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Best antenna for lifted pick up truck !!!??

Jan 30, 2013
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Here's my problem , I have 01 ford f350 lifted 6.5 inches on 37 inches tires , Iam a running a ranger 6300 150f radio in the truck , was using a Wilson 5000 before the lift on truck , now it's just to tall mounted to the roof of the pick up !!! What would be my next best place to mount my antenna ?? And also what brands would anyone recommend for my application !
 

Move it down to a front fender, or a bed rail. Won't recommend any brand, pick the one you like, or just use the one you got now.
- 'Doc
 
I have a 2000 SuperDuty F250 7.3PSD sitting on a 6 inch lift and military 37's. I run my wilson 5000 mag mount on top as well. But just like you, I hit everything! I have tried other antennas in other locations, and I always go back to the 5000 on the roof.

It just seems to work better than anything I have tried. I had a 102 whip on the tool box and it worked great but I was REALLY REALLY REALLY hitting things with it. You could try a trucker wilson 5000 mounted on the toolbox or a firestik mounted down low.

So i'm back to the old wilson 5000 on the roof and my Galaxy 98VHP. I bought my truck brand new in 2000 and the stupidest mistake I did was lifting it. But it has been good to me all these years.
 
When I took that pic I only had the Larsen dual bander mounted on the driver side tool box with a L bracket NMO mount and a very bent 102 whip that was unhooked at the time. I have the 5000 back on the roof now and hitting everything in sight. So far it's holding up!
 
Yeah I hear wish I had not lifted mine either , pain the a@&, but anyhow thanks for the ideas , what do u guys think about a Wilson trucker mount to the tool box , but on the rear panel of tool box in center ?
 
Just to throw the idea of a bed rail mount. I'm planning on replacing my K40 antenna with the Sirio Performer 5000. That will raise it's height but I have a mini SUV. Also I'm reading that the higher you can mount a mobile antenna,that can help in decoupling it from the road surface. Just found out that the car is not a groundplane but the land surface it sits on.
 
About that vehicle body not being a 'groundplane', you might re-think that, because it is. That 'groundplane', at HF, also includes whatever the vehicle is sitting over, dirt, concrete, etc. There's a capacitive coupling affect to it just like a mag-mount.
Something to think about is that the distance between the two 'plates' of that capacitor, between the vehicle's chassis+body, determines how much coupling there is. With 'raised' vehicles, that coupling isn't as much as with 'lowered' vehicles. It isn't a 'biggy' in either case, but it's 'there', you know?
- 'Doc

How about 'tuning' that antenna by varying the 'lift'??
... if you try that please let me know how it works... :)
 
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