Help me wire my CB

[Scuba]

Alright so first thing on the list is the CB radio. I have it mounted on the pass. side of the center console. I pulled off the trim piece on the very bottom where the 2 12v accessory plugs are, Im thinking of just splicing into those for the power to the cb. Is that viable ? Because I was looking at the firewall passthrough and thats gonna be a biotch. Also stupid question, does a 99 tacoma have a positive grounding system, or negative grounding system..? Any help and tips with this install would be great guys..Thanks !! :bling:

[DHC6twinotter]

I've heard of people putting a 12v accessory plug on the end of their CB power cable. They just plug the CB into the cig lighter/12 accessoy plug for power. :thumbup:

I don't remember how I ran my wires, but pretty sure I didn't run any through the firewall. I think I ran them into the fuse panel somehow. I'll have to go look.

[CJM]

Very easy:
Find a 12V positive. In my case I have mine mounted to an auxillary fuse block with positive power from the battery.

If you dont have that find a 12v accessory like your cig lighter, which you can splice into. Or you can find an unused spot on the fuse panel in the lower kick panel and put it in there. All you need is a wire to fit in there or they make ends to fit it. You need a circuit tester to check for power tho.

Splice into whatever, then connect the ground to a piece of metal like the body or in my case there was a piece inside my dash. The CB is already fused so your good there, get an antenna and tune it or have someone tune it for you and your ready to go. Dont turn ont he cb without tuning the antenna as it can damage the cb

You can do the 12v cig lighter adapter if you want, but why since hooking a cb up is cake. Shoot, i have mine wired with plugs so I can take the cb out anytime I want to.

All cars made int he last 50 or so years pretty much have aneagative ground system.

[troyboy162]

hell yea scuber! about time you got a cb. you may be able to squeeze the wire through the rubber gromment area of the stearing wheel. i know stereo amp wire is sometimes passed through that way. let me know what you think of your pa speaker. mine is way to quiet to be of any use but it could be the cheaper radio im using

oh and figure out if you will want to run the cb without the key turned in the ignition. i didnt so i went into the cig lighter. that way i wont run my battery down by accident when i walk away

[DHC6twinotter]

Yeah, I just looked at mine. I spliced it into the cig lighter as well.

[4x4mike]

I have a couple of 12v accessories I run in the cab. Because of this I ran one 8ga wire into the cab to an aux fuse box. I now have my gps, rock lights, oba, cb powered off of this fuse box and not a bunch of wires running through the firewall along with a bundle of terminal ends at my battery.

I was able to run the 8ga wire through the factory grommet. It took about 45 minutes but it's clean and sealed.

[corax]

If you want to prevent receive/transmit problems, run a wire directly from the battery (fused of course) to the CB. The ground wire should be as short as possible to a good ground, preferably the body (not a bracket). Your CB will thank you for the cleaner power source by giving you better receive/transmit quality and less interference with other things in the truck (when I key up, my voice used to come out of the rear speakers - I'm not transmitting massive power either), just don't forget to turn it off if you leave it parked for an extended period of time.

[Scuba]

Great advice guys, Thanks !! umm, Im thinking tomorrow when I have some time ill look at trying to get it through the firewall to the battery again..and then the ground, I guess ill go right under the shifter for that..that should be about it... Ill keep you all updated on the sitch. Thanks !!

[Robinhood4x4]

Look under the floor carpet too or look at the underside of your cab for rubber grommets. That's where I have some wires going through.

[Scuba]

Are those the "drain plugs" that I've heard about and maybe seen in a build thread or 5..? I believe I know what you mean..So Ill check around too. I was just looking at the passenger side and the rubber grommet is hidden behind heater core and vents and a mess of other things, Didnt even want to start there...In the ol 91, you could see the sun through there by peering up from the floorboard...

[Terracoma]

My roomie has an '02 Tacoma and ran an electric fan control harness through the passenger side firewall grommet, so a single power wire is do-able.

The best trick I've seen is to take a metal coat hanger and use it as a fish to get your antenna wire or cabling through the firewall grommet. Cut one end at an angle (slash cut), poke that end through the grommet (not just anywhere, but through the center), then tape your power wire to the uncut end of the coat hanger and pull everything through. Might take a few tries, but once you get it, you're golden; no torn grommets, and nice clean power straight from the battery.



