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amp? or big radio?

I like to mount antennas on the back of the cab. Especially on the cross bar that holds the spring and air lines. It provides a ground and is up and out of the way.

No it doesn't. It provides a DC ground but it doesn't provide a RF ground, the two are not the same. Ground for antennas depends entirely on the metal directly underneath it, not alongside it. Your groundplane is effectively the width and length of the cross bar.
 
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Just a friendly word of caution on the Predator 10K and that aluminum Cascadia mirror bracket: KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM! I had that same setup on my Cascadia, and both the antenna and the bracket gave up the ghost due to metal fatigue within a few months. I do most of my driving in South and West Texas, right in the heart of oilfield country....so the roads suck! The top ear on the bracket was the first casualty, and the base of the antenna tube was the second. If you do decide to go that route, I would definitely find something nonconductive to safety tie the antenna to the door.

I would suspect that something like the Sirio Performer 5000 would be far better for this. Apart from the coil at the bottom the rest of the antenna is a flexible whip so it massively reduces stress placed on the mount. The more rigid the antenna, the more the energy from the load placed on it is transmitted into the mount.
 
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The sirio 4000 megawatt series works well too. Not much wind resistance with the load coil on them. And they make a longer whip than the performer 5000. They work well. Used one for a bit. Great dxing antenna. I now use a turbo 5000 and have had good luck with it. It doesn't have the handle sticking out like the performer, but will fold down just like the performer will. Same antenna, different mounts.
And now sirio has a center load performer 5000. Might be one to look at as well. With my optima mk3, sirio turbo 5000 and pl145 mag mount I am able to get out to roughly 40-50 miles locally on a quiet channel. And I talk dx while driving at highway speeds as well. 50 watts gets the job done plenty fine for me. If I can hear them I can normally get back. It's all about having a good setup and most of all conditions!! Good luck to you and hope you get your system sorted out. Good day.
 
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If you are using the factory mount (which actually has decent ground), you don't need a long-shaft antenna. 10K's are very good antennas, but over-priced in my opinion. The Tram Big-Cat series test about the same, as do the Road Ranger antennas (Road Ranger out-did the 10K in at least one test that I am aware of).

The mount that 4-stringer mentioned is a great mount, and works well, but you WILL need a long-shaft antenna ofr that. 22" - 24" is best. The goal is to get the bottom of the loading coil at or slightly above the roofline just above the door level.

I agree with using a standard radio with an amp to get the best over-all performance. Many of my customers use either Cobra 29's or Uniden PC76/78's that I have set up for them with external amps of various types, and these combinations do a very good job.
 

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