UHF/VHF Radio Body - Where to mount for accessibility

[Two Emms]

Or for something completely different...........

https://www.consoles.com.au/Mitsubishi_PajeroNS_deeplow.htm

[Turorit]

This has intrigued me. I have no idea what's going on under there, but if it's only one screw - I need to check it out a little more.

I've checked out the glove box. Unfortunately the gap next to the USB sockets is way too small for the radio to fit. It looks like in his video it was larger in previous models?

Also - do you know what I should be searching for on youtube regarding that centre transmission panel, or have more information on where the screw is and how to remove? I've tried searching on youtube - but most of my results come up with outside of the car, not inside. Other video's seem to be pulling the whole lot apart as in a big job - so I may have misunderstood what you're referring to sorry.

Thanks again for your help!

Hi mate, hopefully these photos make more sense!
Eventually I'll move one of the external speakers so I can tell which radio is making noise. The remote head in the center pocket looks nice but turns out is a bit awkward to work with, I might move that eventually too. I don't use it often so its not a priority.

Someone mentioned the passenger rear rectangle pocket. You could remove it to expose the large cavity behind the trim panel (assuming you dont have the rockford subwoofer). Its got 4 phillips head screws (marked with red dot) and 3 plastic welded bits (green dots), you can brute force these off. If you're flexible enough, you can get the screws with a stubby screwdriver. If not, remove the entire rear qtr trim panel (check out denmonkey's compressor install vids)

[alanymarce]

I think you're talking about UHF CB radio's. In my scenario I have a VHF/UHF dual band radio where I need to access the body for programming / updating / a SD card slot, etc. (What I'm talking about here isn't a CB UHF Radio - but a HAM radio). Thanks for replying though!

Aha - thanks for clarifying.

[onair]

Or for something completely different...........

https://www.consoles.com.au/Mitsubis...NS_deeplow.htm

Now that is sweet! Thanks very much for sharing. I may look at upgrading to one of these regardless. (Surprised that the NX doesn't come with sunglasser holders to start with)!

I don't think it'll work for my HAM radio but definitely will for other things!

[onair]

Then you may well also have an amp under the passenger seat. Not sure if that's where they put them as my model is different

I cannot remember exactly which video shows how to access under the front seat but I do remember the trick was something like- remove the front seat bolts and only loosen the rear bolts. This allows you to lean the seat back and not damage/unplug the yellow airbag connections.( Fairly important!)

This link might also be handy for you to refer to for most things. Note that it only goes to 2013 but the information is applicable to most everything on later models. Don't think it covers the sound system but does cover electrics which could be handy for you.

http://faq.out-club.ru/download/paje...1/index_M1.htm

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find the 2013 Pajero in that link. Regarding the seats - thanks very much. I may need to look at doing something like that. I think I could get access just under the seat itself if I could remove the carpet / material from the back of the chair that covers up the bottom - but from what I can tell (although I'm very noobish) - it looks like it's a permanent fixture with some sort of button plug that appears to be a push in and leave permanently.

I think I'm going to book it in at the auto-elecs and get them to do it. I think getting under the seat is too much for me to do by myself and the last thing i want to do is stuff this up. (I really am bad when it comes to this sort of stuff. If it was straight forward I wouldn't mind - but having to start undoing a lot of stuff, and worry about cables that can't be unplugged - I'd be too worried about stretching/breaking something).

Thanks again for your help and advise. I think that under the seat will be the best option and hopefully it can be mounted in a way I can access and feel it with my hands to be able to plug/unplug from somewhere once fitted.

[onair]

Hi mate, hopefully these photos make more sense!
Eventually I'll move one of the external speakers so I can tell which radio is making noise. The remote head in the center pocket looks nice but turns out is a bit awkward to work with, I might move that eventually too. I don't use it often so its not a priority.

Someone mentioned the passenger rear rectangle pocket. You could remove it to expose the large cavity behind the trim panel (assuming you dont have the rockford subwoofer). Its got 4 phillips head screws (marked with red dot) and 3 plastic welded bits (green dots), you can brute force these off. If you're flexible enough, you can get the screws with a stubby screwdriver. If not, remove the entire rear qtr trim panel (check out denmonkey's compressor install vids)

Thanks for showing me those pictures. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words!

So it's just a single screw to remove that panel? I'll have to take a quick squiz and see if that will give me what I want. Under the seat would be ideal if it was like any other car I've had (where you can easily get access from the back of the seat) - but in this case I can't.

It does look like there would almost be enough room in there for the two units at the front - so I'll have to check out a bit more.

I do have the subwoofer - so no good for me - otherwise that would be the perfect location.

