CB antenna Stake hole mounts???

Ideeho · August 18, 2003

I just purchased a Firestik stakehole mount for my 2002 GMC Sierra. Having stripped it out, bent my stakehole and generally frustrated myself out of trying to make it work....I was curious, has anyone else had issues getting this thing to install properly? When I put it in, the antenna was canting out to the outside, at a pretty good angle, looked like hell. Could not jimmy it to fit no matter what I did. Are there other mounts that help correct this? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Bob G. · August 19, 2003

You may not be able to get the antenna straight with that mount. I used the extended stake hole mount since I was putting a cap on. I countersunk the holes for the mount and used flat head screws so that the cap would be flush and not leak. The antenna was also canted but I was able to bend the extended part of the mount to make it perfectly straight. Also, I sanded the LineX off of the bottom of the stake hole for a good ground.

Bob G.

LARSONEM · August 20, 2003

In my 2003 2500HD, I just bought a base and put it down inside the stake pocket itself. A 36 inch antenna just clears the garage door fine. Ran the coax inside the cab through one of the vents in the back and removed the door jams and hide the coax under the rug to the front seat.

Ideeho · August 20, 2003

That is another question....there are vents in the back? Where? I want to run it cleanly into the cab, but am looking at where and how still. Any advice is appreciated.

MCourson · August 20, 2003

Do you guys have any SWR problems with having your antenna on the side and not in the center?

Bob G. · August 20, 2003

I ran my antenna coax throught the parking brake rubber boot. I punched a hole through it with a phillips head screw driver. I had no problem tuning my antenna with it mounted offset from the front stake hole. It tuned at 1.3 on the SWR meter.

Bob G.

LARSONEM · August 20, 2003

There are vents in the back of the cab between the cab and the box. The are hard to get through. It runs into a plastic housing behind the rear seat. I was actually pushing a piece of #12 solid strand wire (a single piece from inside a piece of #12 romex interior house wire) through the housing inside the cab and as I kept jamming I pushed the vent right out the back of the truck. I figured it would be tough to get back in, but it wasn't. I was going to go through the parking brake boot too, but the connection on the coax looked like I would need a bigger hole than I wanted to punch through there. There just isn't too many ways to get inside the cab. Another spot is a large boot in the firewall where the wire for the accelerator pedal goes through. I thought about going through this, but there is only one wire passing through this boot and that goes to the accelerator pedal. I'm wondering if GM isolated it for a reason, to make sure that no frequency from another wire ever interferred with it. Thinking about a uncontrolled surge from the accelerator pedal or an unanticipated slowdown, I decided to look for another way into the cab.

I don't own and haven't checked the SWR. Probably should, but the radio seems to work OK. Previously I had it hooked to a magnetic mount on top of the cab for weekend only use, and I'd never checked it with an SWR meter there. The reason for a more permanent mount was because the magnetic roof mount whistled.

Shemmy · August 21, 2003

Has anynone had luck with a through the glass type antenna? Just wondering.

Ideeho · August 22, 2003

OK, silly question time. I have a 2002 GMC Sierra, and if I wanted to look at possibly feeding the CB cable through the rear vents...how do I move the seatback on the extra cab forward? My old 98 would fold forward, but I have not spent enough time looking for if this one pops forward too. Any thoughts?

DejaVu · August 22, 2003

The rear vents on the extended cab are at the bottom corner. You do not need to move the seat back any. Just fold the seat up and move the lining aside and pull the cable through. Also if you put the antennas in a location like the corner of the truck you will transmit directionally like to the front of the vehicle becasue it is using the frame as a ground plane, as to omnidirectional if you put the antenna directly on the roof. Since I am gonna keep my truck awhile I popped the dome light cover off and drilled a hole through the roof and installed my Wilson 5000 there then ran the cable through the headliner and put the light cover back on. SWR's are 1.0-1.1 and transmit and receive a hell of alot better than when I had mine on the bed. Just remember GROUNDING is essential. More grounds the better your SWR's. 73's!

burgundyz71 · August 22, 2003

I just installed the stakehole mount from Firestick and I shimmed it with a piece of black rubber mat, cut of the extra and she's straight. For the cable my end the connects to the cb was not on yet so if you just grease the cable up, I used some handsoap, it will go thru the rubber boot for the E-brake without cutting anything.

marman · August 22, 2003

Has anynone had luck with a through the glass type antenna? Just wondering.

I'd stay away from the through the glass antennas. I have one. It works but the range is very limited. I'm going to get a bed mounted one soon.

Ideeho · August 22, 2003

Word of advice on that truck...your bed is more than likely like mine, and I had a helluva time trying to figure out how to utilize the stake hole mount...it will come out canted to the outside, substantially. I just ordered up the extended stake hole mount, which allows for campers or bed caps too, but more importantly it lets you bend it a little to level it out. Most original vertical stake hole mounts will give you hell trying to get them straight.