purplewg
04-21-2011, 07:44 AM
After looking at the aftermarket prices ($399) for an overhead console for the Gator and that doesn’t include a radio, I decided to make my own. Not needing anything show quality I elected to just get the JENSEN Water Resistant Gimbal Mount Housing and use that as my starting point.
I had ordered a LineX covered Diamondback Diamond Plate top so having the metal top allows for several options in mounting. Initially I figured to weld a couple brackets on the crossover roll ball section but after seeing how well this roof is made I just decided to mount direct to the roof.
The mounting brackets for the radio mount didn’t give me the clearance I wanted between the roll bar the radio housing (1/4”) so I put some ? inch hard rubber between the brackets and the roof to space the mounting brackets down. I used self-drilling screws to mount the brackets to the roof. Make sure you mark and double check your marks to get the housing mounted exactly where you want it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio4.jpg
Next was getting power to the radio. I discovered the bottom of the side roll bars are open (need to seal these to keep bee’s out) and where the crossover roll bar bolts to the two side roll bars the outside (right) bar has a hole behind the bracket. I fished two 14 gauge wires from the top down and out the bottom of the roll bar. Note, my XUV did not have this hole on the left side, only the right side. Routing wire to the battery is a piece of cake. Back at the top I did not want a bunch of tie wraps around the bar up there so I measured and punched the bar at a down angle enough to allow me to get the drill under the roof. I then drilled a ? inch hole in the crossover roll bar. A 5/8 would have been better but I was able to get all the wires through ok.
I used a picture frame hanger wire as a fish tape to pull the wires in. Push on the wire and pull on the home made fish tape to aid in pulling the wire. So, now I have the weather proof box mounted and power/ground routed to it. I left some excess wire in the right side roll bar bracket in case I want/need more power connections up there later. I can splice to it easily. May end mounting roof mount driving lights up there and I will have power available.
I also painted the radio mount as the factory color was cream.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio8.jpg
Now, on to the speakers. If I had better sense I would have ordered a lower profile speaker but I didn’t so I was stuck with what I had. I measured the diameter of the speaker covers and cut a piece of 3/8 plywood wide enough to mount the speakers and long enough to span the width between the upper roll bars. I think it came out to 8 inches wide by 48 ? inch long. I then cut the holes in the plywood to mount the speakers with a jig saw. I mounted one and took it to the Gator and realized at that point if I attach my plywood speaker housing to the bottom of the roll bars the magnets on the speakers would hit the roof. At this point I slid the plywood/speakers back into the area at the back of the roof with the curve. It allowed ample room for the speakers but does create a bit of an odd angle to screw the self-drilling screws in but not too bad. I pre-drilled the plywood with an angle that looked like I could get the self-drilling screw in the center of the roll bar. I then screwed one self-drilling screw in each side of the plywood. I went back and put one more in each side. For this I used 2 inch number 10 self-drilling screws.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio5.jpg
Knowing the 3/8 inch plywood would be kind of floppy in the middle I pulled it and put a 2 inch by ? inch wooden brace down each long run perpendicular to the edge of the plywood. I glued and screwed these braces on. Much stiffer now. See the picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio9.jpg
Don’t do what I did and put this in and then remember you have not put the antenna on the back yet. I wanted my antenna on the back but you can mount it anywhere the cable allows it to reach.
I drilled a 5/8 inch hole centered in the back of the roof but the antenna housing was still too large so I got a Dremel tool out and opened up the hole enough to fit the antenna base. I mounted and ran the antenna cable straight up the roof to the radio. I then used some automotive Goop to glue this cable to the underside of the roof. Put a towel or something down in case some of the glue drips. I also used a couple boards to hold the cable in place until the Goop dried. Not sure how this Goop will work out. It appears to have held well to the LineX material but time will tell.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio10.jpg
Next I ran the speaker wires from the back up to the front where the radio is mounted. To do this I hid the wires behind the outside roll bars and then up the center cross support bar. I fed my fish cable from the hole I drilled to the outside roll bars, attached the speaker cables and gently pulled them through. Be careful the inside of the hole you drill is very sharp. Once you have all the power and speaker wires pulled through this hole I would recommend sealing the wires and the hole with silicone or the automotive Goop product. This will prevent the wires from moving/vibrating and possibly cutting through the insulation.
I then went to a fabric store and purchased a yard of black vinyl material and a piece of foam. I used this to cover the speaker housing and make it appear to be a little more than redneck engineering.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio15.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio14.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio12.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/gator6.jpg
Now, the radio review. For the price it has a ton of features. You can load and play Mp3 player, SD card, USB stick, CD’s, and it has a remote control. The down fall is I can’t see the display sitting in the seat. It is some sort of cheap LCD display and I actually have to get out, go around back, and stand to side to read it. While I don’t like this I certainly won’t go buy another radio till this one quits. Once I got my main buttons memorized and my channels preset, I don’t really need to look at the display any way. The remote is kind of nice as I can leave the weather proof door closed over the front of the radio and still operate it.
So, that is about it. I am really pleased with the outcome and the cost.
Parts list:
JENSEN AM/FM Top or Side Mount Antenna - 1181067 $15 free shipping
JENSEN Water Resistant Gimbal Mount Housing - MGH300 $33 free shipping
Boss MR60W 6.5-Inch 2-Way Marine Speakers - $28 free shipping
PYLE PLCD3MR AM/FM-MPX IN -Dash Marine CD/MP3 Player/USB and SD Card Function - $72 free shipping
20’ 14 ga red wire $5
20’ 14 ga black wire $5
1 yard vinyl - $17
1 piece of 1 inch foam - $20 think I got ripped on this.
Self-drilling screws I had.
