Tools and Materials Needed
- 10mm socket wrench
- Antenna wrench (Not really required but makes it easier) A set of vice grips or pliers will work.
- After market stationary antenna (I used a Fuba Roof Mount Antenna Kit off Ebay) Can be had for a little under 30 dollars.
Can also be found here
http://www.antennax.com/Products/Description_ax03.htm
- 8mm combination wrench (maybe be different depending on what antenna you are installing)
1. Remove the passenger side trunk liner.
2. Remove the special nut holding the antenna on the exterior of the car. Illustrated in pic #1 This is where you'll need the antenna wrench. If you don't have one you can use a set of pliers or vice grips to turn it. Place a towel over it if you're worried about scratching it. It shouldn't be very tight. Once removed it will look like pic #2
3. Remove the plugs from the stock antenna unit. There should be the power harness, the antenna feed (you can't see it in the picture it's a black wire) and the drain hose. Shown in pic #3
4. Loosen the 10mm mounting nut. Also shown in pic #3. You don't have to remove the nut completely just loosen it enough do that you can slide the entire antenna unit down to the larger hole.
5. Remove the entire antenna unit. It'll take some finessing since there isn't much room back there.
6. Install the new antenna. Place the new antenna mast in the hole where the old one used to be with the supplied rubber gasket. On the new antenna feed wire there is a bracket that clamps down on the body to hold the mast in place. You can see the new antenna in pic #4. This is the tricky part due the fact there is very little room to work with. Install the locking washer and 8mm nut supplied with the new antenna. Position the antenna however you want it. I angled it a little back instead of straight up. When satisfied tighten the nut.
Optional Step - The bracket on the feed wire barely grabs enough of the body panel to stay secure. I didn't feel safe with that. So I took a thin yet stiff piece of metal about 3/4" wide and 2" long and drilled a hole right in the middle big enough for the mounting stud to pass through. I sandwiched that between the feed wire bracket the body and the mast to give it more to bite on and giving it more strength.
7. Connect the new antenna feed wire to original antenna wire. The plugs will match up exactly. Zip tie up the extra wire and neatly tuck it away.
8. Time to test the radio. If you did everything correctly you should be able to get decent reception.
9. Replace the truck liner and you're done. No more broken antenna motor or a super high r/c car looking antenna.
Pic #5 is the finished product.
**Note the antenna does not sit perfectly vertical when looking straight at it from the rear or front of the car. It angles slightly outward. It doesn't bother be much but I'm sure you could modify it by grinding down the base of the mast a little more at an angle.
Linear Mode
