Antennas

I'd check the SWR's with a meter and if good, try it.

 

If the SWR is good, that tells you that you have a proper impedance match and that connecting to it won't hurt your radio. The only way to know if it is any good for propagating a radio signal is to test it with a field strength test set or just try it and see how well it works. If you are using a radio that you used to have connected to a different antenna, you will notice if the difference is significant.

Sorry I can't help any further than this. I used to be a two-way radio technician, but I know nothing about your truck.

 

All depends. Just how old of a truck is it? I mean, if the truck is like 20 years old, the cables may be of questionable quality.
I never really had problem with the trucks I was assigned to, and my stock radio worked pretty well.