Install a CB Radio in Your Hummer

CB Overview Article
Ham Radio Install
A Simple CB Install

This is a President Lincoln CB Radio. The radio will transmit in AM, FM and SSB(single sideband). This means that if you communicate with another radio that will operate in FM or SSB you will have double the effective output compared to regular CB AM. FM is great because it's very quiet.

Notice the added map light which I installed to help read the radio buttons in the dark. The radio is also mounted with the face angled down so the driver can read the led screen. Unless you're 6' tall this is rather important. Notice that this radio has the microphone jack on the front which makes installation much easier.

I used a Wilson 1000 antenna mounted right in the middle of the roof which is the best place on the Hummer for an antenna. We have has excellent results using this antenna mounted in the center of the roof and mounted about a foot from the rear on a wagon. Order the Wilson with the roof mounting kit. It requires that you drill a hole in the roof. The antenna coax screws into the bottom of the antenna mount inside the truck. The 42" SS whip unscrews and has a nice weather cap. The whip works great off road. When low branches drag across the roof the whip just springs back. Another great antenna is the Lil' Wilson magnet mount antenna. When I installed the radio I ran another piece of coax to the rear corner which will allow me to install another antenna in the future.

There are many many ways to mount antennas. Bumper mounts, side mounts rear mounts are all compromises. One of my friends uses a Maldol (in Japan around $250) motorized tilt down antenna. I think it's made for amateur radio but he put a CB antenna on it. It couldn't handle a 102" whip so he used a bottom loaded 60" antenna. Bottom loading uses a coil on the bottom which fools the transmitter into thinking a longer antenna is attached.

Almost anywhere outside the truck will work good enough for off road trail use because everyone is so close together. That's why some use a hand held CB and just run a magnetic mount antenna outside for event use.

What I did was put a couple of strips of duct tape on the inside of the console. I then outlined the hole that I would need for the radio with a pen. You will need to cut the hole at least 1/8" larger all around because you will fold the leatherette in to cover the edge on the plastic. I used a small tool which looks like a 1/4" diameter end mill. What I did was work the tool back and forth on the line I drew going deeper and deeper each pass. You will easily see when the tool gets down to the leather. Once the hole is roughed out carefully pull the plastic center away from the leather and take a sharp blade and slit the leather so you can fold it into the edges. Now see if the radio fits through the hole. Insert it from the front of the console. It probably won't fit the first time so carefully trim the edges of the plastic with the dremel and a small file until you can slide the radio in. Trim the leather so it's neat and use hot melt glue to hold the leather down over the edge.

Push the radio into the hole and make yourself a bracket. Put the console up and check out if you can see the radio controls when you are sitting in a normal driving position. If you can't I would measure the distance you have between the Monsoon amp and the radio. This is the maximum amount you can angle the radio. I made my bracket so the radio was about 1" higher in the rear. My radio has all LCD displays that can't be viewed from much of an angle especially at night.

I made some brackets out of aluminum angle and fastened them to holes I drilled in the console and one carefully placed hole in the overhead dome light aluminum backing. I brought power up from the accessory plug in the doghouse. I also extended the wiring on the dome light and added quick disconnects so that lowering the console in the future would be much easier.

I chose to mount a 3" speaker in the console so I cut the appropriate hole. I couldn't find a 3" speaker cover which is a problem. In retrospect I would buy an external speaker such as a MFJ Cleartone and mount it in the same place. This would save cutting another hole in the console. If you ever want to take the radio out a new console could cost you over $300. I did just that when installing an ICOM radio in a new console.

The key is to take your time and lay everything out very carefully. It's easier then it looks. When you're ready to close up the console MAKE SURE you adjust the SWR of the radio if your radio doesn't have a built in SWR meter. A SWR meter is inserted between the output of the transmitter and the antenna and is used to tune the antenna so the transmitter will operate efficiently. If you have mounted your antenna where you can get to the feed line and the antenna (like the rear corner of the truck) then this won't be a problem. On the Wilson you adjust the length of the whip to obtain a SWR lower then 1.2 on channel 19. Some CB antennas such as the fiberglas firesticks don't have a provision for tuning. If you don't tune the antenna your radio will not transmit a strong signal. If the SWR is way off you could damage the transmitter. I've found that 99% of the problems you will have with your CB are due to bad connections and poor grounding.

This is another option to mount a CB antenna. Use one half of a standard tube mount bracket. Drill and tap some holes. The antenna comes out right in the hood cutout area.