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Reviews For: Hustler SSM-2

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Hustler SSM-2
Reviews: 8MSRP: 32
Description:
3/8 x 24 TPI ball mount for permanent mount mobile antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.new-tronics.com/main/html/mobile_accessories_page_1.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0081.1
W4VPIMOBILE Rating: 2017-03-14
junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Move on to something else. Cheap soft metal junk. WHEn INSTalling, noticed main bolt just keep spinning, the anchor point on bolt head was stripped. Installed crush washer to tighten up but didn't last. big waste of time and energy.
N0FPE Rating: 2012-04-29
Down hill Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one of these a few weeks ago. I have used them in the past and was sticking with a known item. Over the years I have used/installed a number of these on commercial trucks and the like. This thing was not even close to the old units. Stamped metal, crappy fit, cheap all the way. A big POS. I returned it and am now looking for a replacement. Hustler/Newtronics has gone way way way down the hill. Cheap junk.
NT4I Rating: 2012-04-29
Disappointing Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Cheap junk, light duty at best.
K4JSR Rating: 2012-04-28
A Big Waste Of Ham $$$ Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have generally been a fan of Hustler antenna products. However, the quality of this ball mount sucks harder than the tornado that took Dorothy to Oz.
The ball mount is not even strong enough for a 102" whip, it is not even close to useful with any of the standard Newtronics mobile HF antennas.
Obviously the high power 75 and 40 meter loading coils have more than enough wind drag to strip the threads on the Allen Head bolt holding the ball together.
This is at normal highway speeds.
I have gone through three of these in the past
two years. All have been miserable failures.
Save your money! Breedlove Mounts, here I come!
Cal Neff K4JSR
N9NAQ Rating: 2010-10-25
not strong enough Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This ball mount is not strong enough to hold the hustler series of hf resonator antennas. After a quick 15 minute drive down the highway I was shocked to see the antenna laying horizontal behind the quarter panel where I mounted it.
The bolts that hold it to the car body seem ok but it relies only on friction between the ball halves to hold the antenna up with no notches or pins, etc. I sent it back and asked Hustler instead for a merchandise credit for a 17 meter resonator they said that they would only replace the ball mount with another one. I suggest trying to weld or solder or glue the halves together if you insist on trying this mount.

I have purchased a breedlove pinned mount and will report on how that one works.

I am not critizing the antennas, they seem to work well.
N4DBM Rating: 2010-04-28
Pretty Good Overall Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I can understand the previous reviews, I agree the ball part is a little on the cheap side and isn't quite as strong as some other mounts. However, it is all stainless steel, which has its advantages. I installed one of these on my truck toolbox. I like the cork gasket because it's thicker than most rubber/silicone gaskets and seals good to the diamond plate toolbox. I didn't have any problems with mounting it, everything went smooth. I like the 1/4" stainless bolts which are heavier duty than other mounts.

I bought the SSM-1 model which is the same as the SSM-2 only with a stainless spring.

One advantage to this mount over some others is the fact that you have complete control over the swivel in either direction. Some mounts have notches which only allow you to turn and lock the ball every so many degrees. The SSM-1 allows exact positioning to make the antenna completely vertical, if desired.

Not the absolute best ball mount ever, but I am a big fan and supporter of Hustler antenna products, and overall I believe the SSM-1 ball mount is pretty good.
KE7WRY Rating: 2009-10-25
Very poor quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The quality of this mount is horrible. Besides a cheap stamped shell, the C back ring had all 3 1/4-20 tapped holes at steep angles so the bolts would not thread in straight. The 3/8 threaded hub was so sloppy the mast never tightened & just spun inside. Hustler's quality has gone south bad with this mount. Do not waste your money on this.
KD7AWG Rating: 2009-07-02
OK for Medium Duty Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Stamped ball construction and sloppy tolerances make this mount a less-than-ideal choice and the installation tricky.

I drilled a 1 1/2 inch center hole as opposed to the 1 5/16 center hole specified by Hustler. You may need the extra “wiggle room” owing to the “tight tolerances” of this mount. Using the cork gasket (called a grommet) as a drilling template (as the manufacturer recommends) may result in off-center mounting holes; sight through the three bolt holes on the black base first (after drilling the center hole) to see if the three 1 3/8 mounting bolt hole marks on the vehicle are in the right places before drilling their holes.

The three mounting bolts will not go into the backing plate (horseshoe washer) “finger tight” when passed through the black insulating mount when mounted on the vehicle. They did go in easy when screwed in without the black base. This lead me to believe there was some problems with the drilled holes in the car body (not so) and made a simple installation more perplexing. The problem was the alignment between the black base mounting holes and the holes on the horseshoe washer.

The cork gasket appears to me to be an inappropriate choice of material; I can see it shriveling up and drying out in the 100+ degree Southwestern desert. What about a silicone rubber gasket Hustler?

I used locking nuts on the three mounting bolts after they passed through the horseshoe washer as an anti-theft measure.

Use a small drill bit through the 6-32 grounding hole the in the horseshoe washer to break the paint/coating on the vehicle, you may get a bad ground otherwise.

Resist the urge to tighten the center conductor screw and lock washer bolt with a King Kong death gripe. After the split lock washer was flattened, I went about another 1/2 turn more.

You get what you pay for with this mount.