There is theory then there is practice. Practice always wins. Tweakers and experimenters always beat out the theorists in the end but the theorists can get you in the ball park very quickly. Mother nature dictates what's best, improper application of theory be damned. And that's just the problem. This stuff can get all technical and theoretical quickly and not many can speak intelligently about it in the first place but even fewer when things stray from the beaten path.

You might look into picking up a SWR meter. You can find adequate models for not too much money. With an SWR meter you can test various configs you come up with to see what the meter says. The meter actually sends signal onto the antenna and tests the response and gives a readout about how well the setup is working. You can do things like bend whips around, change locations etc. and see what affect it has on SWR which is related to real world performance.

I think once you have a couple antennas in mind, google search some reviews for example "Wilson 1000 VS 102" whip" or minor variations would likely yield some hits. The Wilson is just one example. Sirio makes some nice coil loaded whips that perform even better than the Wilsons but with the tradeoff of added length.

Keep in mind even the coil loaded whips are a treadeoff compared to a quarter wave and most who are coming from using a quarter wave will be disappointed with performance but they will still be beating the unloaded short whips pretty handily and sometimes a true quarter wave is just too much headache for what it's worth. Trust me. I've driven around with them on my truck for a while and it takes some getting used to.

When you have an antenna or two to play with and a SWR meter then you can begin to optimize and experiment. There may be some way of bending the 102" whip so that the result isn't so bad. I wouldn't really know as that isn't something I've played with. I can guarantee that having a meter will help you more quickly narrow in on more optimal ways of bending the thing than just trial and error.

 

@Ugly1 I'm just curious about your signature. Says you have a 2500 SLT Lariat? Is this a custom breed of truck, or just a typo? :P

 

LOL! nope not a custom truck breed just a custom brain fart! LOL nice catch. I think I'll change it now. My Ford was a Lariat and the Dodge is a Laramie. oops!

 

Haha OK, I thought maybe a Ram mated with a Ford at a junkyard and you adopted the poor thing.

I liked the look of your truck and was reading your setup, and did a double take. Nice truck BTW.

 

Thanks bro! Heh, only minimal x-breeding going on here with only the Motorcraft oil filter on there currently.

 

Due to wavelength, and power limitations, CB radios aren't really the best choice for long distance communication. Sure, on the great plains, you can get several miles, without much trouble. But, throw some relatively active terrain into the mix...... and you are basically limited to "If you can see it, you can talk to it, if you can't, well.... you can't." Out on the trail, for yakking at other trailmates and such, works great. Don't rely on it to bail you out of an emergency situation though.....

 

Eggzachary. Which is why in SHTF, if the phones are down, your next best bet is ham radio.

 

pshaw! with CB you just have to want it a little more.

 

yeah im putting in a cb radio so i can listen to the truck drivers on the highway they know where them smokies are lol.I did do a search and seems most people put the bracket on the floor facing up right in front of the seat.do you have to drill holes in the floor or can you use self taping screws?I have a pretty good antenna a wilson 1000 mag mount.but im looking for a small cb im not sure if my galaxy 99v will fit in there it may?

 

All depends on how you want to mount it. If your ok with drilling some holes then you can do it like i did. if you dont want to drill any holes in your truck then you can get a bracket to mount it in front of the center console.. I just finished installing mine today and am going to take it up to the local CB shop and have it tuned. Also have to get new whips. mine are cracked and broken. Heres a pic of how I did it.