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How to Install an Amateur Antenna on a 1998 Tracker

You can make your amateur radio hobby mobile in your '98 Chevy Tracker, even though mounting the antenna presents a two-part challenge. The first part of the challenge is avoiding the wiring harness that serves the car's taillights, backup lights, rear speakers and brake lights. The second part is preventing rust in the area between the antenna mount and the body of the car. Once you know the location of the wiring beneath the Tracker's generally unpaneled interior, you can overcome the rust potential with a specialized marine caulking technique.

Things You'll Need

SSB right-angle side mount antenna base
China marker
Masking tape
Drill
Rotary wire brush
3/8-inch metal bit
Cutting oil
Marine adhesive caulk
Flexible plastic spreader
Paint scraper
Razor knife

Instructions

- 1
  Inspect the Tracker's driver-side exterior to find a location where the antenna installation will not interfere with existing systems.
- 2
  Hold a right-angle side mount antenna base for a single-sideband antenna at the selected location on the exterior of the truck. Trace around the perimeter of the right-angle mount's base, using a china marker. Mark the location of the four mounting holes. Set the antenna base aside and apply masking tape around the tracing of the base's perimeter.
- 3
  Use a drill and a rotary wire brush to rough up the paint within the tracing of the base's perimeter. Exchange the wire brush for a 3/8-inch metal bit and drill out the mounting holes. Keep the bit lubricated with cutting oil to help carry the shavings out of the bore.
- 4
  Spread a thin layer of marine adhesive caulk inside the area delineated by the masking tape, using a flexible plastic spreader. Spread a thin layer of the caulking onto the inside of the right-angle SSB antenna base, where the base will make contact with the side of the vehicle.
- 5
  Secure the right-angle SSB antenna base in place using the 3/8-inch screw-head mounting bolts that came with it. Steady the bolts with a screwdriver and snug the nuts onto the mounting bolts using a 5/8-inch open-end wrench, only tight enough to ensure that you squeeze the adhesive caulk on the base and the adhesive caulk on the body of the truck together.
- 6
  Allow the adhesive caulk to cure for 24 hours. Thread a fiberglass single-sideband whip antenna's coaxial cable through the center hole of the right-angle mount's base.
- 7
  Pull the masking tape from the area around the antenna base. Remove any stray caulk with the flat edge of a paint scraper and a razor knife.

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