Outdoor Adventure USA

I thought I would go ahead and post the information on how I mounted my Yaesu 8800R even though it's been installed for about a month.
I mounted my 8800 on the overhead in front of the rear view mirror using the ideas and procedures from someone on this or the fjcruiser forums web site. I just spent about half hour searching for the info but could not find it. The instructions included epoxying a 2X4 to the roof of the FJ between the overhead and roof. The depth of the 2X4 fits perfectly. I cut the length of the 2X4 a little longer than the width of the 8800 mounting bracket. I angled the radio toward the drivers seat. As you can see from this picture I used Velcro to mount the antenna controls to the left side of the radios mounting bracket The cable coiled above the radio is temporary and is used to attach the radio to my laptop for programming. I than installed the motorized antenna mount like Hardluck (http://www.oausa.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1127), running the wiring underneath the rain gutter and into the outside pillar on the passenger side. Since I have a stock rack I could not run the cables under the front leg where it attaches to the roof so I had to bring the wiring out and around the leg. I covered the wiring with heat shrink. The antenna lead was not long enough to run down the outside of the pillar and than into the truck and back up the inside pillar and into the headliner so I was forced to bring the cables out the top of the outside passenger pillar across the door edge through a rubber grommet and into the truck under the headliner. I had to notch the door jam under the top left of the passenger rubber door molding for the grommet. Because of the rubber door molding there is really no pressure on the cabling. I ran the power from the battery across the firewall and into the passenger pillar to meet up with the antenna wiring. I admit this is the weak part of the install and I will probably rewire this part when I get a longer coax and install a second battery. After everything was completed the SWR test barely move the meter and the radio is working great.
I'm planning on getting a Wilderness rack to attach to the stock rack and then I'll be able to attached the antenna motor to the Wilderness rack so the antenna will lay below the stock roof rack (a little more protection).

A 2X4 in the headliner ??? Interesting idea....

I do have a couple of comments based on my installation experience with FJs:

The Diamond mounts are available with coax cable up to 13 feet in length, and they offer extension coax as well - so you shouldn't have a cable length problem (I've wired hundreds with no issues).

Be very careful with wires going through the upper door weather stripping - it will allow water to leak onto the headliner. you won't notice it at first, but over time it will saturate the headliner and leak down onto the dash or rear of the vehicle, as well as start corrosion in the vehicle's side panels. I've repaired several instances of this when dealer's do this work, so just a suggestion to prevent future headaches.