Installed Sirio 5000 On Suzuki Aerio SX

[silvereagle1]

I finally got around to installing my antenna on the Suzuki this weekend after my local 2 way radio shop cancelled my appointment on Friday. I'm glad they did now because it wasn't hard to do after all. For a couple of months now I've thought of 20 different ways to do this thing and I think I put it in a spot that will perform well and still maintain its looks. I'm Not a fan of putting an antenna dead center of a vehicle. It's toward the rear but I had good results on my other car on the rear end so it should be ok. One note on the Sirio instruction sheet that I feel is pretty important to mention. They call for a 5/8 inch hole and it's really too big. The UHF connector has a rubber seal that seats to the bottom side of the roof and with a 5/8 inch hole the rubber seal is too small for the circle. You would think that well it's still sealed on the top of the roof which is true BUT the water will run down the threads and make it to the bottom seal and if it's not 100% sealed off then eventually you'll get rust and a grounding issue. I had the rust problem on my other car. I was at lowes and the sales guy suggested a Unibit to make the hole exact size. It's a pricy bit but I'm glad I got it now because the hole is just big enough to get the UHF connector through it. No room for play at all and the rubber seal is 100 percent around the circle. It cost 42 bucks but it was worth it to me. i'll post pics of the installation.
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[Rabbit Ears]

Good going dude!! Congrats!!

[Big blue]

Outstanding!

[MDYoungblood]

Looks good SE1. The headache is the headliner "R and R", I had a local auto upholstery shop take mine out, I installed the antenna mounts and then they reinstalled it, they cleaned it while it was out.

3's

Greg

[silvereagle1]

Looks good SE1. The headache is the headliner "R and R", I had a local auto upholstery shop take mine out, I installed the antenna mounts and then they reinstalled it, they cleaned it while it was out.

3's

Greg

I had made arrangements with the business that does the local law enforcement cruisers here in town but they bailed out at the last minute so I got impatient. Since the antenna is toward the rear of the car the headliner wasn't all that bad. I had to pop out the trim on the sidewalls to get the headliner to drop down a few inches but that was about it. I had a 83 Dodge Charger one time and mounted the antenna about the same place as this one and it had two sheets of metal to cut through. I had a heck of a time with the install on that one.

[1206FL]

Nice install silvereagle1!! A steel center punch and a unibit is a good combo for drilling roofs. Does make for a clean install and proper fitment. I like using them better than a hole saw for holes that small. Makes installs a breeze. Can be used for drilling a lot of metals! Good tool for the box!

[silvereagle1]

I'm almost ready to be back on the air. I've got the power ran from the battery to the fuses now so I'm half way there on getting my radio/amp wired up in the other car. Drilled out a hole in the firewall and put in a grommet.
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[southwind]

Silvereagle 1, you should be proud of your work, you will not find anyone who will take the patience you did to make a very nice/clean installation as you have. On another note, when I was in the Body Shop business for 30+yrs, the guy's in the shop used the unibit religilously, beware they break very easy, especially @ the 1st or 2nd steps, so be carefull. Sometimes it's best to use a seperate bit for the pilot hole, then use the unibit. All the body shops have a tool truck that stop by the shops to keep the men in tools. and the unibit that is sold off the tool trucks could possibly be less expensive. Lastley, they break very easy, and the one's sold from the tool truck are replaced under warranty, just wanted to share thi information, JMHO.

[silvereagle1]

I've been working on the wiring for my radio the past few days. I've searched all over knoxville for the type of grommet pictured below for the firewall but can't find one. I settled on the old standard for now. May have to order one online. The one pictured would make a better installation I think. Thanks for the info on the unibit. I had never used one before i drilled this hole. I always used hole-saws before. I'm a believer in them now. At first I was worried about it crawling but it didn't. Worth having in the tool bag. May do a separate post topic on the overall installation of my radio and antenna system together when 100% completed.
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