Pickup truck mounting

[JoeDirt]

Performance will be proportional to the size of horizontal metal mass directly at the feedpoint. Center of roof should perform 20 times greater than top of roof rack or headache rack.

I wish it was easy to model a vehicle. I have done some testing with a friend. My puck mount preformed as good as a mag mount with a counterpoise..... Im starting to believe antennas being 6' off the ground really dont make much difference in mounting. I have also done blind antenna testing (on a hilltop) switching multiple antennas many times. The winner...... A 5' Firestik....lol I give up what ever tunes works for me!!!

 

[hotrod]

I wish it was easy to model a vehicle. I have done some testing with a friend. My puck mount preformed as good as a mag mount with a counterpoise..... Im starting to believe antennas being 6' off the ground really dont make much difference in mounting. I have also done blind antenna testing (on a hilltop) switching multiple antennas many times. The winner...... A 5' Firestik....lol I give up what ever tunes works for me!!!

just having a great swr dont mean much. even a dummyload has a great swr. but transmits very little

 

[BammBamm]

This is current setup..triple mag mount.

 

[BammBamm]

Another pic

 

[codeman]

I am having good luck with a 5' firestik ii mounted on the back of my toolbox. I had a base station 55 miles away say I was hitting him at with 7 pounds on sideband. This was using my Magnum 45hp. Had another one 40 miles away that said I was hitting his station well. This is from the city to the guys in the countryside with their base stations.

 

[hotrod]

I am having good luck with a 5' firestik ii mounted on the back of my toolbox. I had a base station 55 miles away say I was hitting him at with 7 pounds on sideband. This was using my Magnum 45hp. Had another one 40 miles away that said I was hitting his station well. This is from the city to the guys in the countryside with their base stations.

yes those antennas do well. for all they are. they do have thier limits though.
low power handling , very narrowed banded. two that i noticed but they do work well and inexpensive

 

[CB590]

I have the 5' Firestik II also on the passenger rear corner of my bed with a Firestik 3/8 mount (adjustable). That gets gets me a 1-1 and 1-1.2 across channels.. I've talked skip to TX and FL when moving.. it's a little directional but that's ok with me.

 

[hotrod]

im currently using a sirio pl 5000 mag mount on the roof. seems to work ok

 

[Alan Blackmon]

I am using a 5 foot firstick II on ladder rack on drivers side just behind the cab. Signal favors passenger side a bit. Did talk skip on SSB from Crater Lake area in Oregon to Florida using stock output of Bearcat 980 while on a road trip. Normal distance is around 6miles give or take. Works good for me.

 

[KN4ULD]

My '14 RAM is gonna get the roof hole as soon as I find (or fab) some kind of reinforcement for the inside. That roof is like a cheesy pie tin.

Anybody else do a roof mount on a RAM?

 

[loosecannon]

just do what everyone else does and use an old skilsaw blade.
you just have to enlarge the center hole a bit.

also, if you are planning to use an amplifier in it, be sure to hook everything up temporarily and check to see if the amp messes with the engine's computer.
chryslers are notorious for this.
LC

 

[Blackcat630]

My '14 RAM is gonna get the roof hole as soon as I find (or fab) some kind of reinforcement for the inside. That roof is like a cheesy pie tin.

Anybody else do a roof mount on a RAM?

I don't know what antenna you're planning on running but might I suggest a quality mount. Something with a decent backing plate. On my 97 ram I used a standard so239 roof mount with a big washer on the underside to distribute the load a little better. No regrets but if I were to do it all over again I would have probably went with something from breedlove. https://www.breedlovemounts.com/home.html

 

[KN4ULD]

just do what everyone else does and use an old skilsaw blade.
you just have to enlarge the center hole a bit.

also, if you are planning to use an amplifier in it, be sure to hook everything up temporarily and check to see if the amp messes with the engine's computer.
chryslers are notorious for this.
LC

I'll bust out the hammer drill right thru the headliner

Wilson 2000 probably

I was thinking maybe a separate battery for the hookup. Idk

I don't know what antenna you're planning on running but might I suggest a quality mount. Something with a decent backing plate. On my 97 ram I used a standard so239 roof mount with a big washer on the underside to distribute the load a little better. No regrets but if I were to do it all over again I would have probably went with something from breedlove. https://www.breedlovemounts.com/home.html

Thanks for that!
That SO 239 mount is mine.

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

I’ll second the saw blade, they make some of the best backing plates you can ask for. The larger your backing plate, the better you’ll be in the long run. You put a very big antenna up there without sufficient backing and you’ll split your roof.

I hope you’re joking on the hammer drill through the headliner.

I’m not well versed in Chrysler so I can’t exactly speak as to what an amp could do to the ECM. But I believe if you have proper grounding and bonding then it won’t matter. The walkie-talkie bandit around here has a Ram truck with a black Al Capone on it and a massive amp. I always see him rollin’ so I don’t believe it’s messing with his electronics. And I know he bonds everything, so it’s just a suggestion...

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

Oh, meant to say... in my dump truck which is an 04 model with a Mercedes Benz engine, I ran 2500w in it without issue. Well, after grouding and bonding that is. Before I bonded it, I could light up every light in the entire truck. I activated my door locks like humming bird wings...for a few seconds and then they burned out. Haven’t had power door locks in years now.

It was pretty cool at the time though. I miss my door locks now though.