There has been a LOT of discussion here lately about selecting and mounting a CB antenna to our trucks. There are honestly some difficulties with the body design (plastic caps on the bed rails, rouded front fenders with narrow lips compared to what was in the 70s...).

I would like to see some pics of our year trucks with various antenna rigs and radios on / in them. Just curious to see what other folks are doing out there. BTW, if you are running a footwarmer, PLEASE keep it to yourself. I don't want my post to be the cause of an FCC investigation into your rig. BUT... If you are running band pass filter of any sort, clue us in on how well it works. The idea is to give each other ideas on how to set this up. Antenna mounting is a big deal, let's see your solutions!

I found a good site that has an excellent write up regarding antenna selection and tech. I hope this helps...

http://www.signalengineering.com/ult..._antennas.html

If you have read my posts / replies regarding this subject, you will notice I am a HUGE fan of the stainless steel 102" whip, and it's not because this antenna is pretty. It's because my rock stock radio, fed into high quality RG8u coax with hand soldered PL-259, to ring terminators and ball mount, to HD spring, and finally out a 102" stainless steel whip will out talk and out receive guys running small linears and bottom loaded, or continuously loaded antennas any day of the week. I don't even want to imagine how well a system with a 102 running illegal power would perform...

I have the goodies already, except for the band pass filter, and no I am not running a foot warmer, but I have neighbors that complain they hear my SSB on the TV. According to my meter, I am running under the legal limits by a tenth of a watt on both AM and SSB. But my rig, when finally installed will be...

Radio Shack (Realistic) TRC-465 AM / SSB 40 channel CB Radio. This will be the 5th vehicle I have had this radio in... (1976 Toyota Celica, 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass, 1984 Jeep CJ-7, 2000 Ford Ranger, now the F150).
Most likely mounting location of the radio will be under the dash, to the right of the steering column. Mounting bracket will be custom made from 1" stainless steel (I lost the original bracket when I took it out of the Jeep, and have the stainless strapping laying around the garage.)
Custom cut RG8u coaxial cable, hand soldered PL-259s, (3) 1 on each end of a short jumper, then 1 on radio end, hand soldered ring terminals on antenna end. Coax being fed from under dash, to kick panel, out the hole under the drivers door, along the frame, to the rear bumper. Radio Shack ball mount on drivers side of rear bumper mounted to the side. This will do 2 things. #1. Give me a good solid way to mount the antenna. #2. Give me a better visual reference to the drivers side while backing up.
Out of the ball mount we will go into a Radio Shack HEAVY DUTY stainless steel spring. I have a light duty spring, but those flex too much. Finally out to the 102" stainless steel whip. I will put my filter, considering the Para Dynamics PDC 1089 for that job, between the short jumper, and main coax line. I have a pre molded short jumper which stays with the SWR meter. This will NOT stay in the system once SWR is set...

I hope this post and the link was helpful to you guys. Now get out there, get your rigs set up, get some pics, and get them posted. I want to see those '04 & ups with radio rigs in them!