Wilson vs the sirio performer 5000

[psycho]

That's why I'm conscious of where I drive. My Sirio costs too much to mess up. If you add to the thickness of the sheet metal under a mag mount then you increase it's holding power plus I just found out that I can use panty hose under my mag mount to keep scratches down to a minimum.

Pulling up the magnet mount every couple of months and cleaning all mounting surfaces will keep the paint ship shape. Better to have minimal rub marks on the roof than a 3/4" hole.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Well, I just bought the hard mount for my PL5000 from DNJ. Guess I'll install it when I do the bonding on my ride.
I used to paint houses. We used pantyhose to strain the paint. Many uses as long as it ain't robbing a bank.

 

[Shockwave]

Smear a thin layer of clear silicon over the base of your magnet mount. When it dries the antenna will not slide or scratch the surface of the paint. It also holds much better when you hit trees. It's almost like gluing the antenna down. However, if you apply lifting pressure on an angle starting with one edge, you can slowly remove the magnet with absolutely no damage to the roof. Any residual silicone is easily rubbed off the paint with a soft rag.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Smear a thin layer of clear silicon over the base of your magnet mount. When it dries the antenna will not slide or scratch the surface of the paint. It also holds much better when you hit trees. It's almost like gluing the antenna down. However, if you apply lifting pressure on an angle starting with one edge, you can slowly remove the magnet with absolutely no damage to the roof. Any residual silicone is easily rubbed off the paint with a soft rag.

Sounds like a great idea. I do want to hard mount it just to see if there's a difference.

 

[M0GVZ]

Pulling up the magnet mount every couple of months and cleaning all mounting surfaces will keep the paint ship shape. Better to have minimal rub marks on the roof than a 3/4" hole.

But the marks from the coax flapping about don't end up being minimal rub marks. They end up being grooves in the paint that go all the way through to the undercoat. Took about 7-8000 miles for it to happen on my car.

At least with a 3/4 hole you can fill it with a GPS antenna or a sharkfin.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Thanks for the head's up. I have a clear coat on mine. Still is in great shape being 9 years old. Got the Sirio hard mount on the way to me from DNJ

P.S. I have the benefit of having a luggage rack cross brace next to my antenna. The coax is zip tied to it.

 

[AL567]

Hard mount

Did you use the Sirio roof mount? Got any pics of what it looks like mounted? I thought hard about drilling my roof but the dude in CA want's too much shipping for a roof mount and 12' coax, plus I'm scared i'd tear a hole in my roof since I'm in the woods a good bit. For those reasons (mainly No. 2) I went back to my whip. thanks.

Hard mounted

 

[AL567]

Hard mount

Base

 

[hotrod]

very clean

 

[M0GVZ]

Smear a thin layer of clear silicon over the base of your magnet mount. When it dries the antenna will not slide or scratch the surface of the paint.

However the silicone itself will damage the paint and if you leave it. And you still have the coax flapping around which will scratch the paint as well. After having a magmount on the roof of my car for 3 years there was a slight groove and scores worn in the paint from the coax.

There is absolutely no solution for a magmount where paint damage will not occur, either from the mag itself or the coax.

 

[UxCow]

There is absolutely no solution for a magmount where paint damage will not occur, either from the mag itself or the coax.

That depends entirely on the vehicle. I drove a 2010 Mustang for about 6k miles in a few months with a Wilson 1000 mag-mount on the trunk lid, and ran the coax inside the car to a Midland handheld. No paint issues from the mag or coax. The top of the vehicle would be an entirely different matter, but there is usually a solution somewhere.

 

[W5LZ]

Actually, it doesn't depend on the vehicle. For any mag-mount there will be dirt/grit get between the magnet and the painted surface, can't stop it. Over time, that grit will be abraded into the paint. It's just a matter of time. You can certainly slow that abrasion down by regular and frequent cleaning, but that only slows it, doesn't stop it. Same to some extent about feed lines laying on surfaces.
And then you get the affect of sun on paint changing it's color. May not be a big difference, but there will be a difference over time. Take all that into account and I don't see where you would be doing yourself any favors by NOT drilling that hole...
- 'Doc

 

[GnG8d]

Don't put a mag mount or even door magnets on a fresh paint job. I've heard the the metal flake will migrate until the paint has cured for several days.

 

[M0GVZ]

Don't they still use aluminium flakes?

 

[GnG8d]

I don't know, I've never done body work. But now that you mention it, if the flakes were magnetic they'd be prone to rust. I just overheard a conversation while picking up my wife's car after she hit a deer.