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FireStik 3-Way Antenna Mount Installation

Right Channel Radios carries a large selection of Firestik products, and offers three different Firestik mounting options with the Cobra Jeep Kit.

This mount, made by FireStik, is primarily designed to attach to the large mirrors found on 18 wheelers.  That being said, it will also support a 5' tall antenna on a flat vertical surface.  Tire carriers and bumpers are two places commonly used for mounting antennas.  While Bob's TJ is slated for a new bumper later this year, he wanted to try what was there so we decided to place the mount on his off-road bumper.
 

Right Channel Radio uses the higher quality stainless steel (FireStik offers this in chromed too) version of this mount.  Since Bob's TJ doesn't have any big trucker mirrors, the clamp was not needed.  The mounting bracket and antenna mount would be attached to the bumper.

I'll mention this just as I did with Bob before drilling the mounting holes.  Locating the mounting bracket in this area (on the bumper) places quite a bit of the antenna close to the Jeep's metal tail gate.  This usually will cause antenna adjustment issues (which it did) as the antenna does not like being that close to the metal body.  Bob intends to relocate the mount, higher up, when his new bumper/tire carrier is installed later this year.
 

Locating the mounting bracket closer to the end of the bumper will provide you with more tail gate swing radius.  (locating it up on the tire carrier gets it entirely out of the way)  Using the mounting bracket as a template, I marked two spots where the 1/4" holes would be drilled.
 

Since this particular bumper design is enclosed on all 4 sides, we selected the mounting spot adjacent to a hole (you would have to ask Bob why it was there) in order to avoid self tapping screws.  I wrapped a piece of shipping tape (sticky side out) around my finger to use as a "hold the hardware in place while I put my finger through the hole" kind of tool.  It worked nicely....the lock washers and nuts were all installed without dropping any of them into the bumper's interior. 
 

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