help me wire my CB

Wire the positive and negative leads from your CB directly to the battery rather than tapping into the lighter. Two reasons come to mind: (1) less engine noise will be transmitted through the wiring into your CB as the battery will actually "filter" much of the noise from the alternator; (2) there will be many times on the trail that you want to leave your CB on when your jeep isn't running. Don't worry about the current draw of the CB, it isn't much on receive and will only be an issue if your battery and charging system aren't in good shape and you forget to turn the CB off for several days before starting your jeep again. (And I can almost guarantee you will only do that once.) ;)

Robert Bills KG6LMV Orange County CA

Alright... So I take the tiny little wire that came on the CB and run it through the firewall, directly to the terminals? Three questions:

1. I'm thinking I should go purchase a couple connectors that would allow the screw of the terminal to pass through. Is this what I should be looking for?

1. Should I attampt to wire up my CB with something a little hevier gauge than the little power cable that came with it, or is the thin, red-and-black wire up to the task?

2. I've been half-heartedly searching for an existing hole (preferable with a grommet) in the firewall. I can see one. Do I need to look harder or drill one myself?

Thanks again, n.

While power is cleanest direct from the batter, there are also two wires thoughfully provided by D/C behind the dash when you pull the glovebox out. Both are fused and labled. One is switched, one is always on.

I've honestly not noticed the difference between direct to battery and the two wires under the dash. I'm sure there's a difference, but my tin ear can't discern it.

I have just recently been through hell to wire my CB (keep in mind I have a RHD TJ, therefore, my fuse box, battery and all electricals are on the left hand side). I tried the "direct to battery" route, but there was too much noise. I tried the cig lighter, again noise. In the end, I tapped into the head light switch positive and negative directly to the firewall. Both positive and negative are fused. The noise was very low. I then separately grounded the CB unit's body to the firewall and antenna to the frame. This solved all my noise problems. Now I can run my CB unswitched and have had no noise problems. My antenna is mounted on top of the left rear light using a bracket from Quadratec. The hole for the base is slightly off set allowing me to open my hardtop rear glass.

I know everybody recommends going direct to the battery, but for some reason it didn't work on my TJ. May be being a RHD, it was picking up noise from somewhere. Hope this helps.

TW

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01 TJ Renegade 4.0L Auto D30/44, 265/75R16 BFG Muds

You are making this way to complicated.

I would go with the wire behind the glove box route. Trying to hook a connector to the battery is a pain.

You should not have engine noise through the CB but if you do go to a CB Shop or Radio Shack and by a inline filter for the positive side wire from the CB. That will take care of the noise problem. And by all means make sure you wire a fuse into that positive wire also if there is not already one. 20 amp should do it.

Also get a meter and make sure your CB is matched to the antenna,Radio Shack Also, cause without that your noise will be the least of your worry's.

Use good Coax, not cheap stuff if you want to get out, preferably 18' in length. If you can't find a way to wrap that around use 9' but nothing shorter.

Get a good antenna also, Tunable Firestik will work on a Jeep but a Wilson would be better but may not look right.

Hope this helps

Maybe I'm lazy, and not concerned about noise. This should be relatively easy. The lazy man's way:

Items needed (iirc):

1- T-splice connector 1- Wire eyelet wire cutter/stripper/crimper

Look here for instructions on removing the housing around your radio....5 minutes to do this

1. On the top of the radio will be the wiring diagram for the stereo.
2. run CB wires thru dash to radio area
3. Snap the T splice with the positive CB lead to either the battery lead (hot) or the accessory lead (switched)
4. Remove the grounding strap from the factory radio, slip grounding lead of cb wire on post using eyelet and reattach.
5. put everything back together

This project shouldn't take more than 30 min or so

I'm sure that I probably left something out, but that's half the fun.

Hey Nathan ...listen to Robert in ur first post ...he KNOWS what he is talking about if you notice his other hobby is radio, judging by the ham call sign with his signature... and that is exactly how I did mine and yes to drilling a new hole and heavier gage wire....

Good Luck, Jeff VE1WWH '03 TJ '95 ZJ

Like I said...that was the lazy man's way. If not concerned with noise, then it's an easy way to get it done.

With that in mind, I used to install car stereo's and cell phones. I never did any installs that way, as the customers were paying for me to do it the right way (to the battery). I was merely suggesting an 'easy' way for someone who said they don't know a lot about electrical systems.

Chad

20 Amps!!!????

Try 2 amps maybe eh.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Also to use 10 Ga. wire and fuse both sides.

If you want to do it right or if the vehicle is still under warranty so you 'have' to do it right, you should contact Jeep and get the TSB booklet.

One person who posts here even had his TJ auto tranny going into neutral every time he keyed up his CB mic.

The larger power wires don't radiate or pick up near the noise that smaller gauge wires do.

I have my CB mounted with a lighter adapter, but I wired my own lighter in with heavier wires and I have a CJ7. No noise though.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

FrankW wrote:

Got one wired into the cigarette lighter wire and there is no feedback or noise. works fine, I would think running it all the way to the battery is just a waste of time.

Bill I've got mine wired to the lighter also. I can set the squelch to remove what little engine noise there is, and it can still be broken by people that are far enough away that I can't hear thier modulation, just the carrier breaking my squelch. Anybody within 3 miles or so comes in loud and clear. If they're further away than that, I don't want to hear them anyway.

-- Old Crow '82 Shovelhead FLT 92" 'Pearl' '95 Jeep YJ Rio Grande ASE Certified Master Auto Tech + L1 TOMKAT, BS#133, SENS, MAMBM, DOF#51

Herman, wiring any 2-way radio directly to the battery is just the right way to do it. While shortcuts don't always produce immediate negative results, shortcuts are never as good as doing it the right way. I've been involved with 2-way radios since the early-sixties and can verify that wiring it directly to the battery is the correct way of doing it to minimize both TX and RX noise... regardless of your positive annecdotal experience of just using the cigarette lighter.

Jerry

Amen on going directly to the battery. It's the best way.

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