The tailgate is one of the worst locations to mount an antenna for a good ground. I installed a 1” braided engine block ground from the antenna mount down to the frame. I run a uniden bearcat and can maintain a 1.00 swr as long as the ground on the frame does not become corroded. Then the swr jumps to 6.88. After I sand it back out it will drop to 0.
Another reason not to mount to the tailgate is pinching the antenna wire. Routed mine thru the tailgate and into the cab in the same location the OEM wires run. Over time, even in a wire loom, they eventual pinch. I’m in the process of running it down the AEV tire carrier, then up under the wheel well and back into the cab to avoid the pinch location.
To avoid the whole grounding issue all together, I’m also hardwiring in a midland 40 Watt GMRS unit. Just testing it outside of the mount location, I can get miles of range out of it and that’s testing in a small downtown with a lot of buildings. They are very simple to set up and use and they don’t seem to have the grounding issues that the CBs have. The only downside is that most of the jeep clubs don’t run them yet so I will run both for the now.
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