so ive been running a Yaesu FTM-400 in my F-150 for about a year now mostly on 2m and 440 and honestly the setup works pretty well except im not totally happy with my antenna situation. right now ive got a NMO mount on the trunk lip of my camper shell but the other day someone at the club meetup was telling me i should really have it on the roof for better pattern and less body shielding. i get the theory but i really dont want to drill into the roof of a truck i still owe money on lol

anyway has anyone actually compared roof vs trunk lip vs maybe a hood mount side by side or have some real world experience with this? i drive mostly highway and some mountain roads in the PNW so terrain is a factor too i guess. the repeaters around here are all at elevation so maybe it matters less than i think? idk just kinda wondering if its worth stressing about

roof mount is definitely the gold standard and yeah the difference is real especially when youre trying to hit something behind you, the body of the truck just eats signal on lower mounts. that said ive been running a lip mount on my tacoma for three years and it works fine for 90 percent of what i do day to day. unless you're trying to weak signal stuff or you notice actual dead zones i wouldnt lose sleep over it.

the NMO on the camper shell is probably fine honestly. if you ever do want to go roof without drilling theres those magnetic mounts but they move around at highway speeds and i dont trust em long term. some guys do the gutter mount clips but your truck might not have gutters. i'd just leave it where it is and see if you actually run into problems before changing anything

I just went through this exact thing a few months ago when I got my technician. ended up putting a mag mount on the roof just to try it out before committing to drilling and honestly the difference going from the trunk area to the roof was noticeable on a couple of the repeaters I was marginal on. not huge but real. I know mag mounts arent ideal long term but its let me experiment before I make a permanent decision which has been nice