Stake Pocket Antenna Mount
#1
Stake Pocket Antenna Mount
So I haven't had time yet to get the back rack done but I needed somewhere to mount my cb antenna so rather than make one, I bought one from friestik that would mount in the stake pocket and it was fairly cheap. Well once I received it and installed it I noticed that ranger bed sides aren't flat so my antenna was going up on about a 25-30* angle. I ran it for a few days and finally decided it was time to build my own.
Didn't think to get pictures of the build until after but it was pretty basic. Cut a 2"x3" piece of 3/16" plate for the main mount, and put some ends on it. I drilled the 1/2' hole in the middle for the stud and then ran 4 5/16" bolts down to a piece drilled and tapped on the underside of the bedside stake pocket. After I mocked it into place I made the sides out of cardboard and once they were perfect traced them and cut them out with some more plate.
Welded it all together with the mini mig, grinded all the welds and gave it some coats of paint and it doesn't look to bad and works pretty good.
So basically it's just 2 pieces, the top and the bottom. The bottom is just drilled and tapped and the top is just a wedge to put the antenna level.
This is the bottom, one side is longer than the other
Goes under the bedside
Antenna stud and my fire ring on the inside of the top
I put two bolts in to hold it
slide the long side in first and then pull it back so it has contact under both sides of the pocket
Put the other 2 bolts down and tighten everything up.
This is just my setup
Didn't think to get pictures of the build until after but it was pretty basic. Cut a 2"x3" piece of 3/16" plate for the main mount, and put some ends on it. I drilled the 1/2' hole in the middle for the stud and then ran 4 5/16" bolts down to a piece drilled and tapped on the underside of the bedside stake pocket. After I mocked it into place I made the sides out of cardboard and once they were perfect traced them and cut them out with some more plate.
Welded it all together with the mini mig, grinded all the welds and gave it some coats of paint and it doesn't look to bad and works pretty good.
So basically it's just 2 pieces, the top and the bottom. The bottom is just drilled and tapped and the top is just a wedge to put the antenna level.
This is the bottom, one side is longer than the other
Goes under the bedside
Antenna stud and my fire ring on the inside of the top
I put two bolts in to hold it
slide the long side in first and then pull it back so it has contact under both sides of the pocket
Put the other 2 bolts down and tighten everything up.
This is just my setup
Last edited by kenfx4; 09-19-2011 at 01:22 PM. Reason: added mounting pictures
#13
Old Guy User…
iTrader: (12)
Ken,
First Great Idea, looks good, like someone else said no body marking !
BUT sorry to be the A-Hole here but where is the ground.
Antennas do not work without a good body/frame ground.
The piece of metal clamping to the under side of the Bed Side is clamped on a painted surface, the top part of the mount is painted and mounted on bed liner, no grounding there.
What is your SWR reading ?
First Great Idea, looks good, like someone else said no body marking !
BUT sorry to be the A-Hole here but where is the ground.
Antennas do not work without a good body/frame ground.
The piece of metal clamping to the under side of the Bed Side is clamped on a painted surface, the top part of the mount is painted and mounted on bed liner, no grounding there.
What is your SWR reading ?
Last edited by Scrambler82; 09-19-2011 at 03:58 PM.
#14
Ken,
First Great Idea, looks good, like someone else said no body marking !
BUT sorry to be the A-Hole here but where is the ground.
Antennas do not work without a good body/frame ground.
The piece of metal clamping to the under side of the Bed Side is clamped on a painted surface, the top part of the mount is painted and mounted on bed liner, no grounding there.
What is your SWR reading ?
First Great Idea, looks good, like someone else said no body marking !
BUT sorry to be the A-Hole here but where is the ground.
Antennas do not work without a good body/frame ground.
The piece of metal clamping to the under side of the Bed Side is clamped on a painted surface, the top part of the mount is painted and mounted on bed liner, no grounding there.
What is your SWR reading ?
#15
Old Guy User…
iTrader: (12)
Your not being an A-hole at all its actually something that was giving me problems at first so I sanded the under side of the bed rail so that it is gorunded through the bolts to the unpainted bottom piece to the bed side and the bed has a grounding strap to the frame, and everywhere there is bare metal has dielectric grease to prevent rust. Right now the swr is about 2.0 so its not the greatest but it works pretty good for what I need it for. I'm not sure whether putting a grounding strap right to the mount to the frame would help it or if its worth just leaving it now
Part of the problem with the SWR is reflected grounding area - 2 to 1 isn’t too bad if you have 50 watts but with a CB and 4 watts then only approximately 2 watts are getting out of the antenna.
The bed rail is small and can not do the job as well as a roof and when it does work the main transmission area will be off the passenger’s side of the truck.
You might try a separate ground strap, yes strap, from the mount to the frame, might help.
I had a problem with a 2-Meter Antenna mounted on a sports bar, high SWR, chg’d it to a magnet roof mount and all the troubles went away. Ground Plane area or reflected area is important.
I will be mounting my VHF/UHF Tri-Band Antenna on my back rack and will see where it goes same situation.
luck,
#16
antenna mounts
Hello here is a link to a mount for you
guys that don't have the skills to make
your own GeoTool Pickup Truck Antenna Mounts
I have 2 in my rear pockets one is so239 for
vhf ham antennas other is 3/8 24 for HF
guys that don't have the skills to make
your own GeoTool Pickup Truck Antenna Mounts
I have 2 in my rear pockets one is so239 for
vhf ham antennas other is 3/8 24 for HF
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
PDXracer
Auto Detailing 101
1
05-29-2015 12:24 PM
Redneckstone
General Technical & Electrical
15
08-10-2008 09:50 PM