Mobile Radio: Yaesu FTM-400XDR in a Toyota Tacoma
If you find this information helpful, please consider using this Amazon affiliate link to purchase the radios and accessories listed. A very small portion of the sale (1-4%) goes to supporting information and education on this site. This is not a paid promotion and I have no relationship with any of the following companies.
Intro and overview
Putting a radio in your car or truck can be extremely beneficial. Having access to a 50W mobile radio while you hunt, roadtrip, or commute adds elements of connection, security, and even entertainment. It’s capability and performance that a handheld simply does not have.
Some people find the idea of installing a mobile radio daunting — electrical work, running wires, and permanent modifications to their vehicles. This guide should hopefully ease a few of those fears and give you general direction when planning your next install.
Here’s a list of the main parts mentioned in this article:
This post is not intended as a step-by-step instruction for how to install the Switch-Pro unit (many Youtube videos exist already for this make/model), but will provide recommendations on equipment selection and mounting.
Why the FTM-400?
Let’s start with the radio selection. There are a lot of really good mobile radios on the market right now. I like Yaesu a lot, but there are other good brands like ICOM and Kenwood. Keep in mind Yaesu usually include all the mounts you need, and ICOM often makes you buy mounts separately. Small detail, but worth mentioning.
I picked the FTM-400 for a few simple reasons — Big clear color screen, dual-monitoring, and cross-band repeat. Yaesu meets all of my quality and durability requirements, and the form factor lends itself very well to discreet vehicle mounting. I wanted something that could be tucked away out of sight when parked in public (more on that below).
Cross-band repeat allows for the radio to simultaneously receive on one frequency and then retransmit (repeat) that signal on another frequency. This allows you to use your vehicle as a hub or middleman in getting your signal out. If you needed to set out on foot with a handheld radio, you could use crossband repeat on your vehicle up on the high ground to repeat that signal and reach further distances.
With very few exceptions, this radio has been fantastic to use, but there are a few very small things I dislike about the FTM-400. First, the quick button menu on the bottom cannot be customized. I don’t really mess with my squelch or use the mute button much, and I would much rather have those buttons be customized to something like “scan” instead. The scanning process requires hitting the “F” button and then another soft button to start and stop. You cannot stop scanning by pushing the channel dials (like almost all radios have done since the 90s), which is rather annoying.
Update: Thanks to @reilly_forster on instagram who told me the secret to customizing the bottom menu. I looked everywhere in the manual and was racking my brain. Turns out you just need to hold each button for a long time (feels like an eternity, I wasn’t holding them long enough before) for custom menu options to appear.
Also, when programming, the A and B channels are essentially treated as two seperate radios. Some people like this and have duplex up top, and simplex down below, but I prefer being able to access anything I need from either the A or B slot. To work around this, I just saved the same frequency lists for A and B.
While not unique to Yaesu radios, the body of the radio does fit nicely on the floor under the driver’s seat, held in place with heavy-duty velcro. The low clearance of the seat, and the motors for the power seat control prevent the radio from ever becoming dislodged and entering the space under the pedals in an accident. This gives you easy access for cables running under the carpet (see below for how the door trim pops off to easily run cables through here). It also allows you to access the Micro SD card from the rear of the cabin to update programming files. The speaker volume has always been loud enough to hear clearly over road noise and highway driving.
View of the radio body under the driver’s seat.
Antenna selection and mounting
I was looking for something low-profile and unintrusive, but still very capable. Some ham guys can be a little wild, and I don’t like drawing attention to myself. Finding the right balance of capable and covert took some diligent hunting and a few trips to HRO to measure things, but what I found was the perfect combination for a third-gen Tacoma that wouldn’t get caught in parking garages and does not ever hit the windshield when the hood is open.
The Comet SBB-1NMO 2M/70cm Antenna comes in at about 16 inches, and when used with a Victory 4X4 Antenna Hood Mount, looks almost OEM in a place that many vehicles already have an FM antenna. To the casual observer, it looks like it’s supposed to be there. This ground-independent antenna is also really well grounded despite not having to use any special grounds or grounding straps. It comes in at around 1.1swr on 2M, and 1.4 on 70cm. The only downside is sacrificing a space normally used for ditch lights when off roading. Consider your own personal needs and situation.
Comet SBB-1NMO Antenna
I think the secret to the success of this antenna is the stainless steel mount that bolts directly to the hood hinges on the Tacoma (you can see a full install video here). Tacomas are primed and painted with the hood and hood hinges already attached, so removing the two 10mm bolts gives you a direct bare-metal ground to the frame while also giving you a hug reflective surface of the hood to aid in performance. It’s well-known that the best way to mount an antenna is to cut a 3/4” hole directly in the middle of the sheet metal on your roof and put an NMO mount on it, but most people can’t bring themselves to cut a hole directly in the roof of their car. This hood-hinge approach requires no cutting of any panels and in theory could be removed and returned to its original state later on.
The modified (bent) antenna mount connected to the hood hinge.
