I keep seeing that people are grounding at the antenna. Is this necessary if the CB is already grounded? I've never had an issue. I installed myself and it was tuned by probably the best CB guy in California who said it was fine not being grounded at the antenna. Any input or clarification on this?

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The antenna you see sticking up is only part of the antenna system, it also uses a ground plane, in this case metal of the vehicle. When you look at the mount, the part the antenna screws onto sits in a plastic washer that insulates it from making contact with the mounting bracket. So the antenna only connects to the inside conductor of the cable. The outside screw part of the cable is ground and when you screw that to the bottom of the connector it makes contact with the mounting bracket. So if the bracket was installed in a way that makes solid contact with bare metal of your jeep you have a ground connection. People will run an extra ground to make sure they have a solid ground connection.

 

The problem some people are running into is that they are installing their antenna mount onto the tailgate. The tailgate is not bonded well to the rest of the body due to the hinge. The result is poor performance and usually high SWR.

 

Thank you,

Mine is mounted to the SmittyBilt tire carrier which is mounted to the tail gate not a bumper. I haven't had any issues as of yet, maybe I'll put one on there just in case.

Thanks again

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