Antenna

[snowman44]

My antenna on my trailboss is hitting my garage door.  Does anyone have any experience or recommendation of a smaller antenna but still decent reception?

[Daverado]

A few years back to get my lowered truck through an arched 7ft garage door I chopped down the stock antenna 4-5".

 

It was a pretty straightforward procedure.. pull off the top ball, chop the mast down a bit (careful with the spiral wire wound around).

I had to bevel the tip to fit back in the ball and used friction plus green loctite retainer to glue it back together.

 

It's cheap enough to buy a new shorter one, but since I had all the stuff on-hand to shorten mine a penny-saved...  I also liked

that I could get a custom length that was just slightly taller than the roofline as a clearance indicator.

 

Pretty much any antenna change will affect your reception, keep that in mind.  Since radio is a range of frequencies and antennas

are aiming for a multiple of the size of the wave, some stations will likely improve with a small change, and some will likely degrade.

Of course change it enough and they're all out of range.  Hopefully the stations you like are in the better group, not the worse.

 

On the '19 so far I found that removing my antenna entirely has worked out great but I don't listen to the radio lol.

 

[OnTheReel]

10 hours ago, snowman44 said:

My antenna on my trailboss is hitting my garage door.  Does anyone have any experience or recommendation of a smaller antenna but still decent reception?

This is the one I bought:

 

 AntennaMastsRus - The Original 6... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY0NH60?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Think a few others have it here as well. No loss in reception at all. 

[Ozer]

I had bought a smaller 8" one, not even the strongest station in town came in good. Threw it in the garbage. 

Sometimes my stock antenna even struggles with some stations and staying on HD.  Wish there was a booster we can plug in. 

[Scooter Scott]

1 hour ago, Daverado said:

A few years back to get my lowered truck through an arched 7ft garage door I chopped down the stock antenna 4-5".

 

It was a pretty straightforward procedure.. pull off the top ball, chop the mast down a bit (careful with the spiral wire wound around).

I had to bevel the tip to fit back in the ball and used friction plus green loctite retainer to glue it back together.

 

It's cheap enough to buy a new shorter one, but since I had all the stuff on-hand to shorten mine a penny-saved...  I also liked

that I could get a custom length that was just slightly taller than the roofline as a clearance indicator.

 

Pretty much any antenna change will affect your reception, keep that in mind.  Since radio is a range of frequencies and antennas

are aiming for a multiple of the size of the wave, some stations will likely improve with a small change, and some will likely degrade.

Of course change it enough and they're all out of range.  Hopefully the stations you like are in the better group, not the worse.

 

On the '19 so far I found that removing my antenna entirely has worked out great but I don't listen to the radio lol.

 

On my Jeep I have done the same exact thing.  So far my radio has worked great on it.

[econometrics]

I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/KEYO1E-Antenna-Compatible-Silverado-2007-2019/dp/B07MJB9BY7/ref=sr_1_20?crid=3SNHZJTGJ8N2E&keywords=short+antenna&qid=1554148591&s=electronics&sprefix=short+antenn%2Celectronics%2C147&sr=1-20 

 

No reception loss at all... but I live in the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth, so I'm not a good data point on that. 

 

Others have bought this one, which is .8" shorter than mine (linked above): https://www.amazon.com/RONIN-FACTORY-Silverado-Anti-Theft-Replacement/dp/B079KXLF57/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3SNHZJTGJ8N2E&keywords=short+antenna&qid=1554148591&s=electronics&sprefix=short+antenn%2Celectronics%2C147&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by econometrics
Added pictures

[mfbearded]

picked up a stubby at oreillys. i think under $20 and 30 seconds to install

[GMCShack]

I bought this 6.75" stubby rubber antenna when the 30" stock antenna scrapped my garage door all the way in and back out of my garage which left black marks on my white garage door and rubbed all the black paint off the top of the ball tip on the end of the antenna:

 

AntennaMastsRus - The Original 6 3/4 INCH is Compatible with GMC Sierra 1500 (2006-2019) - SHORT Rubber Antenna - Reception Guaranteed - German Engineered - Internal Copper Coil

 

They have models for just about every year, make and model in different sizes, colors, styles and lengths. 

Looks better and does not rub my garage door, but I'm sure OE antenna has better reception.  YMMV 

This is NOT an advertisement!  I have not had it long enough to say how good (or bad) it works really. Please feel free to delete or modify if this does not comply with the rules. Thanks. 

[FL335i]

How did the 2019 re-make not get rid of this antenna? My wife's '19 Tahoe does not have a mast antenna.  My theory is men will live with it.  Women buying SUV's will not. 

[NCD]

I kinda like the long antenna. I plasti-dipped mine red (going with a black and red theme on my truck). Gives it a more off-road type look IMO 

[JHP]

I picked up a Merta 7" antenna from Advance Auto Parts.  I live in the suburbs of a city and I've noticed NO change in reception.  I haven't travelled far outside of the area to test the reception yet though.  Still, for not hearing it hit my garage door every morning and night, I can deal with a little loss of reception and play Pandora through my phone if necessary.

[Michael2020AT4]

This is the one that I got from Advanced Auto Parts for $10-15. It works pretty good for reception from what I've noticed so far. I actually use either CarPlay from my iPhone or use the trucks iHeart radio app. Since mine was hitting my garage door too, this is more for function and aesthetics.                                                         

[cmmeadows87]

Is it possible to run without the antenna completely? I only use XM radio or CarPlay and don’t like the look of any antenna. Would I need to get a plug for the opening? 

Edited April 22, 2020 by cmmeadows87

[Jbwright23]

Installed a 4in one from amazon on mine, no issues so far 

[alexistence]

There's a thread on this forum about doing an antenna relocation. It takes about 10 minutes and is absolutely free. I relocated mine to the vent area under the hood and zip tied it there. Reception is about the same as normal. Just gets a little fuzzy around tall buildings.