We ran Cobra 29 Classics, exclusively, until recently. Seems the newer ones aren't as good as the old ones. Go figure.
Several of the guys, including the boss, have gone to Galaxy 99's, and seem to like them better.
The boss buys Frances 4' fiberglass whips, to replace ALL the factory antennas. The exception is the huge open coil duals, on his personal rig. All he said was,"I told the guy to send me the best he could get, and this is what I got." Might be overkill, for a regular radio, but he also got a 350 watt linear.
Our 4 Kenworths were ordered with factory 29 Classics, but we still changed to the Frances whips.
I've got an old Hy-Gain Hy-Range 3(or4?), at the shop, that I haven't used in 10 years. It was tweaked to the max, and would talk anywhere.
The best radio I ever had was an old Kraco Super DeLuxe. With a single bumper mount mid-load, I could talk 15 miles pretty easy.