ground plane on a Ford Aluminum tailgate

[niceguy71]

hey guys, everyone here has been so helpful... thank you....I had a question about mounting my magnetic CB antenna on the top of a pick up side bed where the stake hole is... I have had good luck with a K40 mag mount and after trying lots and lots of other antenna's I will never try any thing else nothing else worked.... so I will bolt a 7" X 7" piece of thick steel on the top of my pick up bed by the stake hole down by the tailgate.... people on here thought it "may" work if I ground plane the truck which I am getting ready to do..... I am going to put a strap right up to the 7" X 7" piece of steel to the frame plus a dozen or more all along the bed and cab and fenders, hood to the frame.... seen a couple great YouTube videos how to do it and it makes sense to my old brain now.... but how on earth do I bond the aluminum tailgate? the rest of the truck is steel.... I was thinking I can run a strap from the frame up to on each side of the tailgate but I don't want to drill into it and put any steel screws in it... there is a black plastic cover on the inside of the tailgate so maybe I can remove that (tons of Star shaped screws) take the protective cover off and tape the ground strap over the screw holes down using aluminum tape so it will come up on one side run across the tailgate and then back down to the frame on the other side.... when I put the 20 or so star screws back in ...I will be screwing through the ground strap.... but is that going to corrode my $3000 dollar tailgate???? anyone done an aluminum tailgate??? I'd like to skip it but seeing the antenna is with in 10 inches I think I need to do the tailgate..... I am also planning on removing the headliner and running the ground strap up one side of the cab screwing it in every 18 inches then on the roof ... can't screw on the roof so I will sand till bare metal put the strap across it and again use the aluminum tape to hold it against the roof then down the other side of the cab...... lot of work to get my 10 watt AM FM and 21 watt Side Band Radio to work correctly and still be able to drive it in and out of the garage... sorry for the long post.

 

[hill]

Instead on mucking up your truck by bolting a piece of steel on the bed, plus using a substandard mag mount antenna

It would look better and most likely work better to just drill a NMO mount in center of the cab. Then place a Larson NMO27 antenna on it.

Larsons antennas are used in public safety and are great. This antenna will outlast this truck and many to follow.

 

[hill]

Sorry missed your garage comment

Also you must have an older Ford truck, since the newer ones are aluminium

 

[niceguy71]

Sorry missed your garage comment

no problem... and the good news is I just double checked my tailgate... I was told the 2011 fords had aluminum tailgates... WRONG mines steel so I will be deleting this post... the reason for putting the mag on the back is 99 percent of the time I go from the garage to the post office or the bank or the grocery store.... that's about it ..maybe put 6 miles a week on it.... so I can still listen if the mag mount is on the back and maybe get out a few miles... but when I go on a trip I just unstick from the back and place it on the roof.

 

[merlin]

Instead on mucking up your truck by bolting a piece of steel on the bed, plus using a substandard mag mount antenna

It would look better and most likely work better to just drill a NMO mount in center of the cab. Then place a Larson NMO27 antenna on it.

Larsons antennas are used in public safety and are great. This antenna will outlast this truck and many to follow.

There is nothing sub standard with mag mount HF antennas.
If the bed and cab are both grounded to the frame, effectively, the whole truck is a ground plane.

 

[merlin]

That K-40 is a good antenna and should be able to get a 1.2: match on it even with a mag mount. You SWR may change fery slightly noving from the back corner to the cab center, but likely insignificant. The Wilson 1000 M is the only antenna I know of to match or slightly exceed performance of the K-40. (that was my pickup antenna)
Now one suggestion is like when in a Walmart parking lot and unattended.
Put the antenna inside the truck, lest it gets swiped.

 

[paulears]

I don't use CB - but I'm pleased to hear K40 is still being sold. Back in the 80s they were the go to antenna - so nice to hear them still doing the business. The only ancient comment I have is that VSWR wasn't an issue, but they did seem prone to directionality more than others. So dead centres gave a pretty great and even circular coverage, but move them to the edges of vehicles - either tail gates or the old bull bars and while they matched well, the radiation pattern was really skewed. I remember well the journey to work where I could talk to people in the city I was going to for a huge distance - almost the full 30 miles, yet on the way home, I lost the city in a couple of miles.

