Routing antenna coax question

S'up, peeps. I'm two, nay... three beers in and headed into vacation for the rest of the week and I'm typing from my phone, so do your best to skip my typos. If my errors are egregious, grab a couple of beers for clarity.

I've got a CB and a 2m/70cm radio I'd like to mount in my 4Runner. My biggest concern is where to run the antenna coax and how to get it from the inside to the outside of the vehicle. All other wiring and such I can manage, but antenna coax is a challenge.

I'm not a fan of running it over weatherstripping or pinching coax in doors and lift gates. I'm eyeballing the roof rack rail and using fold-down mounts near the rear. Looking at the roof rails I was thinking maybe I could lift those rubber inlays under the rails, drill holes to the interior, install a grommet, run the coax through and seal it, then fish the coax hither and yon through the headliner to the A-pillars, and down to the radios up front. I'm less concerned about the CB since I'll probably use a Rago rear mount and run the coax through a rubber plug in the bed. The dual-band, though, I'd prefer to be up a bit higher; so, it's the primary concern.

And therein lies my questions: has anyone drilled through the trough those rubber inlays sit in? What's under those inlays, if anything? Any suggestions or concerns with my idea?

 

If you get a cable with the removable end you can feed the cable through the factory boot on the driver side of the rear hatch. I run a GMRS is the driver side passenger door jam. It works fine. I have a 3rd cable in the back where I took a small notch out of the weather strip so I could feed it underneath. Not perfect but that may go away down the road. It really depends on where you decide to mount the antennas and radios to see how much cable you need.

I know others who run them into the engine bay and then through the firewall.

Here’s the type of cable I’m referring to, https://www.walcottradio.com/diamond-c101-cable-assembly-p-2045.html

 

There’s also a drain plug in the floor in the cargo area. Remove the rear trim piece, pop a few clips, and the carpet comes up fairly easy to reveal it. Can poke a hole in that plug to run the cable through, and a little sealant to seal it back up. From there, cable can be ran underneath along frame to taillight area and out. On the inside, can run it along the side/door sill trim to under seat up up through dash depending on where you have your radio located.

 

following.

 

You can get stellar performance on 2m from a hood mount, which takes the whole "drilling" thing out of the equation and lets you run the coax right through existing grommets in the firewall. I don't think the performance gain is worth chopping into your roof.

 

You know, maybe I'll go that route. I had a 2m/70cm dual band antenna on the front fender of Jeep and that was fine. It was easy running cable on the Jeep, but I'm less familiar with the intricacies of the 4Runner. This might a good excuse for a front brush guard, then use it as a place to mount the antenna.

 

I was thinking more cheap and easy with an NMO trunk lip slip on mount over the back (closest to driver) edge of the hood. You're looking at like $25 all in for the mount with 18' of coax and a PL259 / SO239 connector...

 

Planning on using a ditch light bracket, when i pull the trigger on comms. Bolt on, clean and no chance of rust like the clip on brackets.

 

My 17 has had the cheapest black coated slip on you can buy installed on it since new. Parked outside. 3.5 years now, no rust. Some minor "lightening" of the black finish but it still looks just fine and works 100%.

 

Good job.