I should note that fitting and trimming may be required for the mount. I ended up shaping and bending the stainless steel mount to clear the gap on the weather cowling on my vehicle. You can raise up the mounting position of the NMO mount in a vise with a little strength. Overall I’m a big fan of this mount from Victory 4X4. I’ve already installed a second mount on the driver’s side hood hinge for future GMRS projects.
Overall, I’ve liked this antenna so much, I also purchased one for my Wife’s Jeep that performs equally as well. For the record, it can survive the car wash, although I wouldn’t recommend it.
If you’re looking for an extremely covert option, check out the Midland 3 dB Gain Ghost Antenna. It’s designed for GMRS, but I plan to have a blog post up on this antenna in the near future.
Running Coax
There are many different kinds of coax with different levels of quality and levels of shielding. I use LMR-400 whenever possible at home to avoid interference and line loss. However, in very short distances like a vehicle, it’s unlikely you’re going to be experiencing much loss. The biggest challenge in installing mobile radios is passing through small gaps, panels, and grommets (such as the firewall) with a giant PL-259 connector on the end.
The Diamond C213SNMO cable solves this with a simple SMA plug and a PL-259 adapter. This smaller plug can be easily woven through small gaps and cracks, and is extremely thin overall. I ran mine down through the weather cowling below the windshield (make sure the coax is NOT going to be crushed by the hood when closed), and along the firewall tied to a factory wiring harness.
Extra length in the coax to allow for easy opening of the hood.
Be sure to run coax on the outside of the hinge to avoid the coax being crushed or damaged.
Power Management
It’s important to approach wiring carefully. Don’t be haphazard about this part of the process or use guesswork. Seek the help of an experienced person if you’re unsure.
The FTM-400 comes with all the wiring and instructions you should need (including fuzes) with directions on how to hook the radio up directly to the battery. What I prefer to do is have some sort of power management system to avoid overcurrent, potential parasitic drain, shorts, and any other potential electrical hazards to the vehicle. Modern vehicles are getting more and more complex electrically, and the Tacoma can be very expensive to repair if you damage a low-side computer controlled negative switch in the process. Some people prefer to hook up directly to the battery (potential for always-on power), some prefer the ignition (powers up only when the vehicle is on), but I prefer a combination of the two.
The Switch Pros SP-9100 Power System allows you to do that in a simple, clean, and safe way. It’s a waterproof, solid-state 125A power module with four 35A circuits and four 20A circuits. This allows you to manage multiple radios within the same system, protect them from overcurrent, and also use bluetooth control from a short distance. It also greatly reduces wiring complexity when multiple radios are present. Inside the vehicle, you get a simple button interface that looks OEM.
The Cali-Raised Switch-Pros panel mount does require some fitting and trimming (I ended up motivating it with a few mallet taps to click it into place), but it’s one of the best options for an ultra-clean OEM-look inside. They’re quite expensive for what they are, but a niche, American-made product like this is always going to be expensive. The offset design of the panel is actually what sold me. It means the Switch-Pros control is less obscured by the steering wheel when driving. You can’t see all the buttons, but you can see more of the panel than if it were center-positioned. You can directly transfer all the factory buttons from a 2020 Tacoma into the new panel.
The Cali-Raised Switch-Pros panel mount (left) and the OEM Toyota Factory panel mount(Right).
The SDHQ Switch-Pros Power Module Mount inside the engine bay allows you to mount the Switch-Pros power mudle vertically (essential for preventing water build-up and corrosion in the connections and terminals), and gives you close-access to the main rubber grommet you will need to pass through to enter the interior of the Tacoma. I highly recommend a very long screwdriver, patience, and small incremental pushes on the rubber grommet until you break through it. Pushing too hard too quickly can damage sensitive fuses on the interior that will cause expensive headaches.
Wiring can be fed underneath the door cover plate. This gives you easy access under the carpet to the radio underneath the driver’s seat.
Tacoma Cup Holder Delete Mod
The final part of the installation is mounting the head unit. Some mount it high on top of the dash, but I needed something more hidden and discrete. I ended up removing the cup holder near the QI wireless charger and replacing it with a custom-cut piece of marine-grade HDPE. The good news is I still get a full GPS connection for APRS and other uses despite the fact the head unit is mounted out of sight. If you’re not a thirsty boy who needs five cup holders, this is a great way to mount head units in a very convenient position.
Instructions for removing the center console can be found here.
Use the factory cup holder to trace an outline for the new panel. Some patient fitting with washers will be required. Holding on to your cupholder means this process can be reversed later on if desired.
The last step is running the head unit control wire up from the driver’s seat through the center console. For this radio I chose a low profile radio mount available on amazon to achieve the right angles and height for my normal driving position. The mount can be drilled directly into the new HDPE panel at an angle that suits you.
Thank you for checking out this blog post. If you find this information helpful, please consider using this Amazon affiliate link to purchase the radios and accessories listed. A very small portion of the sale (1-4%) goes to supporting information and education on this site.
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