Routing Sirius antenna cable.

[TTO5]

Hi. I have a 2000 landcruiser and have a question about the best way to run the satellite antenna cable. for the last 5 years I have had the antenna in the middle of the rear most portion of the roof just ahead of the top of the hatch. I run the cable under the hatch weatherstripping and into the interior . I noticed when it rains a lot I get a streak of water on the inside of the upper hatch glass. when I follow the streak it lines up with where the antenna cable goes under the weatherstrip [for reference thus weatherstrip attaches to the body not the hatch. I have used silicone along the edge of the weatherstrip and around the cable where it goes under the strip. anyone have a solution to the water getting in other than removing the cable? I recently replaced the upper hatch with a rust free one from California and I want to make sure the water doesn't get in and lay in the bottom of the hatch andruss this one out too. thanks

 

[TTO5]

I'd imagine someone that has mounted external accesories that have cables that need to run to the inside of the truck would be able to give some ideas. N

 

[Emcd]

I ran mine inside up on the DS of the dash near the head light sensor. The reception is slightly diminished, but not badly.

 

[TTO5]

How often is the reception a problem? can you expand on "reception is slightly deminished? Thanks

 

[WaterCruiser]

maybe yours is specifically an outdoor antenna, but many models use a smallish (2" on a side) square-ish plastic enclosed patch antenna that can (and I think *should*) be mounted inside the cabin. I used sticky-back tape to secure one atop the passenger side dash in the corner where the windshield & the A-pillar meet up, routing the thin cable directly down the vertical gap between the dash & the body just in front of the doorframe; from there it's all easy to run it behind-the-scenes into the back of the stereo. No external seals to deal with. My reception was adequate

 

[WaterCruiser]

oh, i should add that when I mounted a GPS patch antenna into my wife's 4runner (this was a few years ago) I put it on the mag-base on top of the roof in the very back above the rear hatch, routing the cable through the weatherseal. Despite all my attempts, I never got it to seal well enough to keep water out (not a whole lot of leaking but it was detectable)

 

[TTO5]

Yeah. I think I'm going to try it on the dash. I would rather have a leak free vehicle than satellite radio lol

 

[Emcd]

I think it's over 80%. Try it to see what you get. I noticed no difference in sound from when I placed it on the roof temporarily.

 

[Twodot]

I bought the kit that interfaces with touchscreen and steering wheel controls.

Love it.

My audio guy mounted the antenna at the base of the windshield on the black plastic trim piece. Won't get knocked off by limbs and such and wiring routes through engine compartment.

Sweet.

 

[TXSunDevil]

Bump this for any new info? I was going to install my antenna tonight. I was planning on putting it at the top of the windshield and tucking it into the windshield side molding. I have read all the threads I can find on the subject. Has anyone done this? I have seen reports like the OP where water leaks in the rear hatch. It looks like I can hide the cable in the side windshield molding and the molding will still be held tight to the glass. I will then run it under the steering wheel up into the dash.

 

[TXSunDevil]

Well I just did this and I guess I will be the guinea pig for water leaks. The side windshield trim returns to its' original form once the wire is pushed towards the end of the glass.

The problem may be this gap where the antenna wire first goes under the windshield trim.

We will see. Once I got to the bottom I tucked it under the cowl and in through the door boot. I used a few zip ties and put a drip loop in the wire in case water somehow decides to run down the antenna wire.

I hope I don't notice that wire in the jam. I hope to forget about it in a few days.

 

[Evan Kapel]

My local expert from Audiowerks mounted mine magnetically on the r/f corner of the
roof just above the windshield after running the wires under the trim
on the right side of the windshield. He said for good reception it needs to be as
horizontal as possible and mounted to a metal panel. The reception is excellent and no
leaks

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

The factory put mine on the passenger's side at the rear of the hatch. They used some sticky channel that wire sets in and it runs outside of the rear hatch seal all the way to the bottom and enters the body from under the tail light. Nothing to leak

 

[TXSunDevil]

The factory put mine on the passenger's side at the rear of the hatch. They used some sticky channel that wire sets in and it runs outside of the rear hatch seal all the way to the bottom and enters the body from under the tail light. Nothing to leak

I read that in one of the threads I had searched. In another thread a member had ran it through the seal and it was leaking. I ended up putting it in the RF corner of the Cruiser above the driver's head. I am not wild about the gaps. I may go pick up a tube of PermaTex windshield seal. It looks to be a runny silicon and I can use that to fill any gaps.

Thanks for that @evan That sounds like the way I ran mine. I have never had Sirius but I am going to be out of radio range during football season so I needed something to get me by.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I read that in one of the threads I had searched. In another thread a member had ran it through the seal and it was leaking. I ended up putting it in the RF corner of the Cruiser above the driver's head. I am not wild about the gaps. I may go pick up a tube of PermaTex windshield seal. It looks to be a runny silicon and I can use that to fill any gaps.

Thanks for that @evan That sounds like the way I ran mine. I have never had Sirius but I am going to be out of radio range during football season so I needed something to get me by.

The way the factory routed the wire it never passes through or under any seals.

 

[TXSunDevil]

The way the factory routed the wire it never passes through or under any seals.

Ok I must have gotten that confused with another post that claimed it went into the headliner. This way wasn't too bad and my vehicle is garage kept but we do get some heavy rain at times.

 

[RootMeanSqr]

I mounted mine PS roof, just behind windshield, next to roof rack forward mount point. Ran the wire down behind the windshield side trim, into the engine compartment by the hood hinge and then through the boot on passenger side firewall. Was a little bit of a pain to get it through the boot, but some lube and it will go.

I had tried mounting just under the dash, but had terrible reception. The antennas really want to be mounted on a flat metal surface for best reception.

 

[TXSunDevil]

I mounted mine PS roof, just behind windshield, next to roof rack forward mount point. Ran the wire down behind the windshield side trim, into the engine compartment by the hood hinge and then through the boot on passenger side firewall. Was a little bit of a pain to get it through the boot, but some lube and it will go.

I had tried mounting just under the dash, but had terrible reception. The antennas really want to be mounted on a flat metal surface for best reception.

Any leaks? Going to get some Permatex today to fill the small gap I created.

 

[RootMeanSqr]

No leaks. The thin wire is just behind the trim, didn't disturb any seals. If your windshield is not already properly sealed though, that's a different problem and you probably would have already noticed it. The wire enters the cabin through the rubber boot on the firewall with the existing wire bundle, so just tape it up good when you're done. I'll try to remember to post pics of mine later today.