CB antenna mount location

I have been using a 'lil will mag mount antenna on my roof but starting to see some corrosion. I would like to mount a firestick to the rail behind my cab. Is this possible without adding a heavy ground wire to the frame? Anyone have a similar setup? I don't really want it outside of bed or back at the tailgate.

 

Hey Baxter since no one replied, I will, I hope you removed the mag mount as the picture shows what it can do to paint. Picture is from my older Toyota. It ate the paint and left a nasty rust mark. I did a clean install on my new truck by drilling a hole just forward of the sat. antenna. The NMO mount is for the 18" ham radio antenna and works well. For CB the side rail bed install works OK but not the best location. Middle of the roof is best, on a roof rack works too..The truck bed seems popular and you need to make sure it gets a good ground. FWIW: You might want to look into getting a ham license. Easy to do and CW is no longer required. I got away from CB years ago and never looked back..Works way better and you have lots of bands to choose from..If you need CB, a hand held will work when four wheeling..Me; I'm sticking to my FT-857...
NMO antenna mounts work and looks much better, dual o-rings keep water out...

 

Thanks for the reply Two Hawks. When I first got my truck in 05 I made a stainless mount to attach to the front rail and even with a ground wire to the frame the CB shop couldn't dial in the firestick so I figured that the way the bed is made it wasn't possible to use the rail as a mounting location. I have seen many trucks with a firestick mounted in the front corner on the rail so was wondering if there was something else I needed to make it work. I only use the CB when travelling on the interstate so really don't need to go with a ham setup. Just want it to work decent and not have to reinstall an antenna each time I travel.

 

Get yourself a tailgate mount from @Shmellmopwho

 

I got a Relentless Fab hood mount for mine...

 

I have one of those mounts also, but decided to get wild and try it in the rear

I still need to tune it.

 

Yeah I need to tune mine still as well. Might need to have a pro check mine out. Baffling me why I can't get my SWR lower.

 

I bought a meter, but need another piece of coax to make it work.

You should have a good ground plane in that location. Go to a truck stop. They know their shit.

 

Yes OP, you can mount it to the rail behind your cab. You don't have to ground it to your frame, either. Any of the little screws in that gap between the bed and cab will generally work. I half assed the setup in the picture with some extruded u-nuts to hold tight inside the rail and braided 16 gauge wire that's way too long for a good ground and run an average SWR around 1.8 which is good enough for me, but ungrounded it lingers in the 3+ zone. Hope that helps.

 

Does the composite bed on the Tacoma make a roof mount a better ground plane?

 

Any flat metal surface is a better ground plane.

 

Try using a good cooper wire as a ground to the frame, this will improve your SWR's greatly