Broken power antenna again and no more... (1 Viewer)

[VinylSeats]

Yes just replacing with another power mast is less expensive, I had done it twice in one year. I was done with doing that.
You can definitely go that route, it is less expensive and easy.
And just a FYI to everyone, a radio antenna tool will not unscrew the retainer ring on the 100 series, it will not fit on the retaining ring because of the shape of the fender, just use needle nose pliers.

I tried to install the conversion kit tonight and ran into a problem:

I could not get the old antenna to completely come out; it would get very close but not fully eject.

Just to make sure I understand this kit correctly, does the entire old mast come out (telescoping piece and entire white teeth strip)?

If that's the case and I can't get the teeth to completely eject, do I need to get in by the motor by the wheel well and remove it?

 

[VinylSeats]

Judging by one of your previous comments, @Spike555 , it seems you installed your kit after your teeth broke off into the motor.

So, if you were me and the teeth got close to ejecting but won't quite make it, what would you do?

 

[kruisinkid]

Keep pulling harder. You have to pull MUCH harder than you think

 

[VinylSeats]

Keep pulling harder. You have to pull MUCH harder than you think

I felt like I was going to break the motor when I was pulling and it hit the "end".

All of the videos I could find (best was a 4Runner; no good 100 videos) the thing seems to just smoothly come out with no issues.

 

[VinylSeats]

In case someone else is dealing with this down the road, there is another useful thread here:

Antenna Mast Replacement - How To

Thanks for the write up, this is on my to do list. What's the chances of a bird hitting the antenna mast at highway speeds?! The antenna actually held up fairly well. Bent it over enough that it wont close all the way but it still works........the bird didn't do as well, nothing but a cloud of...

forum.ih8mud.com

I still haven't gotten my original mast out but many people in the above thread recommend "a scary amount of force" to pull it out, as @kruisinkid did in this thread.

Will try "a scary amount of force" tonight for my third attempt and update here with results (and hopefully similar words of encouragement for the next person).

 

[toyotaspeed90]

I did something similar on our 97 T4R but it cost $20 in allthread, nuts, and the antenna.... took a total of about an hour as I did remove the motor and modified the housing....

I cut the old antenna housing in half the used the allthread and nuts to make the antenna stud shaft and make contact to the antenna wiring.

Testing fitment and theory:

Tacked, ground down, and cut the allthread down:

Done, prior to antenna being attached (up to this point was under $5)

 

[kruisinkid]

It is a scary amount of force. I was certain the toothed belt was going to snap or completely destroy the motor. But it “popped” out and the new one fed right in.

 

[Spike555]

The trick is to pull with the antenna motor running up the old antenna and then PULL WITH A SCARY AMOUNT OF FORCE, wear gloves.

Mine was broken off inside the motor, do not remember if I mentioned this or not. The teeth kept grinding, so I opened the motor and pulled out the broken teeth, put it back together and sealed it back up.

 

[VinylSeats]

Well, that was uneventful. I was all geared up to really pull the antenna on this attempt and it just came sliding out with no issue.

I detailed the whole thing on my build thread linked below.

Builds - Vinyl Seats 100 Series Build

@TheAshenWolf Any updates? Also, ballpark how much $ do you have in your platform build? It's been too long since I've updated the thread! Thanks for the nudge. I'll post my new steering wheel soon. As for the platform build, my records show I spent $235 for all materials. You could definitely...

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks to all of you guys who helped me out on this one. Nothing like the experience of others to convince you that ripping at your truck that hard is, indeed, the right way forward in some circumstances.

 

[Spike555]

A friend of mine on Facebook had the power antenna on his Suburban go bad, he spend an entire Saturday tearing apart his dash running new antenna wire installing a fixed mast antenna.
I shared the link for this conversation kit telling him that it takes all of 10min and they make them for Chevy’s too.
He was not happy that I shared the info with him.

