fm antenna install question

[pybyr]

My 1989 never had any sort of radio in it, and so never had an antenna, either.

I got an antenna assembly, and when I look through the antenna mounting hold in the passenger side front fender, I can see a plastic knockout plug-- which I assume has to come out in order for the antenna cable to feed through.

I am sure I could blunder my way through the antenna install and figure it out as I go, but since it's getting cold fast here, and short daylight, can someone or several of you please give be a bit of a step-by-step [things like: do I remove that plastic plug entirely, or just punch/ drill a coaxial-cable sized hole through it; tips on how/ where to snake the coax cable down through/ under/ across behind dashboard, etc.)

Thanks

Trevor

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Oh man, that's a real good question, I dunno how my antenna cable makes it fron the radio to the fender - I know it goes down from the radio and then I think on top of the ducts to the kick panel on the passenger side, I assume from there it goes through the firewall behind the heater core plenum and ends up in the cowl area but I cannot confirm this...

 

[pybyr]

bump- hoping for some further suggestions. Thanks

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Do you like the looks of trucks with twin CB antennas? If so, you can copy my setup - I have a 4ft fiberglass antenna on each mirror, the coax is wound around one of the mirror braces and goes into the door through a small rubber grommet, from there it becomes part of the door harness and enters the cab through the factory accordion rubber bellow. The driver-side coax then snakes above the steering column and then goes into my CB, while the passenger-side coax runs along the bottom edge of the dash then shoots up and right into my radio (had to cut the PL-259 connector off for that and replace it with a Motorola-style connector). My factory antenna cable is disconnected from the head unit, and the antenna itself is removed. IMHO it loos great on a dually truck, which is what you have too, right? One change I would consider with this setup, however, is the choice of antennas - fiberglass works great on a mostly-street truck, but if you venture out in the woods or have to drive in places with low clearance you may want to use stainless steel whips instead.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Might be worth a trip to the salvage yard? Might get a look at how the OEM was wired

 

[pybyr]

Do you like the looks of trucks with twin CB antennas? If so, you can copy my setup - I have a 4ft fiberglass antenna on each mirror, the coax is wound around one of the mirror braces and goes into the door through a small rubber grommet, from there it becomes part of the door harness and enters the cab through the factory accordion rubber bellow. The driver-side coax then snakes above the steering column and then goes into my CB, while the passenger-side coax runs along the bottom edge of the dash then shoots up and right into my radio (had to cut the PL-259 connector off for that and replace it with a Motorola-style connector). My factory antenna cable is disconnected from the head unit, and the antenna itself is removed. IMHO it loos great on a dually truck, which is what you have too, right? One change I would consider with this setup, however, is the choice of antennas - fiberglass works great on a mostly-street truck, but if you venture out in the woods or have to drive in places with low clearance you may want to use stainless steel whips instead.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to leave the FM antenna on the fender.

 

[Todd C]

I don't know how much help this is, but you can take a look at the picture below. I don't have any pictures from inside. I believe the coax is supposed to come up through the hole you see right in front of where the coax is sticking out right now. By the looks of it I think it just comes through the top of the compartment behind the glove box? Just make sure its water tight...
I hope this helps