Not sure why the plastic washer is on there. Was on the whip when it was gave to me. The ground I added is soldered and heat shrunk. Didn't think about the coax connection. I have some bugle in the shop I can use to isolate it. As far as mounting I'm not too sure on locations besides the bumper. I'm limited to the type of mounts due to only having a small truck stop near that doesn't carry very many items. I'll try to do some research and find something. Would a 6" riser be OK instead of a spring? Like you stated I would like to keep it as straight as possible without a lot of flexing back and forth. I plan on ordering a swr meter this evening. And I also plan on checking the connections as well. Thank you everyone for your help full replies it's nice to get advice from people with good knowledge on this subject instead of someone around here telling me my CV is just junk and I need a high dollar one.