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Rugged Ridge CB/AM/FM kit

Fuel Fire Desire

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Spoiler alert.....this kit is crap.

Spoiler alert......I achieved 1.0 SWR with this kit

(HUH?)

Heres what happened....

I wanted to put a CB stick in an optimal space to get the best performance. Not too happy with the lack of overall mounting options for a JL, I decided to go with the Rugged Ridge CB/AM/FM mount/ multiplexer kit. This kit allows you to use a CB stick in the stock radio antenna location, and with the use of a multiplexer, are able to receive AM/FM/ and CB bands all in a single antenna.

The kit comes with everything you need, and I was surprised to see top quality RG-8X low-loss coax and connectors. The unit is designed to be a simple plug and play.

The mount itself is powder coated plate steel, two pieces joined via a tab, welded, and then ground flat on the back.

The proprietary part that makes the kit streamline and clean looking felt of good quality....but is engineered like utter crap ( Ill explain in a minute). The unit is a barrel, with a threaded ring on top that holds a large flat grooved nut, and a keeper nut hidden underneath in a recess. The barrel has a hole in the bottom and side. The side has a mini coax connector, the bottom gains access to the signal connection between the connector, and RF isolated antenna stud (the stud is pressed into the barrel with a non conductive insulator surrounding it.) The bottom cover for the barrel is a coin type threaded cap. It fits very loose in the bottom (would easily vibrate out and be lost, exposing the signal connector). I used red loctite to keep it in place.

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Removing the old mount and cable was simple. Pop the plastic antenna cover off with a screw driver from the antenna stud hole as to not damage the paint. It takes quite a bit a force, and you'll feel like you're about to break it...but it will eventually pop off. Its held on by two plastic tabs at 3 and 9 o'clock. Removing the cable was easier than expected. The cable goes from the mount in the fender, through a hole in line with the exterior hole, and is sealed in place with an ingenious tight fitting folds-on-to-itself rubber grommet (I wish I could have reused the thing its so neat). Just pull hard.

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The wiring is straight forward Just connect everything into the multiplexor as labeled. The hardest part was finding where to hide 18' of coax from the radio and the multiplexer itself. (18' is considered optimal for proper impedance, don't coil extra cable or it will induce feedback). I ran it around the cabin under the carpet/ plastic trim to avoid having a bunch of extra. If you have to have extra coiled, use a long figure eight instead of a tight small coil. The kit was designed for a JK, which has more room behind the glove box than the JL....which has a mess of wire harnesses and block terminals stuffed in there. I mounted the multiplexer on a plastic extension coming out of the blower housing. The extension had a hole in it that was the perfect size to accept a license plate mounting screw. A grounding cable must be applied in between the mount and tab of the multiplexer. The kit came with a lock nut with the intent to mount the unit on the threaded post that the JK used to hold in the carpet....but its not there on the JL. The other end of the grounding cable went to a common grounding post under the door wire harness access panel. After all the wires were run and stowed, the box is tucked neatly out of the way, and is unseen unless you put your head in the foot well.


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After install, I took the JL out to a wide open area with no buildings or cars to affect SWR (a soccer complex). After tuning the antenna, SWR readings were a surprising 1.6 on Ch 1, 1.6 on Ch 40, and 1.3 on Ch 19. This was with a 4' Firestik II on a Fire spring with the tuning screw all the way in. I was very pleased with this.


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At this point, I was VERY pleased with this kit, and was ready to write up a very positive review. After a day of driving around, I get home, check the mount, and see that the antenna had come loose and was starting to flop around a little. No problem....just give the spring a good twist to tighten right? NOPE. I twisted the spring, it got snug, but it kept twisting....and never got tight. Keep in mind I'm doing this BY HAND. The special mounting barrel part is engineered like crap. The antenna mount stud is pressed into the the barrel with a soft polymer insulator liner to isolate it. Lets think about this......a smooth round stud...pressed into a smooth round hole..with a soft plastic liner in between..... Exactly how much torque do you think it would take to overcome the friction that little poly lining is providing, and allow that stud to spin....and break apart that delicate signal wire connection shown above? NOT MUCH


