Hi all. I wanted to detail the installation of my Yaesu FT-8900R into my truck, a 2005 Chevy Colorado Extreme with extended cab.

My goals were to have a tri-band setup, crossband repeat, small antenna (for cramped parking garages in Northern VA), and have it done right and look clean. I think I accomplished my goals in this install.

The truck is a 2005 Chevy Colorado Extreme with an extended cab. Since I don't use the extended portion of the cab for passengers I wanted to place the radio there. Its not a big truck and is somewhat sporty. It fits the bill for being small enough to get into small parking areas in NoVA while still maintaining the utility of being a truck. Its dirty, and I use it for hauling horse feed, manure, or whatever.




For my power setup I selected 10 gauge wire connected directly to the battery. For the 15ft run back to the battery this should allow for 40 amps or better. All connections are crimped and soldiered where possible. To protect the wire there are fuses starting at the battery.




To go through the firewall into the cab I utilized an existing wire boot. Initially fishing the wire through the boot was hard and time consuming due to the constricted space and tightness of the boot itself. Using a water based lubricant eased the process of feeding the cable greatly. The wire boot put me into the dash on the driver side\ of the truck.




After getting the wire through the firewall into the cab I fished it through the dashboard to the passenger side of the cab. I remove the panels on the passenger side of the truck and found where the speaker wires ran into the back. I used this track to lay the power cable along side the existing wire which is protected by the panels. The power cable emerges from under the panel and carpet into a RigRunner 4004U. The black cable you see is the run out out to the antenna. I have a single piece of coax that runs out to the antenna mount along with a small power wire that feeds the antenna controller (more on that in a minute). I opted to protect the wires with a spiral wrap wire loom. The vent holes in the panels hide an external one-way vent in the rear of the cab. I was able to run the coax out of this vent without having to put additional holes in my truck.






This is the space between the cab and the bed of the truck. You can see the vent and the wire exiting it.




The underside of the truck with the top wire being the coax feed and the bottom wire being a grounding strap tying the bed to ground. Again all pre-existing holes.




The coax and power wire feed up inside of the bed wall to the antenna and antenna controller. I'm using a Diamond K9000 which allows me to fold the antenna down for low ceilings or to hide the antenna. The mount is a custom mount I fabricated out of flat 2 inch aluminum bar bent at 90 degrees. In the bed wall I have another aluminum plate that basically clamps it firmly to the bed via nuts and bolts. It also provides ground. The antenna is a 39 inch Maldol EX-510B tri-band.








The radio itself is mounted in the rear of the extended cab. The truck had two plastic storage compartments that were bolted to the floor and seats that were then on top of those compartments. However, leg room is non existent in the rear so I don't have any use for them. I removed the seats and the storage and used the bolt holes to mount the radio. I used 1.5 inch aluminum angle iron to fabricate my own custom radio mount for this purpose. Put together with stainless hardware, this mount was a PITA to assemble and install. However, the radio is solid and its not going anywhere. Before you ask, my truck did pass VA inspection with this installation (done yearly for you non locals).






The FT-8900 has a remote head which I have decided to let run loose in the cab. This way I can use it inside and outside of the truck. The speaker on the radio is loud enough That I don't need to worry about mounting an external speaker for it. I have also not chosen a place to mount the antenna control as of yet. I will likely end up sticking it inside of the center console. The antenna is tuning up under 1.5:1 on 2m and 70cm but closer to 2:1 on 6m. Sound quality and range have been excellent out of this setup and I have been making occasional usage of the crossband functions.

I'm interested to hear critiques of my mobile setup or questions on anything I left out.

For hi-res pics go here: http://nullbits.foxxz.net/hamtruck


-Foxxz

Beautiful work my friend

In particular I admire the attention to detail-obviously you put a helluva lot of time and thought into this project.

I'm greatly looking forward to getting home later and seeing the fullsize pics. Seeing them on a tiny 2.5" BlackBerry screen isn't doing them justice.

Very nicely done!

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Thank you for doing a proper install. I can't tell you the number of times I have seen hams run wires from under the hood out and around door jams instead of through a proper hole in the firewall. Those are the same people that use wire nuts, speaker wire and electrical tape for their connections. Nice work.



Mike F

Looks great nice install.  How do you like the RigRunner?  I am thinking of putting one in my EmComm box where on that panel does the power come into the panel?  I want to do that for easy hook up of my equipment in the box.

Really nice work!

The power comes into the bottom connector that looks like all the rest. The regrunner is very light and that particular one has a 5v regulator in it for powering USB devices. Max for it is 40A total and you can pull up to 40A from any single connector as long as you don't exceed the limit.

Also not in the picture I have a 350w power inverter that I can plug into the box and use as well.


-Foxxz

Nice, please show where and how you mounted the radio face to the Dash
here is my FT7800 in a 2005 Trailblazer using velcro and double stick tape for easy movement

I haven't mounted the head anywhere. I'm letting it run loose in the truck so I can operate it form the outside (say, sitting in the bed of my truck).


-Foxxz

Ok, I had the same thoughts but realized that during sudden stops the head rolling around(broken knobs)could get damaged. So velcro gave me a quick fix, stable, yet easily moved when I want to.

Very nice!

I am running a 7900R in my Focus and I may have an idea of what you can do to mount the heads those of you looking for ideas.  No pictures tonight but I will try to take one and post it tomorrow.  I am using ProClip mounts in my car and the one I am using works very well for the head unit of the radio when remoted plus is still easily removed if needed for other areas of vehicle....well mine isn't moved at all but I like how it looks.  

ETA not hijacking but just some more ideas for the head if anyone is looking for ideas.  

ProClip USA  

^^^^^^Check the website out^^^^^^





Not greatest pictures but I can get some more of the mount it was really sunny out when I took these so there is a little glare.