Little Tweaks

[FriedTater]

Overkill has nothing to do with it.
If a truck is a year or two old corrosion has set in and all the fasteners aren't has tight as they once were.

The older the truck the more grounding that needs compensated for.
Its not one size fits all, every truck is different.

[Mr. PlumCrazy]

I have never grounded my radio chassis now that said I make sure the antenna is grounded good and I run my pos wire to battery buzz bar and ground wire to a bolt in the truck chassis. And I can talk 50+ miles about any day

[WA4GCH]

Originally Posted by oh well

I have a Midland 1001Z (was peaked) with a 4ft fiberglass antenna using RG8X 95%coax. I only get out about a mile and a half. So if I understand this the radio need to be grounded. Would a different antenna work better? Also when I turn the wipers on the radio picks up the wipe motor.

You have a problem I use a 4 foot firestick with a stock midland radio and talk 10 miles .....

Your choice of coax is fine grounding the coax at both the antenna and the radio end is also a good idea.

Motor noise can be a problem see what happens when you fix the grounds.

[outerspacehillbilly]

Originally Posted by WA4GCH

You have a problem I use a 4 foot firestick with a stock midland radio and talk 10 miles .....

Your choice of coax is fine grounding the coax at both the antenna and the radio end is also a good idea.

Motor noise can be a problem see what happens when you fix the grounds.

Well as stated already he is using a cigarette lighter plug for power that's his biggest problem.

[Rat]

Originally Posted by outerspacehillbilly

Your right that if you have a good ground to start with you don't need an extra bunch of ground straps, however since most of the newer trucks are 95% plastic it is very hard to have a good ground without running a bunch of extra ground straps. I think that was pretty clear in the whole discussion above, if it wasn't someone might need a new prescription in their lenses.

Well in todays plastic world, extra straps won't help if the roof,hood, doors etc are plastic or fiberglass. You would then be depending on the chassis for a groundplane.

[outerspacehillbilly]

Originally Posted by Rat

Well in todays plastic world, extra straps won't help if the roof,hood, doors etc are plastic or fiberglass. You would then be depending on the chassis for a groundplane.

Yes they will. There is still some metal in them and ground straps DO WORK!

[WA4GCH]

Originally Posted by outerspacehillbilly

Yes they will. There is still some metal in them and ground straps DO WORK!

You can use short CB wips for a ground if all else fails ....