I had a fascinating development today. last night i pulled the antenna to test a couple of symptoms to get more information about what might be causing it. did not learn anything new. but when i put the antenna back on i put it on significantly tighter (not thread breaking tight but tighter then it was) because i didnt plan on taking it off again anytime soon (since my next step was to start deploying ground straps) and i cannot get the interference to come back. i'm not yet 100% convinced that problem is "SOLVED". but i didn't get one blip of interference in an hour long commute. suffice to say that i didn't use the handheld at all to test, and didn't go around channel skipping or anything. So I either fixed the antenna or broke it. lol

i have a dash cam but it isn't in the jeep right now.

cb but it isn't plugged in to power right now

Arb twin compressor under the hood not wired through the firewall

6 overhead offroad lights wired through the dash

2 front offroad lights but not wired through the dash

i think that is it for electrical. I've played with them toggling them off and on and neither seem to make a difference to the static

No resolution but a similar problem in this thread. LED taillights?

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/cb-picking-up-interference.22379/

It doesnt make a difference what speed the engine is. and the last 2 days i've been playing with it on my commute and it has become more more sporadic than before. and as i pulled into the driveway today and parked pressing the brake lights was making it do it. but i do not have LED tail lights.

@John Russell good find on that forum Fyr196 is for sure having the same issue as me just on a different channel. i think its almost time to just buy a 20 pack of ground straps and just go crazy with them

@Aaron Kravik well the jeep JL fans are obnoxious and do whatever they want. including full jet engine mode at the smallest hint of over heating. it is possible that they are being triggered during normal operations once the jeep warms up to normal temp to keep it from going to high. and i see what you are saying about the transmission ground now. that would have been my assumption as well. i read it wrong the first time. i don't think it would hurt to throw a ferrite choke on the base units lead. but why would that effect the handheld radio? and i have run the handheld without the base unit off and gotten the same static. so it cant just be the power lead can it? i read the article John Russell posted and the only thing that seems to make sense is maybe the exhaust system and the hood need better grounding? it is obviously the vehicle causing the problem, just need to figure out what

@Michael Figgins easy enough to eliminate the fan. Drive until you experience the interference and pull the fan fuse.

The ferrite choke would be more of a bandaid to possibly help reduce symptoms. Not fix the problem.

@Aaron Kravik I have eliminated the fan as the culprit