Hey All,

So im finally following through with my cb radio install. I purchased the rugged ridge spare tire mount in the black powder coat. Little did i know at the time...you need direct steel connection in order to ground the antenna.

So my question for you guys is:

Do i need to grind all of the paint off of the bracket? or do i just need to grind off the area where the antenna, stud, and cable touch the bracket?


Thanks!!

 

I used the Teraflex mount & didn't do any grinding. The radio works fine & last time I checked SWR was acceptable.


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You should grind the area around one bracket bolt hole to bare steel. Attach a ground wire, (w/ring terminal) to that bolt, (ground to bared steel on body...then a short ground strap to frame). Don't attmpt to use tailgate hinges as a source for your ground. Die-electric grease on both sides of ring terminal, bare steel in bracket and the bolt. A thin coating on all will suffice. Die-electric grease is silacone based and will prevent corrosion to your connections, (& it's waterproof).. Mounting bracket where you scraped will not rust.

 

Well, this mount goes in the books as the sh!++iest mount on the market. Other than the fact that its heavy and sturdy, this thing sucks. I ground off the powdercoat and after one day, a thick layer of rust formed where i ground it. I dont know if rust interferes with the cb grounding/coax connection, but it sure doesnt look good. I ended up ordering a new antenna mount from Cool Tech LLC. This one is stainless steel and hopefully it will be level...unlike the RR one that i had to hammer and bend to get level. IF YOUR LOOKING FOR A REAR TIRE CB ANTENNA MOUNT, STEER CLEAR FROM THE RUGGED RIDGE POWDER COAT ONE!!! It will only lead to problems.

 

I had so much fun bending mine with a vice grip just the other day, oh the memories

 

Rust definitely interferes with the connection. It's non-conductive.

 

Is this the mount you're using? Is it installed as shown?

Attachment 587151

If so, then a couple of suggestions:

-The chassis ground at the tailgate door is less than good.
-You want to run a flexible ground-braid from the vehicle frame (drill / tap / tooth-washers & flat washers) at the frame, to a ring terminal with a large diameter ring on the other end.
-The large diameter ring then mounts to the bottom of the antenna mounting connector, that attaches to the base of the antenna.

The picture below shows the RR mount, but it's attached to my swing out tire carrier. It's the same principle, in that I've brought the ground braid up the side of the tire carrier, and drilled / tapped to the carrier frame itself also.

Attachment 587152

 

I used that exact bracket yesterday on an install and worked great no ground wire or grinding needed. My SWR is 1.0

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