Need help routing coax in Volvo

RG-8 and RG-213 are the same size. In fact, RG-213 is nothing more than RG-8 with tighter tolerances (both are military specifications).

RG-213 is the replacement for RG-8.

 

OK, then. Since you choose to ignore the advice of KC0IV, Jamie, Caddiedude, or me, and insist on using what you bought (rather than some as-yet-unspecified fount of knowledge to the contrary,) it seems you should ignore all our advice and use the proceeds (and the leftover cash) to get smaller coax that *will* fit. It is unfortunate that you bought coax that's better suited to base stations. By the way, before you find a way to install what you've got, be sure to look up the "minimum bending radius" for that RG-213 and see how shallow a turn it can tolerate when it makes the inevitable bend *somewhere*, whether it's outside the radio, when it makes it outside the so-far-nonexistent 5/8-inch hole (including its grommet) and then the bends up to the antenna.
Don't forget the drip loop under the body entrance and at the antenna connetion.
73 and good luck.

 

heres a thought, mount your ant on the passenger side and run it through the door. being on the passenger side, your only gonna close that door once in a while instead of constantly. if you have a full windshield curtain the track it slides on, unclips and pulls down so you can run the wire through there and still close the curtain.

i've got mine on a mirror mount with a separate ground strap, wilson 2k, general lee radio last time i checked the swr was @1.2. good luck.

(aint gonna even go into the whole thick/thin/bend ratio. i know 2+2 usually = 4 and i'm gonna stop there.

 

Any chance you can mount the ant on your rear grab bar? I did that. You should find a rubber plug under one of your toolbox doors under the bunk. Get a mount that bolts down on your grab bar so the tip of your antenna sticks up a bit above your tractor on the drive side.

 

You have removed the factory antenna from mirror?

I tried to leave mine connected for the AM/FM stereo, and had the same problem. Your AM/FM radio will still work off the other side mirror. But ultimately I ended up running my own antenna for it too.
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You are calibrating your meter after each adjustment, and each channel your checking every time?
You have checked the mount for ground?
You didn't crush coax in door?

Once you find the problem and corrected, I found tilting the antenna forward (1 o'clock) brought my SWR down from 1:1.2 to 1:1.0 on a 2012 volvo highrise sleeper.

Good luck!

 

Did you end up routing your own coax? The factory coax is really awful. Even with good antennae, you will have SWR ranging from 2-3:1

I'd leave my radio at home before I'd trust factory coax.

Looking forward to hearing about what you did!