antenna

my wife took the truck thru the car wash and bend the antenna

Im thinking getting a shorter version

any brand suggestions?
Im looking at ebay, they look ok

 

Take your stock antenna and bend it back. Take a dremel tool and cut off to the desired length. Cut the ball off the top of the antenna and epoxy it back onto your shortened antenna. Paint antenna with Matte black paint. Install back on to your truck. Tell the wife to remove the antenna before taking it back through the car wash.

 

I was eye balling the short stubby antennas on ebay as well since I don't like having to take mine off every time I go to the car wash.. hopefully we will get some legit input on them here....

 

Stubby antennas will give you the reception you think they will give you. Not much at all. That is one reason the factory antenna is the length it is. The less amount of antenna to receive the signal the less signal you will receive. Around town will probably not make much of a difference but the further away from the signal... stands to reason... the shorter antenna will lose signal faster than a longer one.

It comes down to what you value most. Looks over reception. Some people swear by certain aftermarket antennas and others don't. Fact is... it is just a piece of metal that is coming out of your fender that picks up a signal. Shorter will not have the distance of a longer one.



*EDIT* I cut my factory antenna to 14" and have no issues with around town reception. That said... I don't listen to the radio that often. I listen to the USB, Sat. radio, or Pandora / iHeart Radio 99% of the time.

 

that's a lot of work to do when I don't have a dremel

I already yelled at my wife, believe me she'll do it again cause this is not her priority!

 

I capped mine off.

 

Lol...

How about a hacksaw? They are cheap and work just as well.

I understand the wife thing also

 

I got the AntennaX 5" Shorty for Christmas and the reception was terrible. I exchanged it for the 14" Black Billet and the reception was much better, but the antenna made an annoying whistling noise going down the road. That antenna is collecting dust on my workbench now, and the factory antenna is back on my truck.

 

X2

This is what I did after looking into the shorter ones. If you do cut some off, I would tape the end you are keeping were you cut it. This will help hold the wire that is wrapped around onto the remaining piece.

 

Sounds like a great reason to buy a Dremel or similar tool, I'm sure you can find one for around $30 somewhere. Probably the same price you would end up paying for a high end stubby antenna, but you'll have a very useful tool that can be used on all kinds of applications.

 

I cut mine with some dikes

 

I got this one:

AntennaX Black Billet (14") Antenna for Toyota Tacoma

http://www.amazon.com/AntennaX-Bill...7580342&sr=8-2&keywords=antenna+toyota+tacoma

Did read the whole thread so I don't know if it was mentioned. It works fine, I have never lost reception with it.

 

I got mine from shorty antenna source. Shorter and reception is same as factory

 

Mine broke off in the car wash and it broke so far inside where it attaches that i cannot get it out. I am lucky enuf to live in a big city and almost all of my fm stations come in clear, hd radio clear and i pretty much stream pandora when i am in my truck anyway so whatever

 

I got the same one some time back and during the first drive out of town replaced it with stock. I immediately realized the AntennaX didn't have the range as the stock.

 

Yup, I ordered a stubby and promptly sent it back. I prefer functionality over aesthetics.

 

I have a 14 and 7 in antennax. 14 pleased with their products. I ordered both off Amazon.