Cutting coax does not change the SWR of an antenna. If the antenna is anywhere close to tuned properly the SWR results will not change much simply because you changed the length of coax.
What is this inductor coil you made? Pictures? Any which way, the CB frequencies are the low SWR frequencies and as you move away from them the SWR goes up, that is generally how it is supposed to be.
An antenna tuned to 1.5 to 1 SWR will not smoke you amp. If your amp smokes in this case it is not your antenna causing it. The amplifier is also the likely cause of the higher SWR when running more power. It is not unheard of for an amplifier's matching network on the antenna side to not match up perfectly to the 50 ohm impedance of the coax, thus throwing off an SWR meter.
For one, there is more to an antenna system than the antenna itself.
What kind of coax are you running?
Your SWR can change when you bond a vehicle. This is because you are changing the counterpoise (groundplane). This also changes the resonant point of the antenna. If you take an elevated antenna with radials and change the length of the radials the SWR and resonant frequencies will change, rf bonding has a similar effect on a vehicle. On my vehicle when it was done (Ford Explorer) it lowered static quite a bit. Strange that it would raise it on yours. I did, however, use more ground straps than you, different vehicle (although maybe not that different, don't you have a Ford Ranger?).
The DB