If you plan on adding multiple accessories inside the cab that will need a constant 12v (straight from the battery), you might want to install an auxiliary fuse block somewhere, then you'll only need to run one wire through the firewall instead of multiple wires to feed each accessory...... Additionally, if there is concern about accidentally leaving the CB turned on and killing your battery, you can run the CB's power wire through a relay. Actuate the relay with an ignition 12v source, and the CB will have no power when the truck is turned off. By the same token, you'll need the truck in 'ACC' or 'RUN' to use the CB, but that's not terribly unreasonable.

My '04 extra-cab has little cubbies behind the front seats, but I'm not sure if the single-cab trucks have them or not. Nifty place to put an aux fuse block (and an FT-8800R), since space under the dash is non-existent... Oh, and don't say anything about the dog hair.

:flipoff:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/calnorthernGRW/Forum%20Images/IMG_0026.jpg

[corax]

...... Additionally, if there is concern about accidentally leaving the CB turned on and killing your battery, you can run the CB's power wire through a relay. Actuate the relay with an ignition 12v source, and the CB will have no power when the truck is turned off. By the same token, you'll need the truck in 'ACC' or 'RUN' to use the CB, but that's not terribly unreasonable.


http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/100_2718.jpg
Batt power to one post, then through a relay to the "switched ignition post"
I got both isolation posts from a junkyard for the cost of pocket lint :hillbill:

[CJM]

while we are on the subject of CB's:

Does anyone know that once I tune the CB if i were to chop the wire length of the power and negative from the cb would it change the tune? I personally tuned it for SWR myself and dont feel like doing it again unless I have to.

I forgot I had been wanting to make my CB quick disconnect and atm its still hard wired in. The ground wire is full length and i think its why im picking up the higher engine rpms when the squelch isnt on.

[Seanz0rz]

no your power connector should not affect your swr, just your antenna placement and coax length, etc.

[CJM]

Thats what I thought, I wonder why Im getting the engine RPM coming thru tho? wont hear it unless I have the squelch turned off tho.

Im thinking its the ground, the wire itself is long and coiled inside the dash since i never cut it down, and the fact I ground it to a bracket inside the dash maybe.

[Seanz0rz]

is it grounded in two places? like grounded to the body with a bracket and then grounded for power? that could cause problems maybe?

or the body not being grounded like it should?

i used to get interference from my ABS when it would kick in, and then one day it went away... who knows. used to scream back at me through the speaker when the abs would kick in.

[4runnerchevy]

no your power connector should not affect your swr, just your antenna placement and coax length, etc.


I agree unless you voltage fluctuates often. Also everything between your radio and antenna will change your standing wave ratio. .02

[CJM]

Well heres the deal. My + runs from outside into the cab form an aux fuse block. The - runs into a bracket inside the dash, the - wire itself is still the same length it was when it came out of the box.

I think its the ground wire, although shielded the neg wire is touching the rest of the bracketry inside the dash.

Im gonna try shortening the negative wire. Otherise i may need a noise filter I guess.

Forgot to add, higher the fan runs (as in the blower fan) the more noise i get with squelch off. have it mildly on and its fine. Im gonna try the ground wire first..

[4x4mike]

My CB is connected (+ & -) to the aux fuse box behind my stereo and I don't have any interference. It might be your fluctuating power or CB. I think my power cable is full factory length and the ground wire is pretty short (~1ft).

I ran a noise filter in my other truck and it didn't fix a thing. It's a heavy duty radio shack model. If your interested in it I can see if I can dig it up.

[CJM]

I think the ground wire is looping b/c its like 5 feet long and all coiled up inside the dash-touching various metal stuff.

[corax]

try a ferrite choke on your coax or power/ground wires - you can get these at Radioshack for a couple bucks and they just snap over the wire - these are what the 'bulges' are in USB/computer cables and are used to cut down on interference from outside sources, like a filter of sorts

http://www.dataq.com/images/products/accessories/choke.jpg

from RadioShack
Effective, easy-to-use RFI fighter.
Cut down on RFI (radio frequency interference) with this snap-together Ferrite Choke Core. Simply snap it over any coax cable, AC or audio cord.
Easy to use RF interference fighter
Just snap over cable or cord

[CJM]

Well I cut the ground shorter, this eliminated the high rpm noise I was getting I think. However the blower motor still is there, could be the spot inside the dash I ground to, could just be the cb antenna (doubt it).

Most likely I figure according to what I read is its alternator noise. This is b/c when you turn the blower motor to the 2 highest settings you get a whine with the squelch turned all the way down, turn it a few notches you pick up nothing.

