Originally Posted by XxSharp_ShooterxX

Hello all,

I am wanting to put a cb radio in my truck. This one:

(http://gyazo.com/402711dfeed5ad0ef77969fe90100554)

Now I found this video:

(Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNHj5tQvJao)

(Around 2:30 ish he starts to show were he plugged the wires up at)

Is this a safe and good way to install that cb radio??

- XxSharp_ShooterxX

Originally Posted by dopewaffle

I wired mine into the cigarette lighter so it will constantly have 12v. Make sure you get a good ground for it as well, including the antenna. 90% of your CB range is going to be your antenna, if you have a long antenna, over 3ft, you'll pick up a lot of skip. Your probably going to want to achieve a 1.5-2.0 SWR

Originally Posted by homer

How many watts are you planning to transmit? I can't pull the radio specs up. Usually VHF radio's, they run direct to the battery with the fuse closest to the battery )(in case of an accident, if the wire is crimped, the fuse blows due to a short close to the battery as opposed to starting a potential fire). You could probably get away with this. There's nothing wrong with what he did and I've seen this done before however a few things I can think of currently:

1. You need to be 100% sure you have it on the FUSED side and not the unfused, otherwise ensure you have no fused protection and should add one inline in your radio connection in case of a short after.
2. I've seen guys not use a fuse-tap exactly what he said shoving the wire inbetween the fuse and what happens there (not so much in a fuse tap), it doesn't fry your circuit board at all... what it does is, when you put a load on it, it gets REAL hot (due to resistance) and it'll start a fire in your truck potentially... I've seen this remote starters in a different situation. You might not really run into this with a CB unless you're transmitting long, or the radio will dim out because it just can't get enough current.

I don't entirely agree with his video. I'd either go directly to the battery, go to the accessory wire from ignition (under drivers side - solder), or use a fusetap but if you're unsure which side is protected, add your own inline fuse. The downfall to the fusetap is if you are sharing the cigarette lighter fuse and you have something taking up the majority of the power on that circuit, you could pop the fuse if you transmit enough.

If you plan to tie into the fuse though, add an inline fuse to be a bit safer in case of a short.


If you're mostly receiving, you can hook it up that way and be fine as it doesn't draw much power. The power draw is during transmit.

Originally Posted by XxSharp_ShooterxX

Thanks for replying dopewaffle,

I understand what your saying. But I did the cigarette lighter set up didn't like it. I want it to be permanently set-up for me. I.E. the YouTube video above. And like in the video I got a antenna that looks like that. (Picture from YouTube video http://gyazo.com/31fa5bb9b537ce2dbe8a7096bbfb058d) I just want mine to be local area. Not planning on getting a 3ft antenna or a nice 102" whip. I don't live in the country. I don't want to attract to much attention to my truck. Just looking at that small black magnetic antenna will do for me. But do you think its a safe and good way to hook up a CB radio.

Originally Posted by homer

Since it's only 4 watts, the additional load on your cigarette lighter circuit is so minimal I wouldn't worry as much. Just make sure it's fuse-protected somehow. If it means adding your own fuse for the $5, I would.

Originally Posted by dopewaffle

I do think its safe, that's how I had mine setup for about a month, then I bought a adjustable firestik antenna. I don't drive yalls year model, I just wanted to help ya out, but here are some pics.

Originally Posted by XxSharp_ShooterxX

Sorry to double post but Whats 4 watts? The fuse plug-in? Also I wanted to show you the fuse-tap I'm talking about (http://gyazo.com/3c821710e0c1e75300c11424c2175c30) As you can see the platic clear box is the fuse-box that I'm talking about. In that case you stick a little fuse in there and it helps protect it. Now I'm also getting this (http://gyazo.com/4040b692ad49ff0926991be3d86ec5cc) That connects into the cigarette fuse so you can have both the cb radio and cigarette in that fuse. Since I don't smoke it never gets used. In that case I'm think your talking about the $5 being that fuse-tap there.

Originally Posted by XxSharp_ShooterxX

Thanks for replying again,

If I sounded cocky I didn't mean it. I just wanted to understand what your saying and make sure we were both on the same page. Sorry if you took it that way. Thanks for the pictures dude. Love it! When you said "I had mine setup for about a month..." Did you change how you had it set-up?