 

[niceguy71]

hey guys, everyone here has been so helpful... thank you....I had a question about mounting my magnetic CB antenna on the top of a pick up side bed where the stake hole is... I have had good luck with a K40 mag mount and after trying lots and lots of other antenna's I will never try any thing else nothing else worked.... so I will bolt a 7" X 7" piece of thick steel on the top of my pick up bed by the stake hole down by the tailgate.... people on here thought it "may" work if I ground plane the truck which I am getting ready to do..... I am going to put a strap right up to the 7" X 7" piece of steel to the frame plus a dozen or more all along the bed and cab and fenders, hood to the frame.... seen a couple great YouTube videos how to do it and it makes sense to my old brain now.... but how on earth do I bond the aluminum tailgate? the rest of the truck is steel.... I was thinking I can run a strap from the frame up to on each side of the tailgate but I don't want to drill into it and put any steel screws in it... there is a black plastic cover on the inside of the tailgate so maybe I can remove that (tons of Star shaped screws) take the protective cover off and tape the ground strap over the screw holes down using aluminum tape so it will come up on one side run across the tailgate and then back down to the frame on the other side.... when I put the 20 or so star screws back in ...I will be screwing through the ground strap.... but is that going to corrode my $3000 dollar tailgate???? anyone done an aluminum tailgate??? I'd like to skip it but seeing the antenna is with in 10 inches I think I need to do the tailgate..... I am also planning on removing the headliner and running the ground strap up one side of the cab screwing it in every 18 inches then on the roof ... can't screw on the roof so I will sand till bare metal put the strap across it and again use the aluminum tape to hold it against the roof then down the other side of the cab...... lot of work to get my 10 watt AM FM and 21 watt Side Band Radio to work correctly and still be able to drive it in and out of the garage... sorry for the long post.

HOW DO I CANCEL POST???? MY ALUMINUM TAILGATE IS STEEL!!!! SORRY TO BOTHER EVERYONE... any idea how to delete the post?

That K-40 is a good antenna and should be able to get a 1.2: match on it even with a mag mount. You SWR may change fery slightly noving from the back corner to the cab center, but likely insignificant. The Wilson 1000 M is the only antenna I know of to match or slightly exceed performance of the K-40. (that was my pickup antenna)
Now one suggestion is like when in a Walmart parking lot and unattended.
Put the antenna inside the truck, lest it gets swiped.

Thanks Merlin.... With it on the corner it will be easy to set it in the bed at car washes or shopping.... Or into the roof when going out of town.

 

[paulears]

I don't think you can - and to be fair, once people have spent time answering, then it's useful info for others. I'd not worry - all info is useful info

 

[hill]

There is nothing sub standard with mag mount HF antennas.

The real problem with mag mounts they will damage the paint, plus the coax going accross the roof of the truck will scratch the top as the coax moves agound.

It always best to try to use a permanent mount antenna. I see people riding many years with mag mounts on their vehicles when properly installed antenna could be completed.

Performance wise they will work ok.

 

[freqs]

Ive seen mounts for the newer F150 that are made out of Aluminum
the mount hooks to the hood hinge wolcott radio has tons a of mounts I have the 2020 F150 all Aluninum body kinda sucks trying to use CB in it mag mounds dont stick lol

 

[flametamer]

stake pocket bracket

Am I missing something about the tailgate? Unless you plan on leaving it down all the time to act like part of the gound plane why would you need a ground strap? Why does it matter if its steel or aluminum?

Dt

 

[niceguy71]

stake pocket bracket

Am I missing something about the tailgate? Unless you plan on leaving it down all the time to act like part of the gound plane why would you need a ground strap? Why does it matter if its steel or aluminum?

Dt

well I have tried just about all the antenna's out there and really only had my K40 magnet mount work well for me ( yes I had a 102" whip) the last time I moved I threw out at least 15 mobile antenna's not trying anymore...staying with my K40.... but I go in and out of the garage everyday ... if I put it on the roof I only have a few inches clearance.. so I would have to climb up and put it on /off daily.... so I had a brainstorm..... and asked if I was to take a 7" X 7" thick piece of metal and weld it to an angle iron I could bolt that to the side of my bed so the 7 X 7 would be sitting on top of the bed rail... then I can stick my K40 there so I can use the CB going to the bank, grocery store, post office... if I go for a long trip I'll stick it on the roof but around town I'll always be able to listen and use it some what.............. so I asked on here if that was feasible? ... some thought if I got a good RF ground plane it would do what I wanted.... so now I am getting ready to put RF straps all around the pick-up and to the frame ( Merlin was extremely helpful) and I found he was right the bed and cab are mounted with rubber bushings and nothing is grounded to the frame.... to have the antenna reflect I should get every body panel RF grounded... so I will do the hood and the doors and the cab and the bed... but was trying to figure out how to do the tailgate.....I was hoping if I got the whole truck RF grounded maybe when I transmitted all the panels would radiate the signal and do what I was hoping for,.... but maybe not... I'm going to try it

 

[amoking]

I have a 2020 F350. Check out bulletproofdiesel.com and their antenna mounting kits. Work phenomenal.

 

[niceguy71]

I have a 2020 F350. Check out bulletproofdiesel.com and their antenna mounting kits. Work phenomenal.

VERY cool! but luckily my roof is steel.. but still great link great looking product