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The stud had spun a full revolution, snapping one side of the wire cradle off and bending/ cracking the signal wire. Its something that could be repaired....but there was no point. The way the stud was designed, it was impossible for any antenna to be tightened beyond hand tight. As soon as any stress was imparted by the antenna onto the threads of the stud, the stud would spin in place. A very piss poor design. All that would have been needed to make this work (and work GREAT) was have the section of stud that was being pressed into the barrel be any shape other than ROUND. Hex...square...triangle....anything to prevent it spinning in its slippery poly lining. Even having a hex head hidden under the access cap that could accept a small socket to torque the antenna against would have worked...but NOPE.


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After getting pretty angry that this $120 kit had such a basic design flaw, I decided that I liked the placement of the mount, and liked the idea of the multiplexer. So I cut the mini connector off the coax and put together a traditional CB post/ stud mount. Using an eyelet and 3/8" bolt for signal (insulated against the mount) and a small eyelet crimped on to the coax shielding and fixed under one of the three fender mounting screws. I had a dead ringer ground measured from the interior connector to an interior ground stud. It measured a tenth of an ohm on the multimeter. Looked good to me!


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SWR on Ch 1 was 3.0, and Ch 40 was a kill-your-radio 3.5. FML......

That just goes to prove a good electrical continuity =/= a good RF continuity.


Giving up for the night, and about to throw the whole kit in the trash, I go to bed rather frustrated.



The next morning, in a final attempt to make the thing work out, I decide to try a PL259 type mount. I try a simple crimp-on connector, and a 'heavy duty' stud mount. Literally the worst money could buy from the local truck stop.


E2eFaHSl.jpg




Going back to the open fields to test SWR, the first hit was 2.8 on Ch 1 (......great......), and a 1.3 on Ch 40 (...wait....this might actually work...). I retune the end on my antenna, and struck gold. 1.4 on Ch 1, 1.5 on Ch 40......and a perfect 1.0 on CH 19!


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AM and FM reception is the best Ive had, clearly picking up stations that were 'on the edge' in my area previously, and CB reception leaps and bounds better than the spare tire mount setup I had on my JK. The Midland 75-822 is only kicking out 3 watts according to the SWR meter, but at a perfect 1.0 SWR on Ch 19 I think Ive achieved more than I could have hoped for in a mobile mounted portable CB.

The whole setup doesn't look half bad either.


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That 4' stick does move around quite a bit. At 70 mph it tilts back about even with the A-pillar. Though, with as tall as it is I'd much rather have it on a floppy spring rather than have a 4' long cheater bar torque on an aluminum fender when it hits a tree. The antenna does neatly tilt back and rest in the windshield frame when I have the doors off though. About perfect for trail riding in the woods or going into a parking garage.


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So........in the end, this kit did work out. Would I recommend it? Not for $120..... BUT, it is one of the very limited options available for the JL right now. The multiplexer works, and works very well.....but a cheap multiplexer can be had for $25. $45 if you get a "good" one. I do have to say that the supplied cables are top quality, and would probably be a $40 endeavor to assemble them by ones self at home.....so a home built rig like this would probably cost you about $80 if you did all top shelf parts (without the mounting plate). The mounting plate is of ok quality, but since the weld is ground flat on the back and doesn't come through to the front side of the tab, its hard to say how strong or durable it would be. The proprietary barrel connector? Just throw it in the trash.
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macintux

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I think I’d go with the FireRing connector, but overall it looks great. I admire your ingenuity and persistence, I would have given up (doesn’t help that I’m still barely crawling when it comes to understanding radio tech).
 
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Fuel Fire Desire

Fuel Fire Desire

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I think I’d go with the FireRing connector, but overall it looks great. I admire your ingenuity and persistence, I would have given up (doesn’t help that I’m still barely crawling when it comes to understanding radio tech).
The FireRing will probably be an end result once this cheap truck stop crimp connector corrodes. I was anxious to get this project done for the holiday weekend, and very on the fence about investing another $25 into this project for a cable I was going to have to cut up anyway (the hole through the fender is way too small to fit a FireRing or complete PL259).
 

