2911 Ford F250 roof antennas install question

[VSP5151]

I need to install 5 antennas on the roof of my new 2011 Ford F250 extended cab truck (2 fullsize doors and 2 partial doors on vehicle) using NMO bases. It has side cusion air bags which are visible when you pull off the rubber door weather stripping and they go about a foot down the front post and the rear post. Has anyone found a good route for the antenna cables on this truck? I haven't removed the head liner yet, The routing may be obvious when I remove the head liner. Any special precautions when removing the head liner? All radios will be under dash mount and will be attached to the dash. Thanks in advance for your help.

[spectragod]

Pretty much..... down the "A" pillar, the side curtain bag will come partially down, maybe 1/3. There may be someone with a better idea, I have done this on numerous Expeditions, Explorers etc...

[VSP5151]

Thanks for the reply. Is the A side pillar the driver side?

[FireCpt809]

A Pillar is the one closest to the front of the truck either side. The best option is to remove the trim on the passenger side. and drop the headliner. That way you can visualize the roof from the underside. Then you can plan out your layout of antennas because there are support ribs that you do not want to drill into by mistake. That way you can also see where the factory looms run down from the roof. It is best to run coax behind the the airbag modules and down the C pillar that is the farthes back closest to the back of the cab. I then run the coax along the door sill and then to under the dash. This avoids the chances if there is a side impact the coax being accidently infront of the airbag

[spectragod]

A Pillar is the one closest to the front of the truck either side. The best option is to remove the trim on the passenger side. and drop the headliner. That way you can visualize the roof from the underside. Then you can plan out your layout of antennas because there are support ribs that you do not want to drill into by mistake. That way you can also see where the factory looms run down from the roof. It is best to run coax behind the the airbag modules and down the C pillar that is the farthes back closest to the back of the cab. I then run the coax along the door sill and then to under the dash. This avoids the chances if there is a side impact the coax being accidently infront of the airbag

This too will work, but, depending on where you place the antenna's on the roof, you may run short on coax by going down the back side. Most standard NMO's only come with 17 feet of coax, somethimes this can present the issue of running out of coax, based on placement of the radio's, service loop and placement of the antenna's.

[FireCpt809]

We use 20 ft cables for that reason. Motorola antenna kits are 17ft I get Comtelco does custom 20ft ones

[VSP5151]

Thanks everyone for your help. I found out that there is no wiring on the pillar on the passenger side so I chose that as my cable routing for the 5 cables. That keeps the wiring a good distance from the side air curtains. Now if the curtains do no deploy when I key my radio, I will have done a good job. I have keyed my 40 watt UHF Astro Spectra and everything is OK. My only concern is my 60 watt 33 MHz Motorola radio. That antenna is in the center of the roof.

[tvsjr]

We use 20 ft cables for that reason. Motorola antenna kits are 17ft I get Comtelco does custom 20ft ones

Maxrad sells an NMO mount with 30ft. of RG58A/U pre-installed, and it's not even a special order item.

[FireCpt809]

Comtelco is local they can have what we need the next day. The 30's a nice for larger stuff

[Motoboy]

If I need to make a run over 17 feet, I just take my box of RG-58 and use a 0184988K01 Mount with nut and O-ring. For thick roof mounts I use a Maxrad BMATM38.

My soldering gun is my friend!!!

/V\b