Rugged Radios GMRS45 and Coms install

[JumptChaneAZ]

How it started:

How it went:

Trainwreck, had to remove my fuse blocks and disassemble quite a bit of the car to remove the SVS Honda Stereo and the OEM fuse panel.

Trainwreck:

190 Watt hot knife to cut the openings.

Radio and intercom installed...time to clean up the mess.

Gaining on it. All of the push to talk, headset, antenna, and power wires have to be kept separated. Got that accomplished, organized and anchored down. Started reinstalling the fuse blocks and attacking that wiring.

Got that done.

How it ended:

Used flush mount body plugs to fill all of the holes left when removing the Honda Stereo, just to make it clean.

Clear magnetic cover for the radio. New switches for the coms, particle separator and the horn (LOL).

Powered up. Need to revisit the alignment of the switch plate, didn't have anyone to hold it where it needed to stay. Good enough for now.

Antenna.

Antenna wiring with ground into tapped hole in roll cage.

Push to Talk Driver.

Push to Talk Passenger.

Waiting on Roll Cage Mounts for the Headset Jacks, but got them ran to both sides.

Went with the alpha bass headseats and they will vibrate your ears with the bass all the way up. The STX sounds great and the intercom and radio functions are worth the absolute dogfight of installing it all. Pretty decent outcome. I will post up when I get the jacks mounted to the cage and get the cage mounted license plate installed....the plate is hidden behind the spare tire on the DRF bed extender right now.

 

[Lil_Steve]

I admire how neat/tidy your work is, and the time it takes to do it. I don't possess the attention span or the patience to do that kind of electrical work!

 

[Remington]

disassemble quite a bit of the car

Nice work and looks good.

My only question is why did u have to disassemble your car to work on your side by side? 🤔 😂

 

[JumptChaneAZ]

Nice work and looks good.

My only question is why did u have to disassemble your car to work on your side by side? 🤔 😂

 

[Barracuda]

How it started:

View attachment 386608

How it went:

Trainwreck, had to remove my fuse blocks and disassemble quite a bit of the car to remove the SVS Honda Stereo and the OEM fuse panel.

View attachment 386609

Trainwreck:

View attachment 386617

190 Watt hot knife to cut the openings.

View attachment 386610

Radio and intercom installed...time to clean up the mess.

View attachment 386611

Gaining on it. All of the push to talk, headset, antenna, and power wires have to be kept separated. Got that accomplished, organized and anchored down. Started reinstalling the fuse blocks and attacking that wiring.

View attachment 386612

Got that done.

View attachment 386613

How it ended:

Used flush mount body plugs to fill all of the holes left when removing the Honda Stereo, just to make it clean.

View attachment 386616

Clear magnetic cover for the radio. New switches for the coms, particle separator and the horn (LOL).

View attachment 386614

Powered up. Need to revisit the alignment of the switch plate, didn't have anyone to hold it where it needed to stay. Good enough for now.

View attachment 386615

Antenna.

View attachment 386618

Antenna wiring with ground into tapped hole in roll cage.

View attachment 386619

Push to Talk Driver.

View attachment 386620

Push to Talk Passenger.

View attachment 386621

Waiting on Roll Cage Mounts for the Headset Jacks, but got them ran to both sides.

View attachment 386622

Went with the alpha bass headseats and they will vibrate your ears with the bass all the way up. The STX sounds great and the intercom and radio functions are worth the absolute dogfight of installing it all. Pretty decent outcome. I will post up when I get the jacks mounted to the cage and get the cage mounted license plate installed....the plate is hidden behind the spare tire on the DRF bed extender right now.

I like your installation, but my solution was to go up to mount the radio. My 2021 SE already had the Honda switch plate - since my center console area was used already and the additional switches were in I wasn't interested in diving into that again;

Since I already added power, wiring, fuses, relays, and a second battery;

So I fabricated a mount, power switch, and cover for the rugged radio;

The radio used the rugged radio mount and then brackets hang from the roof as well as tying into the rollbar over the windshield. I made the cover out of plexiglass and some metal flashing. A big advantage for me was this is in a fairly clean and dry location with ventilation - the center console area had too much access to moisture from below in my mind.

 

[JumptChaneAZ]

Clean install! It is personal preference I guess, but I don't care for a lot of stuff hanging off the cage, or roof, above my head. My next planned modification is a new custom cage, -6" in height. I don't think that would be a good fit for me. I'm trying to plan ahead and keep the number of items attached to the oem cage to a bare minimum, so when it comes time to install the new cage, I won't have another snarl of stuff to remove, relocate, and re-attach.

As far as moisture, I got the Baja Boot and I live in the desert. I have noticed more than few submarine commanders on this website, seems to be a thing. If your jam is to see how deep you can take your machine underwater, I get the attention and forethought that needs to be applied to do that.

 

[Barracuda]

Clean install! It is personal preference I guess, but I don't care for a lot of stuff hanging off the cage, or roof, above my head. My next planned modification is a new custom cage, -6" in height. I don't think that would be a good fit for me. I'm trying to plan ahead and keep the number of items attached to the oem cage to a bare minimum, so when it comes time to install the new cage, I won't have another snarl of stuff to remove, relocate, and re-attach.

As far as moisture, I got the Baja Boot and I live in the desert. I have noticed more than few submarine commanders on this website, seems to be a thing. If your jam is to see how deep you can take your machine underwater, I get the attention and forethought that needs to be applied to do that.

I definitely understand the mounting concerns - hanging stuff from the cage definitely was a concern at first, but in the end it was worth it.
Unfortunately one of my major concerns is moisture, even though I have no intentions of checking how much deep water the Talon will handle - I live in Washington state where rain and mud is more of an issue where I ride.
I really like your installation - I think we have all seen installs that we would be less than pleased with, even from some "professionals"...

 

[906UP]

Nice job, my wife always laughs when I start the job of adding wiring for something new by removing the roof 🤣

 

[JumptChaneAZ]

I definitely understand the mounting concerns - hanging stuff from the cage definitely was a concern at first, but in the end it was worth it.
Unfortunately one of my major concerns is moisture, even though I have no intentions of checking how much deep water the Talon will handle - I live in Washington state where rain and mud is more of an issue where I ride.
I really like your installation - I think we have all seen installs that we would be less than pleased with, even from some "professionals"...

Yours looks sick! You put a lot of work into it and it definitely shows. I think it's great that you posted your setup, it gives people more than one option to consider.

 

[JumptChaneAZ]

Received the cage mounts for the headset plugs and got them mounted up. They are a Rugged Radios product and they put a nice finishing touch on the install. Got the plugs too, to keep the shmootz out when washing.

Headed to Mexico soon to give it all a proper test.

 

[TripleB]

Received the cage mounts for the headset plugs and got them mounted up. They are a Rugged Radios product and they put a nice finishing touch on the install. Got the plugs too, to keep the shmootz out when washing.


View attachment 387373

View attachment 387374

Headed to Mexico soon to give it all a proper test.

Are you gonna be a mule or something?

 

[JumptChaneAZ]

Are you gonna be a mule or something?

If I was, I wouldn't be stupid enough to talk about it online.