[Two Emms]

The little plastic clips holding the carpet stuff on the back of the seats can be undone. I had to undo them to fit my seatcovers. But.....they seem pretty delicate and I would be a little nervous mucking around with them too much

The panel on the trans tunnel has a couple of clips as well as the screw. Simple clips though, from memory, Take the screw out then ust wriggle it and it comes off.

[onair]

The little plastic clips holding the carpet stuff on the back of the seats can be undone. I had to undo them to fit my seatcovers. But.....they seem pretty delicate and I would be a little nervous mucking around with them too much

The panel on the trans tunnel has a couple of clips as well as the screw. Simple clips though, from memory, Take the screw out then ust wriggle it and it comes off.

Thanks very much for that. I'll stay clear of those plastic clips then. From what I can tell - even though they may be able to be undone, it doesn't look like they are designed to be undone.

I did manage to get the side panel off (I see what you mean by the clips!). Unfortunately while there looks to be plenty of room in there, existing cabling is mounted in a way that doesn't allow my body to sit in there - the body is too big. I think it would be ideal for the smaller UHF CB body - just not the larger HAM radio body.

I did find one location that looks promising, which is above the drivers left foot rest (behind the air vents). I have enclosed a coupe of photo's. (With my boot - I actually have my heel resting on the top of the rest - not my toes which I normally do - so my foot is a lot higher than it would normally be. Even with that - it looks like there would be plenty of clearance - little risk of kicking the unit).

The only thing is I don't know what's behind the carpet and if it's safe to drill into for the mount.

I've got the car booked in tomorrow with a sparky. Hopefully what I'm asking for isn't the impossible. At this stage I'd be happy with the body of the HAM radio mounted where it is in the photo's - unless anyone here thinks that it's a very bad idea?

[Two Emms]

Call me nervous but i wouldn't be drilling into carpet.

There's a a lot of wiring in behind the dash. Probably more than anywhere else in the car. Never mind that in some places there is only polystyrene behind the carpet and it wont hold a screw. Yes, polystyrene like your old style esky was made of!

If you can, peel any carpet back to see whats behind there. I just had a look at mine and it seems its only held by a bit of velcro. There is also some sound deadening material and wiring is not generally run under that. Try poking around and you may be able to see or feel under it. Personally I would only be happy to drill where i could see bare metal.

My advice? Check there's no wires hiding under carpet where you are going to drill and then check again

[onair]

Call me nervous but i wouldn't be drilling into carpet.

There's a a lot of wiring in behind the dash. Probably more than anywhere else in the car. Never mind that in some places there is only polystyrene behind the carpet and it wont hold a screw. Yes, polystyrene like your old style esky was made of!

If you can, peel any carpet back to see whats behind there. I just had a look at mine and it seems its only held by a bit of velcro. There is also some sound deadening material and wiring is not generally run under that. Try poking around and you may be able to see or feel under it. Personally I would only be happy to drill where i could see bare metal.

My advice? Check there's no wires hiding under carpet where you are going to drill and then check again

Thanks @Two Emms.

I'm actually going to get the sparky to do the job - so hopefully they'll know how to do it right - I'm just chasing an idea for where to tell them to install it so I can get to it later on. (I'm expecting that most auto-elec's don't have people rock up like me that need an install that needs to be easily accessible - so any head start I can give them with ideas will probably help them out).

I don't think velcro would hold the unit on it's side up there, otherwise I'd be happy with that.

[Two Emms]

Bit of a misunderstanding there Velcro I was referring to holds the carpet.

I agree, Velcro wouldn't be enough to hold your radio in this spot.

[onair]

Bit of a misunderstanding there Velcro I was referring to holds the carpet.

I agree, Velcro wouldn't be enough to hold your radio in this spot.

Well, it looks like the auto-elec agreed with you completely! He wasn't keen in drilling holes into the firewall - so has opted to mount it under the passengers chair.

However he was able to use the mounting bracket and mounted it directly to the chair. (Apparently there were two holes in the chair mount that lined up with the radio's mounting bracket so he was able to mount it upside down right there). Thus the radio moves with the chair. :-)

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone.

[Two Emms]

Under the front seat like you originally planned

Well at least all the other options have been thoroughly explored

[onair]

Under the front seat like you originally planned

Well at least all the other options have been thoroughly explored

Indeed
Got there in the end.
As much as I would love to have the skill to do something like this without breaking something - I think in the end it was the right call to get a sparky to do it. Apparently they had some issues getting the antenna brackets mounted as well - something to do with a lip - so was probably money well spent.

Still going to be interesting to see just how easy or not it will be to remove in future from where it is though - but like most things - I guess once I've done it a few times (removed the bolts to lift the seat up) - it'll become second nature.

I just got to remember - treat the yellow cable like it's TNT!