WAYALIFE CB Radio Antenna Mount - Jeep JL WRANGLER Tailgate (2018-Up)

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
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I know a lot of you have been asking for one ever since I introduced my CB BAR and I apologize for not getting one made sooner but here it is at long last - the WAYALIFE Jeep JL Wrangler CB Antenna Mount! Designed to be installed on the factory tailgate hinge, this mount is made out of laser cut stainless steel, comes with stainless steel spacers and zinc plated 8.8 hardware for optimum performance and corrosion resistance. The following installation write-up will not only show you just how easy it is to install but it will also show you how to ground the tailgate and wire everything up.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the photos feature the original prototype. The actual antenna mount and hardware is purposefully not painted black as is shown.

What Comes with the Antenna Mount

(1) Antenna Mount
(2) M10 x 1.5mm x 50 mm Flange Bolts
(2) 10mm Spacers
(2) M10 Washers

What You Will Need

WAYALIFE CB Antenna Mount for Jeep JL Wrangler : https://bit.ly/38kOPcW
FireStik K4 Antenna Stud Mount : https://amzn.to/2O5jv8n
Firestik SS-3H Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Antenna Spring : https://amzn.to/2NxIaVT
FireStik K-8R18 18 foot Fire-Flex coax cable with Fire-Ring : https://amzn.to/2wYOeMV
Firestik (FS-3BK) Black 3' 650W Tunable Tip CB Antenna : https://amzn.to/2QjODlY
Universal 60" Inch Copper Ground Strap : https://amzn.to/3K05BSz
Torx T-25, T-55 Bit
16, 10mm Socket
Ratchet
Unibit or Drill Bit
Drill
Plastic Trim Pry Tool
Solder Iron
Utility Knife
Zip Ties


Instructions

The following is a photo of all the parts you will get with your WAYALIFE Jeep JL Wrangler Tailgate CB Antenna Mount. As you can see, it comes complete with an unfinished stainless steel mount, stainless steel spacers, M10 x 1.5mm x 50mm long 8.8 flange bolts and M10 8.8 washers. The mount is purposefully left unfinished. If you choose to paint it, you need to make sure to mask off and leave the antenna stud mounting hole bare steel.
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Use a 22mm socket and key if necessary and remove the spare tire from your tailgate.
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Using a Torx T-55 bit, remove the 2 bolts securing the upper tailgate hinge in place.
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Assemble your WAYALIFE CB Antenna Mount with the provided hardware as you see in this photo. The flange bolts go through the lower part of the mount, the spacers are placed onto the bolts and then washers added last.
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Install the assembled mount onto the upper tailgate hinge and tighten the bolts to 35 ft. lbs. of torque using a 16mm socket.
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Install the FireStik K4 Antenna Stud Mount and FireStik K-8R18 18 foot Fire-Flex coax cable with Fire-Ring onto the antenna mount as shown in this photo. Essentially, take the stud bolt, place one of the washers on it, slip the Fire-Ring on next, insert everything through the bottom of the mount, place the nylon washer onto the stud making sure that the inner lip sits inside the hole on the mount, add on the last washer and then secure everything in place with the stud mount.
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To get the coax cable inside your JL Wrangler, you will need to remove the spare tire and pulled the rubber plug sitting next to the tire carrier.
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Using a plastic trim pry tool, remove the plastic trim from the inside of your tailgate.
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If you get a FireStik K-8R18 18 foot Fire-Flex coax cable with Fire-Ring, the threaded connector will not be installed and this will allow you to phish the cable into the tailgate.
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The space inside the tailgate is tight and it can be tough to phish through to the other side but it can be done with a little effort.
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Taking the rubber plug that you removed from the tailgate, drill a small hole through the center of it.
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Using a utility knife, cut a slit from the hole to the outside edge of the rubber plug.
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You can now reinstall the rubber plug onto the tailgate and with the coax cable passing through it.
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After cleaning up the threads of paint on the lower tailgate hinge bolt, you can attach a Universal 48" Inch Copper Ground Strap to it and secure it in place using an M10 x 1.5mm nut. A 16mm socket will be needed for this.
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The ground strap can then routed down the trim and into the cargo cubby.
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After removing the scissor jack, you can pry open the drain plug.
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Route the ground strap through the drain port and reinstall the plug.
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The ground strap can now be bolted directly to the frame using one of the existing bolts. If you got the tow package with your JL Wrangler, you can connect it to the electrical hook up bolts as shown.
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You can now clean up the wiring by securing everything to the existing factory harness using some zip ties.
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You can now reinstall the tailgate trim panel.
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If you are using my CB BAR to mount you CB Radio, you can route your coax cable up the body trim and to the roll bar.
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Using a Torx T-25 bit, you can open up the roll bar trim enough for you to route the coax cable all the way up to the windshield header.
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The coax cable connector can not be soldered on.
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The coax cable and the wiring from your CB Radio can be routed in between the windshield header as shown.
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Once again, if you got your JL Wrangler with the tow package and auxiliary switches, you should be able to locate power leads up against the firewall on the passenger side foot well. The red wire with the white stripe is goes directly to the battery and it'll be what you'll want to connect your power lead to.
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Remove the kick panel on the passenger side foot well and you will find a stud where you can attach your ground. You will need a 10mm socket to remove and reinstall the nut.
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To finish things up, I would highly recommend that you install a heavy duty spring on your antenna mount and use a Firestik II antenna. If your CB Radio doesn't come with one, I would also recommend that you have your antenna tuned using a SWR meter. With that said, here's what it should all look like when all is said and done.
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Please let me know if you have any questions. :cool:
 
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longarmwj

New member
Super clean install!! I love how you are taking the initiative to make your own mounts and solutions for the JL while the aftermarket catches up! :thumb:
 

SDG

Caught the Bug
Super clean, I like it!

Only 1 question... can you make one for my JK, and install it too?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Super clean install!! I love how you are taking the initiative to make your own mounts and solutions for the JL while the aftermarket catches up! :thumb:

Thank you. I'd be happy to install something that someone makes but nobody is making what I've been needing. :crazyeyes:

Very nice! Thanks for the info, yet another to keep in the stash till it’s JL time

Glad to hear you like what you see. :yup:

Good looking mount and it worked well.

Thank you. It has been holding up well and our last run was a real test of it too. :cool:
 

jesse3638

Hooked
Nice write up. Good looking products too. I think that grounding strap is what I need to get my SWR down as I think my grounding point is not good enough. I'll be using your link to get one.
 

JL_John

New member
Solid tip on the grounding strap. I did a similar install using the Mopar tailgate reinforcement and struggled with signal/grounding. Adding the ground strap made all the difference.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Solid tip on the grounding strap. I did a similar install using the Mopar tailgate reinforcement and struggled with signal/grounding. Adding the ground strap made all the difference.

Thanks! I honestly think that people not establishing a good ground is why so many think that CB's are no good. Install it right and they will work great. :yup:
 

rkerr188

New member
Hinge bolts

Great write-up! Followed your directions, and now have the CB radio and antenna up-and-running. Thank you!
 
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