The hole under the plastic trim (where u step in) is one that had a nylon push in plastic rivet. I don't think I need the rivet as the 2 spring steel clips at each end hold firm.

So just make sure I understand correctly all you had to do was remove the plastic panels at the far back and you are able to get to that plug?

 

[Fawnbuster]

Look at the picture with the bed and cab, then the zoomed in Pic , that small grommet is where I ran the 12v wire. It's only exposed for a very short amount so I put a loom over it and zip tied it in place. There are a couple of grommet/ vent areas behind the rear seat I believe but I didn't explore that area because the power wire I needed was right under that sill cover. I attached a picture of a rear scuff plate with an arrow pointing down, pop that loose and the round hole that the plastic rivet pops into is where I brought the wire thru. I did not enlarge it. Depends on how much you want to take apart I can't say for sure if there isn't another hole or opening it would come out at in the cab, I didn't want to take apart more than I needed , I just clipped the tape that bundles the wires and found the wire I needed and tied my power into it. The ground I ran up to a main ground up front. I used good quality speaker wire for the +&- to the bed.

Also, I tried using a piece of 110v wire as a fish and it was too stiff. So I used a single strand of doorbell wire and ran it from inside to.that oval grommet, I could hear and feel the vibration of the wire but couldn't snag or see it so I twisted/spun the bell wire and it popped into view then used a wire to hook it and pull it out. In the bed I used the other bell wire to go down the hole in the bed and it pops out in front of the rear wheel

 

[WanderingOak]

Thanks everybody. I'll start working on this once the snow has melted.

 

[TimmyB]

Thanks everybody. I'll start working on this once the snow has melted.

Hey, Antony.

I don't have my Ranger yet, so I can't verify this, but one of the guys who is an RV'er like myself and tows his Ranger was faced with the same problem getting through the firewall for the auxiliary brake controller. He said he found there was a spot UNDER the rear seat where he could easily take that cable to the exterior of the truck (underneath it) and work from there. This might be worth investigating as well. Go to post #158 in this thread:

alternate cable path to exterior of truck

 

[GTGallop]

I'm running a mag mount on the cab near the back glass and then down between the bed and cab, over the fuel tank. In front of the rear seat is a rubber plug. It goes in there.

 

[JRRangerAZ]

New member here. I'm an amateur radio operator (KD2AQY), and I would like to install a mobile rig in my 2019 Ranger. Obviously, I don't want to be drilling holes in my (nearly) new truck. Are there any factory cable pass-throughs between the cab of my truck and the bed. I used to have a 2008 ranger. On that truck, I ran rg8x behind the headliner and up over the lip of the passenger side suicide door. My new truck is a full quad cab, and the rear doors are used almost as often as the front, so I'm not sure that will work. Are there any Hams or CBers out there who have dealt with this?

See my recent post. Includes photos on how to use the cabin vents as a pass-thru. Cheers! KG7LYL https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/diamondback-ham-vhf-uhf-antenna-mount.12412/#post-244026

 

[Prophet136]

I simply used the pressure vent on the passenger side rear wall behind the carpeting and ran it out to the antenna that way. My antenna is mounted to the rail of the retrax bed cover about 8 inches from the cab.
I will try to grab some pictures later.

good luck
Pedro
KD9PMP

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