12’ speaker wire I had.
The total comes to $195. I thought I could do it for $150 but I added the vinyl and foam covering just to dress it up.
I had ordered a LineX covered Diamondback Diamond Plate top so having the metal top allows for several options in mounting. Initially I figured to weld a couple brackets on the crossover roll ball section but after seeing how well this roof is made I just decided to mount direct to the roof.
The mounting brackets for the radio mount didn’t give me the clearance I wanted between the roll bar the radio housing (1/4”) so I put some ? inch hard rubber between the brackets and the roof to space the mounting brackets down. I used self-drilling screws to mount the brackets to the roof. Make sure you mark and double check your marks to get the housing mounted exactly where you want it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio4.jpg
Next was getting power to the radio. I discovered the bottom of the side roll bars are open (need to seal these to keep bee’s out) and where the crossover roll bar bolts to the two side roll bars the outside (right) bar has a hole behind the bracket. I fished two 14 gauge wires from the top down and out the bottom of the roll bar. Note, my XUV did not have this hole on the left side, only the right side. Routing wire to the battery is a piece of cake. Back at the top I did not want a bunch of tie wraps around the bar up there so I measured and punched the bar at a down angle enough to allow me to get the drill under the roof. I then drilled a ? inch hole in the crossover roll bar. A 5/8 would have been better but I was able to get all the wires through ok.
I used a picture frame hanger wire as a fish tape to pull the wires in. Push on the wire and pull on the home made fish tape to aid in pulling the wire. So, now I have the weather proof box mounted and power/ground routed to it. I left some excess wire in the right side roll bar bracket in case I want/need more power connections up there later. I can splice to it easily. May end mounting roof mount driving lights up there and I will have power available.
I also painted the radio mount as the factory color was cream.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio8.jpg
Now, on to the speakers. If I had better sense I would have ordered a lower profile speaker but I didn’t so I was stuck with what I had. I measured the diameter of the speaker covers and cut a piece of 3/8 plywood wide enough to mount the speakers and long enough to span the width between the upper roll bars. I think it came out to 8 inches wide by 48 ? inch long. I then cut the holes in the plywood to mount the speakers with a jig saw. I mounted one and took it to the Gator and realized at that point if I attach my plywood speaker housing to the bottom of the roll bars the magnets on the speakers would hit the roof. At this point I slid the plywood/speakers back into the area at the back of the roof with the curve. It allowed ample room for the speakers but does create a bit of an odd angle to screw the self-drilling screws in but not too bad. I pre-drilled the plywood with an angle that looked like I could get the self-drilling screw in the center of the roll bar. I then screwed one self-drilling screw in each side of the plywood. I went back and put one more in each side. For this I used 2 inch number 10 self-drilling screws.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio5.jpg
Knowing the 3/8 inch plywood would be kind of floppy in the middle I pulled it and put a 2 inch by ? inch wooden brace down each long run perpendicular to the edge of the plywood. I glued and screwed these braces on. Much stiffer now. See the picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio9.jpg
Don’t do what I did and put this in and then remember you have not put the antenna on the back yet. I wanted my antenna on the back but you can mount it anywhere the cable allows it to reach.
I drilled a 5/8 inch hole centered in the back of the roof but the antenna housing was still too large so I got a Dremel tool out and opened up the hole enough to fit the antenna base. I mounted and ran the antenna cable straight up the roof to the radio. I then used some automotive Goop to glue this cable to the underside of the roof. Put a towel or something down in case some of the glue drips. I also used a couple boards to hold the cable in place until the Goop dried. Not sure how this Goop will work out. It appears to have held well to the LineX material but time will tell.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio10.jpg
Next I ran the speaker wires from the back up to the front where the radio is mounted. To do this I hid the wires behind the outside roll bars and then up the center cross support bar. I fed my fish cable from the hole I drilled to the outside roll bars, attached the speaker cables and gently pulled them through. Be careful the inside of the hole you drill is very sharp. Once you have all the power and speaker wires pulled through this hole I would recommend sealing the wires and the hole with silicone or the automotive Goop product. This will prevent the wires from moving/vibrating and possibly cutting through the insulation.
I then went to a fabric store and purchased a yard of black vinyl material and a piece of foam. I used this to cover the speaker housing and make it appear to be a little more than redneck engineering.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio15.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio14.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/radio12.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/gator6.jpg
Now, the radio review. For the price it has a ton of features. You can load and play Mp3 player, SD card, USB stick, CD’s, and it has a remote control. The down fall is I can’t see the display sitting in the seat. It is some sort of cheap LCD display and I actually have to get out, go around back, and stand to side to read it. While I don’t like this I certainly won’t go buy another radio till this one quits. Once I got my main buttons memorized and my channels preset, I don’t really need to look at the display any way. The remote is kind of nice as I can leave the weather proof door closed over the front of the radio and still operate it.
So, that is about it. I am really pleased with the outcome and the cost.
Parts list:
JENSEN AM/FM Top or Side Mount Antenna - 1181067 $15 free shipping
JENSEN Water Resistant Gimbal Mount Housing - MGH300 $33 free shipping
Boss MR60W 6.5-Inch 2-Way Marine Speakers - $28 free shipping
PYLE PLCD3MR AM/FM-MPX IN -Dash Marine CD/MP3 Player/USB and SD Card Function - $72 free shipping
20’ 14 ga red wire $5
20’ 14 ga black wire $5
1 yard vinyl - $17
1 piece of 1 inch foam - $20 think I got ripped on this.
Self-drilling screws I had.
12’ speaker wire I had.
The total comes to $195. I thought I could do it for $150 but I added the vinyl and foam covering just to dress it up.