Sirius Satellite Antenna Placement in 2005 Jeep Wrangler

I saw another thread here about installing Sirius in a Jeep Wrangler and thought I would share my installation technique which I think works a bit better.

DOCK PLACEMENT

I used the suction cup holder, attaching it to the bottom of the windshield on the left-hand side of the inspection sticker. It's a great location because I don't have to move my eyes far from the road to see what's playing. It's also easy to route cables to this location.

ANTENNA PLACEMENT

I put the antenna puck on top of the roll bar that goes between the speakers, just like the original poster, but I put mine INSIDE the roll bar cover. I unzipped the cover and placed the puck onto the roll bar, right between the two front seats. The roll bar padding helps hold it in place as does the magnetic back of the puck, but just to be sure it doesn't move around too much I used the sticky part that goes around the tail of the puck to hold it in place. I routed the cable to the right of the Jeep and then down the right-hand roll bar by the passenger seat, unzipping the roll bar cover to get the cable inside of it. I routed the rest of the cable under the carpeting on the right side of the jeep and then up behind the glove box (had to remove the glove box to do so) and then up underneath the defroster vent cover (only held in place by metal clips, so you can remove it by gently prying it loose). I routed it to the left of the middle clip on the defroster cover.

POWER CABLE

I removed the dash cover below the steering wheel. I had to remove 2 screws below and to either side of the steering wheel, then gently pry the two metal clips at the top and to either side of the piece loose. I plugged the adapter into the cigarette lighter and routed the cable up underneath the center console piece (it took some finagling to get it there), then into the space behind the dash piece I just removed. I kept the excess cable back there with a twist tie and routed the rest of the cable up the left side of the center console to the Sportster dock.


I also use the direct fm connection (bought separately) to increase the sound quality...the fm antenna from outside the jeep connects to an extension cable behind the glove box, so I unplugged that and hooked it into the direct fm connection. I took the output from the fm connection and routed it the same way I did the antenna cable.

All in all I'm happy with the location of my Sirius radio, the antenna's reception, and the way the cables look. I'd recommend using this method for your Wrangler.

I appreciate you taking the time to post your install, its awesome to share different ideas here, for all of those people that I see in traffic everyday with their receiver slapped up in the middle of their windshield with wires hanging all over the place. (How about a pic?)

I have a question though...don't you worry about your receiver being up there? Do you remove it every time you know you will be leaving your car alone for a while? I think the beauty of my placement is that no one walking buy notices it.

I'll get some pics of it tomorrow and post those.

I take the radio out every time I leave my Jeep, otherwise I'd be begging people to steal it. I agree that your placement is MUCH more inconspicuous...for me having it higher up is better since I switch stations a lot and I don't have to look down by my shifter to see what's playing.

I have a 2004 Wrangler, and I drive a truck. I love the performance of the truck antenna and I am considering mounting a 30" truck antenna to the spare tire mount. Has anyone tried this yet?:poop:

I have seen people wire the regular antenna under the spare tire cover on a jeep and it worked fine. I would imagine that the 30 inch truck would be that much better, but I don't know if its necessary.

Nice gratuitous use of the poop icon!

This looks fairly easy if we follow your directions. We have to wait for some better weather - winter in SE Michigan is not the time to try this.