CB help PLEASE. High SWR

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse and I had read all the threads. Here is my situation

I installed a Cobra 29LX with a 4 foot firestikII and spring mount. I mounted it to the bed rail behind the cab. I ran a ground wire from the bracket to the frame ground. I was not getting an accurate reading from the internal meter so I used a external swr meter. STILL well over 3 on the swr. I have tried different grounds an still nothing. I went wheeling over the weekend and was able to use it but wanna get it down befor I fry the radio. Everything was brand new and the coax cable is an 18 footer and not coiled up under the cab. The bracket and bottom of the mount have ground and the top where the spring goes does not so my plastic washer is doing its job. I am so tired of messing with it and no change at all. Please help
Can post pics if it will help but right now kind of frustrated

 

what gauge is your ground wire? have you tried tuning the actual antenna (adjustment screw on top under rubber cap)

check out these tech sections from firestick antenna

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/swr-causes.htm

 

Did you try moving the antenna location? I would give that a shot. It's all process of elimination sometimes to figure out what is wrong. Also too long a ground wire can be an issue. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I was using 18 gauge wire but also tested it with heavy duty cable and still no change. The ground wire is only about 3 feet long. From the backed to the frame which is just a bit longer tan the bed s high.
I have not tried moving the antenna. If I do I will move it to the rear of the bed.

 

Well thank you for the replies. I went to a local CB radio shop today and found that I had a bad RF ground. If you hold the antenna base while checking the SWR and it reads good than that is your problem. Simple fix for this was to move the antenna to the driver back of the bed using the 2 10mm screws that hold the panels together. Mounted antenna and rechecked. 1.1 across the board. I did not even need to ground the antenna since I went into metal this time. I can post pics if anyone wants

 

So, your problem was the antenna location? or the ground method?

I have a lil-Wilson magnet mount antenna I use on the roof of my truck and I have a SWR <1. But I tried using a 103 inch whip antenna I was given using a grounded mount on the bedrail. The SWR was over 3 after checking everything I went back to using the magnet mounted lil-wilson.

You think mounting it to the rear of the bed will help?

Post pictures of your new antenna location.

 

Here is my new location. Even with the antenna down I was getting a 2 on my SWR. With the new location being on the metal part of the deck I did not have to run a ground. My SWR was 1.1 without tuning the antenna. There is no doubt that the new location fixed my issue. A trick to check a high SWR is to grab the antenna base while hooked up to your meter and key up. If the reading is good while you are holding the base you have a bad RF ground and need to move the location.

 

I made a thread about this a while back. Look through some of my previous threads

 

here you go:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/212593-cb-swr-reading-high.html