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1986 Bronco II CB Antenna location


The Slider

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Castroville, Texas
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1986
1972
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Ford
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Automatic
I am having my 86 Bronco II redone at the paint and body shop.. I have had my antenna on my side mirror for a while, but I want to relocate it to the rear bumper, there is already a ball there, just needs an antenna. How long of a fire stick do I need to get to mount on the rear bump so I can get a signal out. I was thinking maybe 6'??? The reason I am going with a firestick is that it is rigid and wont hit the paint. I have a LONG WHIP but it always scratched the paint. I know it isn't the ideal location, but It is already there and I don't want to drill holes. So that's why I am asking about how tall I need to go.

Thanks!
 
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4x4junkie

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Bronco II
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The bumper really is far from an ideal antenna location no matter how tall the antenna is. A 102" whip is about the only thing that will work even remotely acceptably there (and still pretty poorly at that).

If you just have a paint scratching issue, the very old trick of stabbing a tennis ball over the antenna works well to keep the antenna from marring the side of the paint.

Otherwise I'd look into getting a magnet-mount up on the center of the roof, or maybe a hood-lip or fender-lip mount with a 5' or so tall antenna.

Also, I changed your thread title, it was confusing (you had it as "CD Antenna").
 

The Slider

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1972
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Thanks for changing the title. I had the tennis ball on my whip. I don't need to get out THAT far, just a couple of miles.
 

4x4junkie

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113
Location
So. Calif (SFV)
Vehicle Year
1990
Make / Model
Bronco II
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
2.9L V6
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Tire Size
35x12.50R15
Whatever antenna you use needs to have at least 60% of it's length above the vehicle body if you want a good SWR match for your radio (so that's why a 102" whip if it's on the bumper).
If range isn't a top priority, then I'd still say go with the fender-lip mount, but maybe you could get away with a 3½ foot or 4 foot tall antenna. Range should be 2-3 miles in most conditions (for comparison, a 5' whip up on the roof should range about 5-10 miles).
 

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