 

[VinylSeats]

A friend of mine on Facebook had the power antenna on his Suburban go bad, he spend an entire Saturday tearing apart his dash running new antenna wire installing a fixed mast antenna.
I shared the link for this conversation kit telling him that it takes all of 10min and they make them for Chevy’s too.
He was not happy that I shared the info with him.

Haha. I can only imagine his reaction. I know what mine would be.

 

[Mojay101]

This was extremely helpful as I just pulled out the old antenna and placed the Tundra Mod from OP. Took 3min tips and now I can take the antenna off for a quick car wash in the near freezing temps. Awesome. Appreciate everyone sharing their experiences so the entire community benefits!

 

[stevenjj71]

Well I think I screwed myself up here. I purchased the vehicle with a aftermarket replacement antenna - pretty sure it is the kit described here. Read that we could unscrew it and simply replace it with a better fixed one (that crappy short one has terrible reception).

I didn't unscrew the antenna nut - should have googled - so I think I actually disconnected the antenna from what it is attached too --- tried to reattach and I suspect whatever it normally hooks up to has slid down. Now the antenna just sits in the hole...

Is the only way to fix this to do the full disassemble (remove the wheel arch thing and get to where the old - broken - antenna motor is?)

 

[REZARF]

Is this the 40 tech forum!? Who still listens to the radio!

Kidding aside, I replaced with the amazon replacement mast and have been fine ever since. Mine came out in one piece as was a 5 minute fix. If I had to dig out old chunks I’d be all over this mod.

 

[stevenjj71]

Is this the 40 tech forum!? Who still listens to the radio!

It's works fine in the city....20 miles out of town and it goes to static. I enjoy getting off road, but go nuts without anything to listen too!

 

[hotdiggitydamn]

If your going for super aerodynamic do this:

1) remove the antenna
2) enjoy your Bluetooth audio from a FM transmitter. No joke.

The other antenna in the system works plenty well enough for a 10 foot broadcast distance without the main antenna.

 

[stevenjj71]

If your going for super aerodynamic do this:

1) remove the antenna
2) enjoy your Bluetooth audio from a FM transmitter. No joke.

The other antenna in the system works plenty well enough for a 10 foot broadcast distance without the main antenna.

Thanks for the idea! Did some research and ended up ordering a Nulaxy Bluetooth FM unit. Fingers crossed!!

 

[hotdiggitydamn]

Thanks for the idea! Did some research and ended up ordering a Nulaxy Bluetooth FM unit. Fingers crossed!!

Discovered this by accident actually. But hey works for me!

 

[Spike555]

Well I think I screwed myself up here. I purchased the vehicle with a aftermarket replacement antenna - pretty sure it is the kit described here. Read that we could unscrew it and simply replace it with a better fixed one (that crappy short one has terrible reception).

I didn't unscrew the antenna nut - should have googled - so I think I actually disconnected the antenna from what it is attached too --- tried to reattach and I suspect whatever it normally hooks up to has slid down. Now the antenna just sits in the hole...

Is the only way to fix this to do the full disassemble (remove the wheel arch thing and get to where the old - broken - antenna motor is?)

That is all the antenna does, sits in the hole. It does NOT attach to anything. The power antenna attaches to the antenna motor via a plastic gear strip.
The antenna wire attaches to the bottom of the antenna mast INSIDE the fender. The metal power antenna makes contact with the fixed mast part of the electric motor via just touching metal to metal.
The adaptor does the same thing, it only sits in the antenna hole and makes contact with the fixed mast inside the fender, just like the original antenna does.
The retaining nut on top of the fender is what holds the antenna in place so it does not flop around. The retaining nut also holds the adaptor in place.

Hope this helps.

 

[stevenjj71]

Thanks for the idea! Did some research and ended up ordering a Nulaxy Bluetooth FM unit. Fingers crossed!!

Responding to myself for future readers...the Nulaxy Bluetooth working great for me. Have a playlist saved on my iPad going via the bluetooth to an FM station and using my nice Mark Levinson speakers - beats the iPad audio for sure!

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