Alabama thread!

Plastidip?

It could work...

 

See below... could be related.

Change all your passwords for online everything. If you're like most people using the same one for everything, that's a mistake. Cancel cards, keep an eye on credit report. Change your security questions for banking if they have easily findable stuff like mother's maiden name, or use a name other than her actual maiden name and just remember that you did.

That really sucks dude. It happened to my wife a couple of years ago, and it was a pain to get everything square afterwards. If your bank is refunding you the money, and they didn't open up credit cards in your name, that still sucks, but it's easy to recover from.

 

Okay, lets work on that. First, start by checking the negative wire on your radio. You may be getting enough contact to power the radio, but not enough to fully ground the radio chassis. Not very likely, but I've seen it once or twice.

Next, lets check the coax and connectors. Do you have a multimeter? If not, pick up a cheap one from Walmart or similar. Now disconnect the coax entirely (both ends) and check continuity. This is the little speaker symbol on the meter's dial. If you touch the two probes together, the meter will beep. Now connect the probes to the pin and the housing on a connector. Wiggle the probes around a bit to ensure a good electrical connection. If the meter beeps, you have a problem with the wiring in that piece of coax. Replace the connectors and make sure the braided shield does not contact the center pin or wire.

Now it's time to check the antenna. First use the same meter setting to test the the center and outside of the antenna's plug. Except for a few design exceptions, the two are usually connected, so the meter should beep. If not, your antenna (assuming it's not one of those few design exceptions) may be defective.

Finally, lets look at the antenna ground. If everything above is okay and the meter is still deflecting all the way into the red, you basically don't have a ground. Do remember much of the truck bed is a fiberglass/plastic composite, which will not provide that ground. You have to find a good chunk of metal and it's best if the antenna is mounted directly on that metal. A wire or similar ran between the metal and the antenna mount elsewhere on the vehicle will half-ass work, but is certainly not ideal.

Do you have a metal toolbox in the bed? If so, that will work as an antenna mounting location, especially if the toolbox is further grounded to the vehicle frame. The rear metal bumper, attached directly to the frame, is also a good place to mount the antenna. If all else fails, a flat piece of metal in the bed, also grounded to the frame, will also often work.

Another option is a no ground plane (NGP) antenna. These are designed for fiberglass motorhomes, boats, and similar. By the way, while it says no ground plane, the the gound plane mechanism itself is actually inside the coax (shield folded back onto itself). Because of that, the attached coax cannot cut or shortened. If you have extra length, wrap that into a well secured loop in some hidden location. Sadly, this type of antenna also has very limited bandwidth, so forget frequencies outside the CB band.

Hope some of this is useful to you. Good luck.

 

If you want to bond anything to ground potential for RF, you'll need to use something like this:

http://www.dxengineering.com/Products.asp?ID=175&SecID=51&DeptID=19

I'd bet you could get it to tune up if you bonded the toolbox to the torx bolts holding the bed to the frame with that on both sides. (I'd go with 1" wide)

Also, if you've got extra wire for an NGP antenna, put the extra somewhere, but do not coil it. If you coil it you're basically making a big inductor that is going to throw off the match of the antenna system. If you need to do something like that, a figure 8 or bow tie type wrap is what you want.

The other thing to check is that the coupling nut for the antenna mount doesn't have continuity to the mounting base. If you put your meter on the threaded part of the mount and the base and it beeps, that's an issue.

 

lemme know if it does! but just leave details out please

 

Agree with copper braid for grounding applications. However, since it would require a fairly tight coil, which isn't likely, to truly form an inductor, nothing really wrong with a simple loop for handling extra coax. That said, nothing wrong with your suggestions either.

 

thanks for all the info on this i have been pretty busy the last couple of days hadn't been able to work on it but this info is great ill definitely look into this info.

 

Well, you better get at it, Joshua. We're all sitting around waiting for a successfull conclusion.

 

Would that be considered latex?

Working up the second video, but my powerdirector quit responding and I'm not sure how long it has been since I saved, so I don't want to kill the process. Hoping it comes back.

 

well slap it around a little bit and tell it to get back to work!!! lol
didnt think about that one before i typed it!!! hahahahahahahaha

 

anyone interested in buying a superwhite camper shell for a 2nd gen? lol just a feeler im considering getting rid of mine. using the money for lift and tires haha juuuuust a feeler though

 

Where is a good place to ride in alabama? I live just north of montgomery but wouldnt mind going somewhere for weekend ride.

 

try Boggs & Boulders in Andalusia?

 

I forgot about them.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacoma-marketplace/205416-feeler-camper-shell.html
send me some traffic guys!! lol

 

If the next truck i get is white theres a good chance ill take it off your hands

 

sweet man! ive loved having it just dont need it as much as i did when i first got it so ill probly sell it and go back to a toolbox.

 

I've just started looking at shells myself. Looks like I'll spend around 2200 for mine new if I get one. They aren't cheap.

 

no theyre not haha especially for the good ones.