Shorty antenna? Yea or Nay?

With every trip through the car wash I'm reminded about replacing the antenna with something a little shorter and stealth-like. Any recommendations from those who have ditched the longer antenna on their rig? Thanks...

 

Do you use the radio?

If so, leave it as is.

 

But then it won't look like an RC truck

 

I tried the stubby antenna but reception was virtually non-existent. Sent it back for a refund.

 

Yep, didn't know if some had better reception than others... Thanks.

 

Good to know. Thanks...

 

I use a 13" Antenna-X rubber stubby. Works fine, but I'm in Canada and we have different broadcast laws and less cluttered airwaves.

 

I use a stubby, but I'm surrounded by strong stations. When I travel a little bit, they get flaky. Worked much better with the OE unit. But I don't travel in the truck often, so it's not really an issue for me.

The better thing to do, if you care about your vehicle's finish, is to stay out of automatic carwashes that are not touchless.

 

I picked up a shorty antenna at Autozone. 16" compared to some of the smaller stubby ones. I lost some reception but it wasn't until miles out of town and I listen to XM a lot so it hasn't bothered me. I like the look and it's still functional.

 

The other thing is, the short antennas are not nearly as flexible as the OEM.

So when you go through a car wash, instead of the antenna getting shoved around - it just breaks off.

 

I go through the no touch wash but still remove the antenna before hand.

 

I've had a short antenna x on for the past year and go through the car wash essentially every week, and have had no problems. Reception is good as well. I think it's the 8in, so not the shortest but much better than stock.

 

I had a stock antenna, switched to a shorty and soon came back to the stock. The shorty gets little to no reception and aside from looks and convenience with drive thru car washes serves no other purposes

 

Thanks...

 

Doesn't anyone wash there own vehicles any more? Its really not that difficult

 

You obviously don't have small children... I'd love to wash my truck by hand but with two little ones running around, time (and not to mention energy) is of the essence. If I had the resources and ability to wash the truck after dark when everyone was sleeping I would but since I don't the automatic car wash followed by a hand drying and once or twice per year wax job is all I can manage.

As for the OP's question, I'm in the same boat. I have the OEM long radio antenna on my truck right now and every time I pull into my garage it hits on the door. I'm installing a 3" lift in two weeks and I can only imagine the contact between my OEM antenna and the garage will be much worse. Needless to say, I'm in the market for a shorter (not necessarily a stubby) antenna that won't hit my garage door every time I pull in. I spend 90%+ of my time in the truck listening to XM radio so a decrease in AM/FM reception won't bother me. Based on my limited research thus far, it appears I'll need to begin my search at the local auto parts stores and go from there...

 

Got a

$17 Steadfast Auto 10119 Fixed Mast 8" Black Antenna Replacement for Toyota Tacoma Truck

Steadfast Auto 10119 8", but radio reception suffered too much. Got the Steadfast Auto 10121 14" and found it to be a good compromise between size and radio reception. Been using it over a year and have not had car wash problems. So, answer to OP's question, for me: nay.

 

I bought a stubby Antenna for about $20 cuz I love a stubby look plus it does not hit the garage door but it was a piece of junk. Radio reception was shitty. Returned it to Auto Zone and never look back. I'm still looking though.

 

I have a stubby 6" antenna on mine but I couldn't tell you how the reception is since 99.9% of the time I am listening to music via bluetooth.

 

See post #6
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-member-from-ok.436207/#post-12626518

Its a great compromise. I still get plenty of stations.

Here's a direct link to the antenna:
http://m.autozone.com/electrical-an...tenna-mast/218788_0_0/?CJPID=2206300&cmpid=cj