Matthew/E36

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Nice...may need to mount my scanner and HAM in too!
 

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JerryD

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Nice write up. Would you be able to get a Breedlove mount there? Hard to tell how much space is available...

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mrhumble1

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An excellent write-up!!
Man I am so glad I found this post.

I just bought a new JLR and have been wanting to pull the trigger on this kit, but I've been worried that it would not fit well in the JL. I took my glove box out and looked all around behind it for the FM antenna wire (from the radio) but could not find it.

Can you help me out? Where is the FM antenna wire?? If I pull the antenna from the outside, will that reveal where it is under the glove box??

I don't want to go out wheeling without a CB and am hoping to get one installed before the season starts. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!
 
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Fuel Fire Desire

Fuel Fire Desire

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Man I am so glad I found this post.

I just bought a new JLR and have been wanting to pull the trigger on this kit, but I've been worried that it would not fit well in the JL. I took my glove box out and looked all around behind it for the FM antenna wire (from the radio) but could not find it.

Can you help me out? Where is the FM antenna wire?? If I pull the antenna from the outside, will that reveal where it is under the glove box??

I don't want to go out wheeling without a CB and am hoping to get one installed before the season starts. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!

Are you familiar with what an automotive AM/FM signal wire should look like? It’s about the size and stiffness of a cable TV coax, but a bit softer. It’s the only large black wire like it in that area.

Remove the glove box entirely. Remove the plastic kick panels. Lay your back on the sill of the door and put your head in the foot well (yes, it’s very awkward). The coax runs parallel to the vertical exterior side wall of the foot well. There is insulation and plastic that covers most of the panel, but the cable is exposed close to where it exits the cabin. It’s way up in there behind the dash. Just look at where the exterior mount is, and try to find the corresponding location inside the cabin. There are two layers of sheet metal between the interior tub and exterior fender with about a 3” air gap. The signal coax that goes to the radio has a connector that ties it to the assembly seen above with the grommet and 90° bend. The grommet is “pressed” (more like pulled/ compressed/ crushed) into the interior sheet metal hole. Pull the cable HARD from the outside to pop it out, but only AFTER you disconnect it from the inside. You don’t want to yank the cable when it’s tied to the lead that’s connected to the radio.
 

mrhumble1

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Are you familiar with what an automotive AM/FM signal wire should look like? It’s about the size and stiffness of a cable TV coax, but a bit softer. It’s the only large black wire like it in that area.

Remove the glove box entirely. Remove the plastic kick panels. Lay your back on the sill of the door and put your head in the foot well (yes, it’s very awkward). The coax runs parallel to the vertical exterior side wall of the foot well. There is insulation and plastic that covers most of the panel, but the cable is exposed close to where it exits the cabin. It’s way up in there behind the dash. Just look at where the exterior mount is, and try to find the corresponding location inside the cabin. There are two layers of sheet metal between the interior tub and exterior fender with about a 3” air gap. The signal coax that goes to the radio has a connector that ties it to the assembly seen above with the grommet and 90° bend. The grommet is “pressed” (more like pulled/ compressed/ crushed) into the interior sheet metal hole. Pull the cable HARD from the outside to pop it out, but only AFTER you disconnect it from the inside. You don’t want to yank the cable when it’s tied to the lead that’s connected to the radio.
Thanks for this excellent information!!

Yes I have seen several install videos of this for the JK so I am somewhat familiar with the process. Obviously the JLs are different and that's why I have been hesitant to take the plunge. However, this is my (greatly) preferred antenna location. I really don't want it on the tire carrier if I can avoid it and this kit fixes that.

Now that I have this info I will make this my weekend project next week. I want to be sure I can get the cables out and ready for the kit so that'll be my plan.

Stay tuned... ;-)
 

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First of all @Fuel Fire Desire, great write up. I purchased the same kit to use in my wife's JLU Rubicon. I knew that the AM/FM radio cable coming from the JL radio was not compatible with any of the JK cables in the box, but I figured I could figure out a way to make it work. Well, I got stuck so I did not install it.

