CB antenna mounts on a 3rd Gen

[Ducman82]

SO im thinking of getting a CB. But the wife does not want me to drill holes in the roof... . and i dont want to mess that up. so where is a good place to mount one (or two) on the 3rd gens? i heat you need it above the cab or above the ground plane. then why do people mount them on the fenders or behind the cab? anything wrong with mounting a willson 5000 whip on the side of the bed? what would my range be if i did the vs over roof? pics would be great! and you $. 02 on your expericances would be great!

 

[Radshooter]

I went with dual 5 footers behind the cab in the front stake pockets. I used quick disconnect fittings because I only use them if I am pulling the fiver, or on a long trip. Don't use them around town because they hit on things too bad. The tips are about 10' in the air. I was told (and it seems to work) that at least 2/3 of your antenna length needs to be above the top of the cab for best results. That is why I picked the five foot sticks, 2' behind and 3' above the cab. I also thought the dual antennas would help get around the fiver better than a single in the center of the cab. Don't know if that is true or not, but they look great when they are on. I will try to dig up some pics when I get home tonight.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Singles will generally be a broader pattern, where as dual antennas are not tuned to a ground plane but instead to each other. They don't reach out the sides very well, but will reach forward and rearward better than a single. If you are pulling a trailer and trying to make it back around the trailer, this is an asset, which is why most OTR trucks are running duals. I ran a single on my 95 mounted on the the front fender half way down the hood and it worked very well, ran a 4 or 5 ' fiberglass Firestik 2. The roof is the best ground plane, the hood is the next best thing. The box makes a poor ground plane, so if you want to mount behind the cab either run a dual setup or make them tall enough to ground plane off the roof. However, the added interference of being positioned right behind the cab will negatively increase your SWR. Perhaps a better non-roof mounted option would be a set of duals off of the front fenders. Please note that you must use specific wire and setups that are different if you run a single or duals. You can't just T two antennas in and expect it to work properly. That is how radios are burned out.

 

[13MWZ]

I have been eyeballing the mirrors. I have the towing mirrors on my truck and would like to mount mine there... ..... just need to engineer a way to do it.

 

[JHardwick]

Duals do not work unless you can get 8-9' between them.

 

[Jeepr]

I've got dual larsen 4' whips. However, one is for the CB and one is for a Ham radio. They are in the stake pockets and I ran the wires in the vents in the back of the cab. A total no-drill install.



Probably not as good as one on the roof, but I think it does pretty well, I seem to be among the best in our groups at getting out and receiving when we caravan places. If you ever venture into parking garages (I usually don't) these will change your mind though, pretty noisy. Mine are silver and barely visible, was actually hard to get a picture to show them.



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[PParker32]

Has anyone tried to use the Firestik Dodge hood mount on newer truck, their web site says it will not? Or can it be modified to work?

Pat

 

[MMeier]

SO im thinking of getting a CB. But the wife does not want me to drill holes in the roof... . and i dont want to mess that up. so where is a good place to mount one (or two) on the 3rd gens? i heat you need it above the cab or above the ground plane. then why do people mount them on the fenders or behind the cab? anything wrong with mounting a willson 5000 whip on the side of the bed? what would my range be if i did the vs over roof? pics would be great! and you $. 02 on your expericances would be great!

82, nice antenna like that and you want to hang it off the bed??? Pop a hole in the roof and do it right!!

 

[Ducman82]

im working on the roof mounting part... ... . but does anyone have any expericance with predator 10k or monkey made. i hear they rock!

 

[tazzen]

Has anyone tried to use the Firestik Dodge hood mount on newer truck, their web site says it will not? Or can it be modified to work?

Pat

Yeah they do work. I got dual firesticks on my wife's truck. Can't remember if it is a different bracket but they are from firestick.

Looks good too.



Ed

 

[PParker32]

Ed,

Thanks, but the Firestik web site says they are good to 05, I need to know if they can be made to fit later trucks as mine is a 07?

I may try to use the bolt that is forward rather than rear bolt, as they instruct?

Pat

 

[JHardwick]

Pop a hole in the roof and do it right!!

thaaaaaaats right

 

[Ducman82]

if i mount on roof, how i i keep it from ripping out etc,,,,, big washer under the stud for the antenna?whats the best way to center it?

 

[JHardwick]

You need a Wilson roof mount, not the trucker mount.

 

[Ducman82]

how does that one mount? i mean i know it goes on the roof, but how does it attach,?

 

[Cattletrkr]

Duals do not work unless you can get 8-9' between them.

Well, to be fair, they work but not great. Mine are mounted on the top of my headache rack and I decided to keep it simple so they ended up only 6' (actually 72. 25") apart. Not the greatest, but good enough for me. If I had a single cable at the time I would have just used one. Didn't feel like buying another cable so I used both my old antennas.

I've had very good luck in the past using a cheap little magnet mount antenna.

 

[steved]

if i mount on roof, how i i keep it from ripping out etc,,,,, big washer under the stud for the antenna?whats the best way to center it?

Its called a "puck"... look them up here:



AntennaMounts



Some guys actually use a saw blade as a washer...

 

[steved]

Duals do not work unless you can get 8-9' between them.

I guess this is one thing we'll disagree on... I have duals on the fenders of my dad's truck... he has a PC76 and easily obtained a 1. 2:1 SWR with cophased coax, and has an great range for a barefoot radio. The only thing is, he is very directional to the sides and front, and signal sucks to the rear.

 

[steved]

SO im thinking of getting a CB. But the wife does not want me to drill holes in the roof... .

Why don't you consider a magnet-mount Wilson 1000 or Wilson 5000??

 

[JHardwick]

Its called a "puck"... look them up here:



AntennaMounts



Some guys actually use a saw blade as a washer...

You don't need a puck with a roof mount. Just drill the hole and screw the base together ... ... ..... one inside and one outside of the roof which sandwiches the sheet steel.