CB Antenna / Spare Tire Mount / Query

[bapoptosis]

Hey,
For everyone that has an antenna on their spare tire mount, what kind of distance can y'all receive? Is there any problems with the ground plane? I want to locate my antenna there, but am skeptical about the grounding and high SWRs.

[guruerror]

I definitely don't know much about CB range and antenna grounds; but I've got my antennas on my tire carrier and they seem to work well. You got me thinking though...maybe they could work better with a better ground.

Hmmmm...couldn't we run a 'ground strap' from the arm to the frame to solidify the ground connection?

[H2005]

Has anyone ran a ground strap from the rear tire carrier arm to the frame on the h2?
If so does it work?

[H2ummer]

The problem with running grounds is they create a high impedance to RF. Meaning a high resistance. Looks good with an Ohm meter but not really worth much. Simply put depending on the length they do no good. RF travels on the surface. So a strap is better than a single strand wire. So a short strap with a good width (surface area) is better than a long run or one.
If you have to do it, keep it short and wide. Increase the surface area. Otherwise the Antenna does not even see it as an RF ground.

[H2005]

Trying to figure out where to connect it is going to be the fun part.