Since I almost never use the a/c or the fan on high anyways and I can turn the squelch down I dont think this is a big issue. If anything the noise I am hearing could possibly be b/c the ground inside the dash is very close to the blower motor and resistors for it among other connections like the radio, ignition, etc.

[Scuba]

Err, So either im just completely wrong, Or something is messed up...Power hooked directly to battery, Ground hooked directly to battery. truck on. Radio button in on position. Inline fuse good. Radio wont turn on.....? Any thoughts...

[Scuba]

Ok, So back to my original question, Do we have positive or negative grounding systems...? :bling:

[L33T35T Tacoma]

Its a negative ground.

double check all your connections. A CB is very easy to hook up dude.

[troyboy162]

thers not much else...as long as the fuse measures good and looks fine then its broken. bring it with you tomorrow. i dought i can do anything other then say "yut, its broke" but ill check it out if you want. no sence opening it up and diging around inside though since im sure its under warrenty

the truck is negatively grounded. meaning any piece of metal in the truck is electrically and physically connected to the battery's negative (-) terminal

[Scuba]

Ok, Well I ran outside and I did double check my connections, I dont see anywhere I messed up. As much as I hate wiring ive wired stereo systems before so this is the least of my worries...but umm, this is lame...

[CJM]

The inline fuse is probably no good.

Easy way to check this: if you have a spare battery for anything 12v like a lawnmower or even a jumpbox. Hook the wires to that and turn on and see.

But im betting the inline fuse is bad, not properly connecting or your CB is DOA

[Scuba]

SLIDERS SLIDERS !! lol, Ill be leaving soon :D :flipoff:

[Scuba]

hah, well I guess we all have one of those moments where a burnt fuse doesnt look like a burnt fuse...umm...yeah, ITS ALIVE :D...anyway, I think ill try picking up swr meter this friday before heading to ocotillo...

[CJM]

Told ya bro, I had the same crap happen to me once. I dont even have the inline fuse, I have a fused end where it connects to the power.

[Scuba]

It was just dark, and the fuse realllllly didnt look bad, it was barely broken, Ive seen inline fuses like that go and you can seriously tell. This one not so much. But good deal. Today is a day of Wrenching, I get to install the cb pa speaker, the antennae, pull my starter...and then wash sand and paint the sliders...Why am I on the computer again..? :bling:

[troyboy162]

It was just dark, and the fuse realllllly didnt look bad, it was barely broken, Ive seen inline fuses like that go and you can seriously tell. This one not so much. But good deal. Today is a day of Wrenching, I get to install the cb pa speaker, the antennae, pull my starter...and then wash sand and paint the sliders...Why am I on the computer again..? :bling:


um i saw it and it looked like it had exploded lol. thats ok scuba....just remeber what bad looks like :tongueout:

[CJM]

LOL @ both of you..

[Scuba]

Soo, I had a video testing my PA speaker, but umm, My computer crashed :chair:...yayyy...

[DHC6twinotter]

bummer...you've had a lot of crashes lately. :(

:D

[Scuba]

Good one :flipoff: My mom spilt water on it earlier..Wonder if thats related :headscratch:...Not to mention the keyboard arrows and enter key do not work, So I cant navigate through the options...gjsdfajkhjak. And now I cant visit TTORA...

[CJM]

That sucks...

Which speaker did you get, cause I been wanting a loud one.

[Scuba]

This one http://www.rightchannelradios.com/cb-speakers-pa-horns-77/classic-noise-canceling-external-speaker-405.html hah, Its funny, On that page in the "customers also bought" I have 4 of the 6 items...hah. Oh, about right channel radio's great customer service, I got an email like 2 days ago asking if I was pleased with my order and all that good stuff..

[Scuba]

If I had 10 extra bucks at the time, I woulda got this 20 watt speaker instead...http://www.rightchannelradios.com/cb-speakers-pa-horns-77/20-watt-external-speaker-407.html

[CJM]

Nice speaker, i been contemplating one but since I put my cobra dx III in the ashtray spot the speaker faces down. But man 20w is tempting!

[Scuba]

I mean, 20 bucks is 20 bucks. If ya dont like it sell it ? idk... Im reallly bored and IHML :bling:

[Terracoma]

And now I cant visit TTORA...


Probably for the best...

:flipoff:

[Scuba]

gary you suck. JK :D. hah, I cant wait to use my pa speaker..