so ive been running a TM-V71A in my F-150 for about a year now and the antenna situation has been driving me a little crazy. right now i have a mag mount on the roof which works ok but i dont love the cable routing through the door jamb and honestly im a little paranoid about it scratching the paint over time. the SWR is fine and the radio works great but i feel like i could do better.

been looking at bed rail mounts and also those lip mounts that go on the trunk or hatch edge - obviously a truck doesnt have a hatch so im not sure what my options are there. someone at the club mentioned drilling through the roof and doing a proper NMO mount but thats a pretty permanent decision and this is my daily driver so im hesitant. anyone been down this road with a pickup specifically? what did you end up doing and are you happy with it

I went through exactly this with my Silverado a few years back. Ended up doing the NMO through the roof and honestly I'd never go back - the SWR is rock solid and the cable routing is completely hidden. It sounds scary but if you take your time sealing it properly with self-amalgamating tape and a dab of silicone it's really not a big deal. The mount has been in there four years, no rust, no leaks. My wife's car got a lip mount because she didn't want any drilling and it works fine for local repeater stuff but the feedline is kind of a pain and she's lost a little signal in spots where my truck does fine. If this is a radio you're serious about I'd just commit to the NMO. The mag mount cable situation will bug you forever otherwise.

i did a hood mount on mine - there's a bracket that bolts to the hood hinge area and you run the coax down through the firewall. looks pretty clean actually and no roof drilling required. signal's been good, no complaints. only thing is you have to be a little careful about antenna length if you have a tonneau cover but thats probably not an issue depending on your setup. i think Comet makes one or maybe it was Diamond, i'd have to look it up. worth googling around for truck-specific antenna mounts, theres more options than you'd think