Thanks for this! I used your information to install an Weboost antenna on my F-150. I glued a thick mending plate from Lowe's ($3.85) under the roof in the cavity you discovered. Boom! it sticks.
Wow what an awesome idea sir! You are my hero. I’m trying to install a GMRS radio in my truck and couldn’t figure out how I was going to get that magnet antenna to stick to my aluminum vehicle.. Thank you, great video!!!
Sorry I don't have any. if you go with harbor freight be sure and get the strongest they have. I had an old antenna and took the donut magnet out and tried that but it wasn't strong enough , so thats why i went after the hardrive magnets.
Another magnet you could use are mini lightbar magnets. You can get ones that are 90 lb models and I use them on my emergency light bar. Like you I just got a 2017 F150 so I need to see what I can do. They do make brackets that mount where the high mount lamp goes.
I have an F150, 2017. Have same problem I need to find way to ground to metal frame. Grounding straps might work, but resistance might be too high. Thus causing high SWR.
zero cost is awesome but if you were to buy a magnet... I’d look for one of those fishing magnets. some have a couple of hundred pounds of holding power. most are round which would match up the magnetic base. I’ve actually been looking at two other mounts for my 16 alum f150, the bullet proof diesel ($300+) frame for the light and another flat plate design ($150) but I think I’m going to crack open some old hard drives tomorrow.
Any chance this will work through glass? I have a 1st gen Honda Insight. The only practical place to mount an antennae would be on the rear hatch window. I currently have a Midland 75-822 with car accessories including a cb antennae connection.
There are rubber grommets in the floorboard under the seats. I crawl under the truck and pop one of these grommets out and feed the coax up through the floor of the truck. then I split the grommet enough to fit around the coax and the put the grommet back in place
I saw a video from Larson that showed the guy running the coax inside between the top and headliner to the driver rear door. While the light is removed the coax could be ran through the seal at the bottom of the light and to one of the rear door frames and into the interior of the cab.
mr boyle, are you saying that just four of these hard drive magnets (combined) are strong enough to hold your antenna in place, even at highway speeds? have you had any issues on the two lane road when you pass an oncoming semi for example? I'm trying to position my 2m/70cm (38-40" tall) antenna in the same spot. please advise and thank you for your service! 73
Richard Thanks for watching. The 2m 440 i have is only about 20" tall so I can't speak for one any taller. I remember hearing somewhere that the magnets in a hard drive were very strong. I had several crashed hard drives laying around. So I tool the HD's apart and sure enough the rare earth magnets were very strong. I let 2 hit each other and had to take a screw driver to separate them. So I just configured then into the shape of a donut and then double side taped them to the hollow cavity behind me 3rd brake light. I have not had the antenna ever come off at as much as the F-250 will allow before the governor kicks in at around 95 . and no problems at highway speeds on 2 lane
I live in a very hot area, wonder if we could put something under the magnet to wedge it up tight against the roof. Need to pull the lights off to see if that is possible. Otherwise I don't trust any tape to stay put, I might epoxy the magnets in.
How is your swr reading with this setup? I doubt that your coaxial cable is over 30 or 40 feet so my question is how do I did you ground it? Did you hook it up to the ground wire for your brake lights? 😜 I'm in Berlin and I there is made radio traffic here but I have the problem that my ground is always shit. Can I ground my antenna at home to my cable ty ground? 🤔
It is the same was a regular mag mount antenna would be grounded. The aluminum body actually works better than a regular body of steele. SWR is less than 1 to 1 no problems
@@gsp848 if I took the magnet off completely to use as a emergency base station antenna would it work to just run the ground wire directly to something like a steel heating system in an apartment would it do the trick? Thanks for the answer it's much appreciated. There is so much cb action in Berlin its crazy 👍
So it's been about 2 years and a half now since you made the video. Did your mag mount stay in place on your pickup truck when you would drive 70mph on highway? Did limbs from trees knock it around? Did swr remain at 1:1 ? I just bought a 200lb force magnet that I'm going to put into that small space behind the third brake light on my 2018 Ford F150 hoping it will hold my vhf mag mount. Anything else I should know? Thank you
@@johnanthony6141 No, magnetic mount antennas don't ground that way. Usually the bottom of a magnet mount antenna has a plastic film on it to protect the painted surface of the vehicle. Even if there was no plastic, the ring-type ferrite magnet isn't conductive and then you always have the layer of paint on the vehicle. You would never have bare steel for a roof.. The antenna circuit is completed via the coax and the metal roof acts as a 'ground plane'. A good coax connection is critical.
exactly what do you think aluminum is ??? I don't know what everybody thinks i have high SWR from this.the top of the truck is a ground plane . Check me if i'm wrong but aluminum DOES conduct electricity RIGHT???
@@gsp848 From everything I've read you're correct that aluminum does count. Thank you for this video too. It's such a simple solution that I hadn't even thought of and it saved me from spending over $100!
I can't believe anyone wouldn't. I've done it in 7 new trucks and several of my cars, including the wife's. I've never understood the "new" syndrome. I bought it to use. Never had an issue or question on trade-in. Mags eventually tear up the paint. NMOs can be left, capped, or plugged leaving no damaged paint or corrsion issue.
@@gsp848 - I drill every vehicle I have ever put an antenna on. I have the special drill bit that is just deep enough to pierce the outer skin, then I feed an NMO mount through the headliner, down a pillar and under the dash. I pride myself on drilling the roof on day one. Never had a single leak or a lower trade-in value on any of the many vehicles that I have done this to. Great video.
