Rago 3/4-inch Antenna Brackets -- Read Before Ordering!

If you are considering the Rago 3/4-inch HAM radio antenna brackets, you should know the following before ordering:

First and foremost, in my opinion Rago's antenna brackets are still the best thing going for mounting HAM radio antennas to your 4Runner. These brackets are built for war, ruggedly constructed from stainless steel and then powder-coated with a finely textured black finish. They are CAD-designed and cut with high precision, resulting in excellent fit and finish.

However, if you order one of these products...

• 2010-2018 5TH GEN TOYOTA 4RUNNER HAM RADIO HOOD MOUNT ( )
  
• HAM ANTENNA DITCH BRACKET EXTENSION ( )

...be advised that most 3/4-inch NMO antenna mounts designed to drop in from the top of the mounting surface are not going to be compatible due to the thickness of the material used to construct the mount.


Most typical NMO antenna mounts are designed to be dropped from above into a 3/4-inch hole that you drill in a metal body panel on your vehicle as shown in the following photos.





The problem with this is that the body metal on most modern vehicles is 20-gauge or 22-gauge steel which comes in at a very thin 1/32-inch on the thinnest end of that scale. The Rago brackets, however, are made from a much thicker 7-gauge steel which is about 3/16-inch thick.








The typical drop-in NMO mount is simply designed with a much thinner mounting surface in mind. While you can potentially drill-out the mounting hole in the Rago bracket, many NMO mounts will still not be tall enough to fully protrude through the steel and allow the upper locking collar to snug down sufficiently.


So What Are Your Options?

Larsen manufacture an NMO Middle Thickness Mount (Part #NMOHFMID) that supports mounting surfaces up to 5.9mm or nearly 15/64-inch thick. Definitely thick enough for the Rago steel.



This Larsen mount does come in component form, however, meaning it does not include a cable and you will be required to have the tools and knowledge to solder, crimp and seal the connections on the cable that you provide separately. For most HAMs this isn't a big deal, but it is worth noting.



Another option is to not use an NMO mount but instead use a smaller 3/8-inch diameter PL-259 mount such as the Diamond C213SMA shown below.


This type of mount has a smaller overall diameter, though, which means that it will sit somewhat loosely inside of the 3/4-inch hole in the Rago bracket. You would want to use a washer on the underside of the Rago bracket and fill the void between the PL-259 mount and the bracket with some silicone sealant to keep water and corrosion out.

This also means that you would have to use an antenna with a PL-259 connector instead of an NMO connector. This really isn't a big deal since there is usually a PL-259 style antenna of equal dimension and performance to any of the NMO antennas out there.



Hopefully this helps someone else use these excellent brackets with the least amount of confusion or frustration.

 

As an update... someone suggested that drilling out the hole to a slightly larger diameter would help. Unfortunately, no.

I had an extra bracket so I drilled the hole from 3/4-inch to 13/16-inch. What I learned was that the NMO mount would pass through the body of the bracket from the *BOTTOM* (opposite of how it is supposed to work) but then it was very obvious that this and any other similar pre-packaged NMO mount/cable assembly will not work. The bracket material is just too thick.


Larsen NMO-K installed in Rago bracket from bottom. Locking collar is not installed.



Side view of the same. Not how few threads for the locking collar are protruding through the bracket due to its thickness.



Locking collar "installed" but center of the antenna mount is intended to be flush with the top of the locking collar once it is tightened down. This won't work. The antenna's center conductive element will not make contact with the center of the NMO mount.