I have a 96 Club Cab and drilled through the roof to install a Larson antenna,
this one works well, has a narrow bandwidth, the SWR is almost 1:1 on channel
21 but a:1.5 to 1:2 on 1 and 40, have not tuned to fully yet as I do not have a
CB in it yet. When I drilled through the roof though it would be simple, I
took a measuring tape, taped down one end just behind the driver door at the
gutter and over to the other side, the antenna is a bit back from center but
thought this would look the best and away from then over console and not get in
the way of pulling the coax. The 15 minute job took about 2 hours, there is a
brace right at that point, I did not drill it but made it very difficult to get
the coax, I finally ran some 12ga aluminum from the drivers side and with a
pair of needle nose pliers was able to snag it, that took about an hour, used
electrical tape and attach the coax, there is a small notch and with a screw
driver was able to open the notch just slightly bigger to pull the coax fully
through. Once you drill a hole, you cannot change your mind and start over
again, becareful of this in the club cab.
In the taxis with a dome light in the center, the techs usually just pulled the
lens and light out, drill straight up and feed the coax, this is easier with a
center dome light but with my car (use to be a cab) there can be heat damage to
the coax from the light and I also placed a second antenna on the roof, old
car, already one hole, why not two and then I noticed they did not line up
The taxi antenna, now a cellular antenna was not center in the roof and the CB
antenna is, only noticeable from the front back looking straight on the middle
of the car.
I have also used many magnet mount, they work well, but a fixed mounted on the
roof has the best ground plane. I do not like the look of a coax running to a
magnet mount on a roof, have had one come off on the highway, the coax ran from
the back right door of a 78 Nova. I was driving down the highway when a dump
truck went buy in the other direction and right after all I heard was a loud
thump, pulled over the found the antenna mounted to the rear quarter panel,
left a dent and cracked the magnet. These will also scratch the paint anyways
and in the end should of just drilled a hole.
You could try an L bracket on the driver hood lip opposite of the radio
antenna. I was going to install mine there but changed my mind, did not like
the look and I go off road, a tree could hook and and the antenna could spring
back and crack the wind shield like the radio antenna can. There is a radio/CB
antenna but they do not work that well, only good for short range and can be
difficult to tune. Also a glass mount antenna available, I have one and was
going to use it on the truck, but was told they are also difficult to tune and
the range is also reduced this way. I also find it bad for offroading with the
glass mount cellular antenna on the truck. When I go into the woods, I take
the whip off of the window. You could also mount a long fiberglass antenna
between the box and the cab from the frame, have seen this but have no
experience with this setup, or the rear bumper.
Did not mean to make this so long but there are many options when mounting an
antenna, mostly depends on the type, what you want for performance of the radio
and how you want it to look like. I have seen many get an expensive radio and
a cheap antenna, the most important part. Get a good antenna, have heard good
things about the Wilson, I like my Larson, I know some running a K-40, they
have a wide bandwidth and are easy to tune with a really long whip (seems to be
important to some). In Canada we are only allow 4 watts on AM and 12 on
Sideband but this is not closely monitored anymore. Hope this helps.
Tod Oace wrote:
>
>
> About the only thing I know so far is that I don't want a magnetic mount.
> Gotta keep that sucker attached when I'm finding out the fastest speed my
> Dak will go. :)
>
> I've read that roof mounts are best because of the ground plane and the
> height. And I'm not necessarily afraid of drilling holes in my Dak. But if
> I ever put a roof rack up there I don't want the antenna getting in the way.
> And someday I'd like to get a canopy, so mounting on the bed rail won't
> work. I've read bumper mounts are bad.
>
> I saw a mount on another Dak that I really liked the look of, but I don't
> know how good it was. It was sort of in front of and to the right of the
> driver's mirror. I think there was a bracket sticking out from under the
> hood. I don't know how the bracket was attached though.
>
> --
> Tod Oace, tod@quay.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:00:58 EDT