Antenna on a 2016 Ford F-150

[barney33]

I have had great success setting up killer mobiles in the past until now. I have a 2016 all aluminum F-150 and tried a steel whip, Francis whip, and a long shaft Predator 10K on the tool box with an SWR no better than 2-1. The truck is an extended cab and I have bonded ALL the body panels (except the doors) to the frame with 1" ground straps less than 12" long.
The antenna just doesn't like being mounted on the bed. I have a sheet metal 2014 F-150 regular cab company truck and the tool box mounted steel whip matches in flat as a pancake.
I have no problem drilling a hole in the roof for a Wilson 5000 but I am wondering if anyone has tried to set up an antenna on a late model aluminum F-150 supercab or crew cab.
I would hate to drill a hole in the roof only to have it fail.
Any opinions are appreciated. Some say CB antenna won't work on aluminum bodied pickups and other say other wise.
Thanks
Barney

[sonoma]

have you verified with a ohm meter that the tool box is grounded good on the bed? I ran into this a few years back, when you checked with a ohm meter it did not have a good bond from the antenna brkt to the bed and tool box. if you have a dummy load hook it up at the antenna location just to see how the coax is behaving. if the coax is good you will have a flat swr reading on the dummy load.

[barney33]

The tool box has two 1" ground straps going to the bed plus 2 stainless self tappers mounting the box to the bed rail.
The coax is fine and I tried 12 and 18 ft runs with no success.

[sonoma]

I take it you do not have a dummy load. what kind of reading are you getting with a ohm meter checking from mount to bed.

[barney33]

I take it you do not have a dummy load. what kind of reading are you getting with a ohm meter checking from mount to bed.

Dead short like it's supposed to be. I know the coax is good.
I'll work it out and maybe after I get it I 10-8, skip conditions might be better....they have been pretty bad lately.

[sonoma]

with all hooked up as it should be put one lead of the ohm meter to the antenna stud and the other end where the coax hooks to the mount. if the coax is good and sounds like you have a good ground just want to make sure the so239 connector is good that is mounted to the antenna bracket. over the years I have seen used ones that have gone bad internally especially on 18 wheelers where the truck wash uses a acid mix in the soap to clean the aluminum trailers. it will get corroded inside and cause a bad connection even a few new ones that are bad from the factory. just want you to verify all is good. never assume it is all good even if it is new. ran into one a few years ago the washer on the mount, plastic one, had slid to the side just enough that when keyed it would cause a slight short in the system. took a few trys to find the problem. I had to grab hold of with the ohm meter on the mount and bend the antenna to the side and let go of it to flop back and forth and the short would show up.

[MDYoungblood]

Take the SWR readings on 3 channels, 1, 19 or 20, and 40, this will give you an indication the antenna is too long or too short, if these antennas were used before they could have been trimmed to the vehicle they came off of. It sounds like you did an excellent job of bonding the vehicle. Your dealing with a single antenna so getting the SWR down shouldn't be a problem. The only bad thing about the new aluminum bodied Fords is a magnet mount won't work, other than that aluminum is an excellent counterpoise.

3's

Greg

[barney33]

I assume "counterpoise" is a technical term for ground plane. I have an appointment tomorrow to have a body shop remove the headliner so I can drill a hole for a roof mount Wilson 5000.
I appreciate the suggestions and I will let you know how well it works. The antenna will have to be mounted off center due to the ribs on the roof but if you want a thrill you got to drill. Drilling a hole in the roof of a new truck with less than 2000 miles on it is hard to stomach but when the drill starts cutting I'll be just fine. LOL The truck comes standard with a 200 amp alternator so my 5 pill Messenger 500 will not load it up too bad.

[barney33]

I drilled a hole and installed a Wilson 5000 roof mount and I couldn't be more pleased! I did need to cut 2.25" off the stinger to get the match FLAT!
Flat barefoot and flat with my Messenger 500 5 pill on at full power.
Now we go back to the body shop to have the headliner reinstalled.
This mobile works so well that I tried a keydown with a friend who has a Davemade 2x6 in his Ford Exploder and I cut his lips off.
I can't tell exactly how many locals told me a CB antenna won't work well on an aluminum truck....well they were wrong and MDYoungblood was right. Thanks to all who replied!
For those who don't know what a Messenger 500 is, it is a non competition amp that uses a MRF455 to drive 4 Toshiba 2879s. 150 swinging to 550 watts.

[MDYoungblood]

Cool, and aluminum is easier to drill. What brand mount did you use, I'm thinking of installing my 2m antenna on the roof.

3's

Greg

[MDYoungblood]

Also if you took any pics while doing the install, members like to see pics of others works.

3's

Greg

[barney33]

Cool, and aluminum is easier to drill. What brand mount did you use, I'm thinking of installing my 2m antenna on the roof.

3's

Greg

Wilson 5000 through the roof mount. If I park the truck anywhere for a period of time the coil/whip assembly unscrews easy.

[MDYoungblood]

Yes and know, it is a SO239, the Sirio brand antennas also use that mount. Let us know how well it seals in the coming weeks.

3's

Greg

[barney33]

The truck talks excellent skip in the unlikely event conditions are there. LOL
I bought a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria from a neighbor and put a nice brass ball mount on the trunk lid with a 8 ft gray francis whip.. Ground straps everywhere so it talks so good it makes my pickup's system seem anemic, and my pickup absolutely blows smoke.
I can only assume that the large, even ground plane of the Crown Vic makes it mean in all directions! Garage kept silver gem with 38,000 miles on it for $7000.

[delta1166]

On my 2015 F150 Lariat w/ the factory BLIS & LED lights I use a Wilson 5000 Mag Mount w/ a Stryker SR-655HP. Got a mounting bracket from Larson Electronics that bolts thru the CHMSL (center hi-mount stop lamp) opening.
The p/n is Larson Electronics VMP-MAM-F150-2015-BLK. A bit pricey but it works great- SWR's across most channels avg. 1.2 -1.4 max.
Simple install~ remove CHMSL ~ use included toggle bolts to secure to cab ~then re-install the 4 screws to mount the CHMSL in original position. Ran coax thru the power slider window, down behind rear seat under carpet to radio.
And I can always unscrew the antenna mast, screw-on the rain cap & go thru the car wash w/ no problem. Or pull the mag base/antenna & drop onto tonneau cover if parking in a garage.

[MDYoungblood]

On my 2015 F150 Lariat w/ the factory BLIS & LED lights I use a Wilson 5000 Mag Mount w/ a Stryker SR-655HP. Got a mounting bracket from Larson Electronics that bolts thru the CHMSL (center hi-mount stop lamp) opening.
The p/n is Larson Electronics VMP-MAM-F150-2015-BLK. A bit pricey but it works great- SWR's across most channels avg. 1.2 -1.4 max.
Simple install~ remove CHMSL ~ use included toggle bolts to secure to cab ~then re-install the 4 screws to mount the CHMSL in original position. Ran coax thru the power slider window, down behind rear seat under carpet to radio.
And I can always unscrew the antenna mast, screw-on the rain cap & go thru the car wash w/ no problem. Or pull the mag base/antenna & drop onto tonneau cover if parking in a garage.

Excellent find on that mount, I think a company called "Bully" made something similar for other (older) vehicles years ago, probably wasn't a hot item and cost effective so they don't make them anymore. Going to add Larson to my bookmarks, they have other neat stuff too.

3's

Greg