I'm scheduled to go to Dayton Friday but I haven't really seen many great deals in the past.  Does anyone know of a better deal on a Tarheel LT-II than HRO's $399?  I checked R and L and MTC already.  It's going to cost me about $400 to take Friday off and the only thing I'm interested in this year is a mobile hf antenna.  

Also, I'm looking for mounting options for my Ford Escape.  Would a Diamond hatchback mount be sturdy enough for a LT-II?

Unless you find a used one in Dayton, it will probably be cheaper to buy one online.  You will have to pay sales tax in Dayton.

I'm not sure about the mount. I used an optional Tarheel mounting bracket on my Tarheel 75A, because it's a lot sturdier and makes it hard to steal the antenna. One of the arfcomers had his Tarheel stolen, believe it or not.  Either way, look at installing an antenna rated spring between the antenna body and the whip. Adding a quick disconnect to the whip may be a good idea too.
Mount the antenna as high as practically possible and away from metal parts in the area surrounding the antenna.
DO NOT buy a cheap spring and a disconnect. They are junk. Cheap Springs have no copper braid inside and will detune your antenna. Cheap quick disconnects will fall apart or loose connection. HRO sells quality stuff at the lowest price.

If you go with the mounting bracket you mentioned, make sure the bracket body is bonded to the trunk lid (or where you mount it) right where the mount is. I like to remove some paint under one of the screws that hold the bracket on the lid, apply some bearing grease to keep it from rusting. You can install a jumper to bond the bracket (coax shield) to the trunk lid. Use flat copper braid and keep it as short as possible (several inches max.) It may not hurt to add several short "ground" bonding conductors to the hood
Bond the trunk lid to the car body with several short flat braid copper conductors. It may not hurt to bond your exhaust system in several spots as well. If the antenna is close the the rear window defroster strips, add a few "snap-on" RF chokes on the wires connected to the defroster, to keep RF currents off the circuit. It's not absolutely necessary but is a good practice.
The car body is not big enough to acts as a sufficient ground plane but it provides some coupling with the ground below the car.

I bought mine at Dayton right from the manufacturer.  They generally give some discounts there.

Check with Gigaparts. When I bought a 75A last year they were $95 less than Tarheel direct AND had free shipping.