There is very little chatter about this antenna anywhere, so I figured I would float it here. I'm getting ready to hang it next week, so this is an academic exercise for a learning experience.
Before putting it up, post detailed, I mean very detailed, including pictures, dimensions of it and we'll model it for you. AFAIK, there is no detailed NEC model of the Antennacraft U8000.
The phasing line and the cross over phasing lines are going to give modelers the most trouble, so thats where the super detail needs to come in. Maybe pictures of all the phasing line with marked dimensions on masking tape would be the ticket.
Im pretty familiar with Antenna Craft antennas, (still owned by the Tandy Corp I think) and for the money they are a pretty good deal. The quality of the plastic pieces is not as good as the Channel Masters or Winegards, but acceptable. The aluminum parts, while maybe thinner than CM or Wine, should still last hundreds of years, heh. The best thing to do with them, due to packaging, and this could apply to all shipped antennas, is to bend the parts back to spec, and reinforce anything you think looks weak.
For example, if you can move a reflector rod, use a punch and hammer to tighten the rivet.