Hi all, I want to put a Larsen NMO mount in the roof of my base 2 door  2014 Tacoma. I would like to route the coax down the rear drivers side of the cab but cannot  find out how to route the coax down behind the molding. I'd prefer to stay away from the front of the truck and avoid the other wiring. Any help? TIA 73, Rob

It sounds like you're going to leave the headliner in place .....

What I did with my car is pull off the rubber from the body, pop out the panels and that let me route easy.

This also had the effect of freeing up the headliner so I let that come down too.

No problem getting behind the headliner, the NMO mount is going above or just ahead of the dome light.  The problem is how to can get the coax down the rear corner behind the molding.
TNX,
Rob

I know probably apples to oranges, but in my '07 the driver side a-pillar didn't have wiring in there IIRC.  

I could be wrong, but you can always just pop off the plastic and see what's there.  I have a dual cab so not sure what you might have in the rear.

Go to the auto parts store. Buy a "universal" speedometer core. It's like a tiny drain snake and is stiff yet flexible. Feed "core" down behind moulding and tape coax to the end. Pull through.
A lot of times this will work. Sometimes there's just something in the way or a weird bend that the core won't get around. It's worth a shot and can be used for future installs.
One trick is to twist the core as you feed it or run into something. Sometimes it will pass, others not.

Thanks for the replies thus far, more ideas needed. 73, Rob

Very important question. Does your Tacoma have side curtain air bags? If it does, you're going to have to physically pop the molding off near either the A pillar or B pillar and makes sure the coax gets routed behind the bag. Any way you do it, you're going to have to at least pull the molding apart on either the A or B pillars so you can get a view of the underside of the roof. Then you just simply pull the coax through from the hole and route it down. You can take down either pillar, generally have to pull out the weather stripping a bit.

Hi Zap, I have had both pillars uncovered, the drivers side pillar has one piece of flexible tubing presumably with wiring for the dome light and microphone for the Blue tooth. There is also what appears to be a piece of rolled up white foam which I think is sound deadening filler, I don't believe it was connected to anything. It didn't look like it was anything but sound deadening material. What ever it is I can route the coax under it. The drivers side "A" pillar appears to be the best bet at this point,if I can drop the coax through to the kick panel I'll be home free. Thanks for the warning, If what I have described may be an air bag let me know. TNX es 73 Rob

ETA It describes the Airbags as "Seat mounted side & side curtain".

ETA 2 It's the air bag, no problem to  run the coax opposite it in the pillar.

ETA  3 Coax is run, fished it to the front with a old 5/8 wave whip.

Good to hear. Every vehicle is different. My mother had an 02 Trailbalzer that had curtain bags in the seats as well. My 04 Trailblazer does not have curtains at all (I ran my VHF feed down the passenger side A pillar. My UHF feed came down the passenger side B pillar (Onstar Mic is on the drivers side B pillar).

I've talked to several techs who work in radio shops. They all say the same thing, check for curtain bags in the pillars, route behind if they are there. It's more work for them when the vehicle has curtains in the pillar as they have to remove the molding, but they like doing the safe thing.

Hi Zap,
Thanks again for the heads up, The coax comes in at the top of the pillar well in front of the air bag. I don't know if what is in the pillar (There isn't much.) is actually supposed to expand and would rather not find out. I still have to mount the radio on the floor under/ behind the front seat but all the wiring is done.
TNX es 73,
Rob

Maybe this will help.



http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/671380_Toyota_Tacoma_New_Install.html

Thanks to all, for all the tip & tricks. The rig is an old Kenwood TM-G707, the antenna is a Larsen NMO 2/ 70B with the open coil, roof mounted. I seems to work FB though I really need somebody to listen to the audio on another receiver. lol
73,
Rob