I was excited to start talking to truckers but I found out no one uses CB anymore

 

Any reason why you didn't just run the power supply from the fusebox by the driver's knees? Then you don't need to go through the firewall.
My friends and I have CBs to keep in touch when we're offroading.

 

I like it man but I was wondering the same with the wiring. You could have used a jumper circuit in the interior fuse box. I would have mounted mine close to the transmission well and ran the pa speaker wire under the center console and the same with the cable. We always use em to communicate when we trail ride. I got a general lee I gotta put in one day. My wife hates the pa speaker BC I'll cuss a dumb driver in the hammer lane going slow. But congrats on the instal man. Did you swap the inline bulb style fuse on the hot wire with a standard fuse or micro fuse? The only reason I ask is because if you swap it out to an inline standard fuse with the waterproof cover, you can easily swap it out if it blows on the trail. I never keep the old glass tube fuses around so I try to swap mine out for the size of fuses my vehicle uses since I always keep a few spares of each size in the glove box and a jumper wire for the oh crap cases just so I can get back to civilization.

 

And most of em still use cb's (channel 19) but that uniden doesn't have a long range even with an antenna or whip. Most truckers have a nice uniden, general lee, or cobra (not the cheap ones, usually $200+). If you wanted a little further reach on yours, you can always add a kicker (amplifier). They are anywhere from $100 on up depending on the wattage. With your set up, you might be able to reach some 5-10 miles out max. But if you wanna get em riled up, go by a truck stop and use your best female voice and say "I don't have any panties on" you will be surprised how much talk you will hear then. Cracks me up every time I do it. But on a side not, where did you move your jack since you put the pa speaker in its slot

 

Hahaha that's funny. I plan on buying an amp for this, I shouldn't have cheaped out I realize now... I ditched the jack, I always carry the hi-lift with me .

 

Because I've heard it is best to wire it directly to the battery for the least interference. It was also easier just to put it through the firewall, that rubber grommet exists for a reason!

 

The shorter the run on electrical, the least interference. Same way with the coaxial cable. If you have too much, see if you can get a shorter one.

 

I would double check your antenna assembly. I'm pretty sure the nylon washer goes over the bracket not under. I think it's because the plate is grounded and the antenna has power. I know for sure it's like that with my firestick not sure if it matters on any others.

 

WOW Great catch... I'm so stupid... I was wondering why my range was terrible too, I went the extra mile with the grounding strap.

I just swapped it around thanks for the diagram, I will test it out tomorrow.

 

Glad I could help. Now you have to get your Ham License and move onto a 2m/70!

I noticed you said your signal was bad, did you tune your antenna? All CB antennas need to be tuned with a SWR gauge. Simple and inexpensive to do, I even found it fun.