The 4x4 club I will be wheeling with uses CBs (my quad group uses FRS)

I got a little Uniden 520xl off of ebay.. I have had a few of them, and they all talked just fine and are TINY... so I figured it would be good.. wheeling is the only time I will be using it, so I didn't need anything more.

I got to looking around, and there are a few OK places to mount a radio, but one spot caught my eye above the others....


the ashtray..


I don't smoke.. so I don't need an ashtray..

I pulled the tray and got to looking, it would actually fit! 

 Plus, there are hot wires, and grounds easily accessible behind the ashtray 

I took out the ashtray mounting bracket, took off the side slides, and slightly modified the top with a die grinder, removing the "hump" that limits the travel of the ashtray, and removing the rivet that holds the plastic top guide on.

After a slight bit of tweaking on the sides, I drilled two holes and used two of the cover mount screws on the 520 to attach the radio to the ashtray bracket.

I drilled two holes in the part of the bracket that is exposed when installed.. (I will try to get some pics later if anyone is interested)   as one the radio is installed, you cant get to the single phillips that normally holds it in place, but with these two new holes drilled on the front, you can screw the whole assembly (after wiring it) to the dash bezel.   The rear phillips is a little hard to get to also, so I just used a small sheet metal screw with a hex head, so I could tighten it from under the dash, with a small wrench.. works PERFECTLY, and looks pretty clean.

The color of the Uniden matches my dash, and it makes a clean install.


If anyone is interested, I could slip it out, and take some pictures... these radios are all over eBAY FOR $10-20 bucks.... I think they are $36 new, at Walmart or something.. 

Definitely would like to see pics on that.

I second what he said..... sounds like a darn good spot...

Here is a shot, and a link to more in depth...

You can adjust the radio to different angles,  and with a little more attention, you can get it flush, or angled up or whatever.  I settled on  what I did, mostly cause it was first try, and when installed, good enough!

The sheet metal screws holding the whole shebang in, can be MUCH smaller, I just used what I had..(that's me!) and I will touch them up with some satin black paint next time I am messing with it..

Any questions,  let me know.


Linky:  http://www.forumsigs.com/users/quaddawg605/ashtray_cb/index.cfm?id=2

I am impressed that looks like a good idea...might have to borrow that one for myself

Nice idea. Thanks for the detailed pics.

That looks even better than I thought. I think that one is going into the list of things to do.

Looks great.  What do you use for an antenna?  Where is it mounted?

Well, I just got back in from mounting it.  I used a short, fiberglass, top loaded Trucker antenna, mirror mount..

Check this link for closeups.. This location is protected from trees by the flare on the fender.. well, if the fender hits, the antenna MAY hit....  but it will hit the fender first... lol

http://www.forumsigs.com/users/quaddawg605/ashtray_cb/


You can get to the inside of this quarterpanel easily, just gently pull the left side rear panel off, and reach up in there.. it did take someone to tighten the bolts, as I held the nuts inside the panel..

I also bent the bracket a bit, so the antenna would be close to straight..

Here is the general idea: 

You have done a really good job with this setup, it almost looks like it came that way...


Now when I look at mine it's going to feel like something is missing

I like that but I would mount it on the back above the license plate

What ever happened to Quaddawg?

I put my 1st. CB in the same place. All was good till we started off roading & found it was very hard to hear anyone as the speaker is now in a "poor at best" location. How did you adjust for that ?

Here is where i put my CB. Did this so I could  adjust/operate it with out compromizing shifting or looking away from the trail. Makes it easy to hear as well. (cheap CB's) have poor speakers as you know. Some have a remote speaker plug in port & that allows you to place a seperate speaker that can be heard when CB is in dash like yours. Cheap CB's may not all ways have the port. Still now you need a place to mount remote speaker too. My friends mounted their's up as well so i had. seveal of these mounts made. Still have a few if you wish to mount yours the same. Sure you could make your oun. Ues my ash tray for air down valves & change. (Not a smoker eather).

That is a nice looking mount setup.  Do you have a t-top on that X-90?