What C.B. should I start off with?

Go grab a cobra 29 off the shelf and hook it up in the truck. That’ll get you what you need to do for now.

 

Times 2 on the Cobra 29.

 

X 3 on the Cobra 29. had 3 in last 35 yrs. lol

 

X4 on Cobra 29.

Hooked it up to the factory antenna on a 2018 Volvo VNL and I was able to listen and talk far enough to keep myself and the truck outta trouble.

 

Guess I'll be the negative one. Todays Cobra 29's are basically throw away radios. I've worked on the 25 and 29's and one of the biggest problem is that they develop an intermittent problem due to cold solder joints. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack and most CB shops aren't going to waste a few hours trying to fix it. Mainly it's cheaper just to sell you another cobra radio than to fix the old one.
If you want the features of a cobra 29, then I would recommend the Uniden PC78LTX. Much better radio quality wise for around the same money.

PC78LTX - Uniden CB Radio

 

The Road King rkcb classic is worth a look also. I have one and prefer it over my Cobra 29. It is pretty much the same as the Uniden 78ltx but cheaper.

 

Anyone AT6666. Single Skipshooter, drivers side. LMR240 coax or LMR240UF coax

 

Most radios today that are intended for CB band are the same, throwaways. The uniden is a good radio, but even better are older ones which do the same job without the expense.

I bought a crap load of realistic radios last year for $25. I got them with another package of military and high-end radios that were going to go to the scrap yard. There had to be 60 of them - never counted, most of them are TRC-452 and Mini 40s. I asked some of the drivers if they cared what was put into the truck, and most said no, so off to my tech went a dozen of them to get aligned and serviced (no he did not replace the caps, they are fine). I had one problem radio out of the bunch that ended in a truck, that radio had a defective AGC transistor and that was it. The mini 40s are liked better than the 452s, it is a no-bs radio, with channel control, squelch, and volume, nothing else.