How did you connect the JL's AM/FM antenna cable coming from the radio to the splitter box? If you could share this little nugget of information, I will be golden! Thanks in advance.
 

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Fuel Fire Desire

Fuel Fire Desire

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First of all @Fuel Fire Desire, great write up. I purchased the same kit to use in my wife's JLU Rubicon. I knew that the AM/FM radio cable coming from the JL radio was not compatible with any of the JK cables in the box, but I figured I could figure out a way to make it work. Well, I got stuck so I did not install it.

How did you connect the JL's AM/FM antenna cable coming from the radio to the splitter box? If you could share this little nugget of information, I will be golden! Thanks in advance.

There’s an AM/FM to BNC adapter in the kit. It should be one of the 6” leads the kit came with, one end is BNC, the other is a white plastic clip. The lead from the factory antenna has 2 sections, one mounted to the body, and the other to the dash. The two are joined by this white connector when they instal the dash assembly on the line. If it didn’t come with it, I’d call RR.

The kit also includes a male AM/FM to BNC connector too as a generic adapter for non JL installs. That one is just discarded.


The second coax lead down on the left side.

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Growler

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There’s an AM/FM to BNC adapter in the kit. It should be one of the 6” leads the kit came with, one end is BNC, the other is a white plastic clip. The lead from the factory antenna has 2 sections, one mounted to the body, and the other to the dash. The two are joined by this white connector when they instal the dash assembly on the line. If it didn’t come with it, I’d call RR.
@Fuel Fire Desire, thank you for your prompt reply! Maybe I had my hands on the wrong cable initially, but when I disconnected what I thought was the factory AM/FM cable connection from the radio under the glove box (white plastic female to white plastic male) the kit's plastic connecter was incompatible (i.e. the male plastic clip in the kit would not fit into the female connector from the radio). Again, maybe I had my hands on the wrong cable at the time, but it sure looked like a coax cable. At that point I had not even removed the factory antenna yet to yank on the cable and see which one it was under the dash.

Just to confirm - ***I will use the kit's BNC to white connector for this install - To connect the factory cable from the radio to the splitter?*** I was thinking that if the connection at the antenna had a BNC connector then it would just screw right to the splitter, but it does not look like it does from your photos.
 

mrhumble1

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**NOTE**: Sorry for the double post (I also posted this, partially, in another thread). I meant to post here anyway and I have more info related to the OP here:

Well, that was a PITA. Finally got to work on the install. It was not fun!

You all were right. Getting under the passenger footwell was not pleasant. The hardest part was getting the damn FM antenna wire isolated.

I got that all done and just fished the new antenna wire using the stock cable. That was much easier than I thought. I think my only challenge now is to mount the multiplexer properly and get it grounded. I pushed the excess antenna cable into the area behind the glove box (see pictures below).

I also am not sure if the whole thing won't vibrate off the side so I might get a spring mount for the antenna.

Anyway, here's a few shots of what I have:

Antenna wire behind glove box:

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Hanging out:

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Outside:

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I'll go back through this post and see what everyone else did to mount the multiplexer box and get it grounded. I hope the hard part is over!!

UPDATE:

So I tried to use the post the OP used here to install the multiplexer, but I stripped it out. The screw I used must have been just too big.

Below you can see where I decided to mount it. I did remove the side panel to attach the ground wire to the ground post and then put the ground wire in between the screw and the multiplexer when I screwed it in. Side note, the damn screw in under the glove box needs a T20 bit. Damn if they couldn't have chosen to just use a standard screw but oh well.

I stuffed the CB wire behind the glove box because I don't have a CB yet and even if I did I would not have it in the Jeep every day. I also put the excess antenna wire under the floor mat so it's hidden and no wound up.

I have no idea if any of this is gonna actually work. I will drive around and check FM reception in a little bit. I am going to try to buy a CB in the next week or so and when I get it installed I will update this post.

Pics:

Ground wire attached to post:

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Stripped post:


upload_2019-5-3_18-39-53.png


Screw (T20) I used to mount multiplexer:

upload_2019-5-3_18-41-3.png


Final location (mounting screw circled):

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Antenna wire going behind floor mat:

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Passenger view:

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