Antenna mod

Jus Cruisin · February 3, 2023

So GMC puts a giant radio antenna on the truck like Ford. I ordered a shorty from American Trucks and it arrived this week. No good. It wouldn't fit the stud. Decided to just make my own. I cut down the OEM antenna to about 9". I heated the ball on the top and used vicegrips to pull it off. I needed to grind the shorty down in order for the ball to fit. A dab of Gorilla Glue and took a hammer to tighten it down. A quick hit with black paint and done. Total time was about 15 minutes. Let the paint dry and glue set up for a couple hours indoors and that was it. Local FM is fine.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Jus Cruisin

asilverblazer · February 3, 2023

Good idea, I've just taken mine off, I can get in the garage and go through car washes (shh) without worry... but no FM reception.

luke1333 · February 3, 2023

7 hours ago, Jus Cruisin said:

So GMC puts a giant radio antenna on the truck like Ford. I ordered a shorty from American Trucks and it arrived this week. No good. It wouldn't fit the stud. Decided to just make my own. I cut down the OEM antenna to about 9". I heated the ball on the top and used vicegrips to pull it off. I needed to grind the shorty down in order for the ball to fit. A dab of Gorilla Glue and took a hammer to tighten it down. A quick hit with black paint and done. Total time was about 15 minutes. Let the paint dry and glue set up for a couple hours indoors and that was it. Local FM is fine.

Ready to sell your factory ultimate wheels yet?

Jus Cruisin · February 4, 2023

6 hours ago, luke1333 said:

Ready to sell your factory ultimate wheels yet?

I'm thinking they're keepers.

Enough · February 4, 2023

I have to go into parking garages from time to time. The factory antenna has saved my roof a couple of times in poorly measured parking decks a couple of times. The sound it makes scraping across concrete gets your attention quickly. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Jus Cruisin · February 4, 2023

37 minutes ago, Enough said:

I have to go into parking garages from time to time. The factory antenna has saved my roof a couple of times in poorly measured parking decks a couple of times. The sound it makes scraping across concrete gets your attention quickly. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

That's all it's good for, I guess. Living in the north now and having to use auto washes for 5 months, I'm not going to carry a 10mm open end and get out and take off the antenna and then reinstall it 2 or 3 times a week.

slj2008 · February 4, 2023

used touch less car wash or self serve , no problem with anttena

Bikerjon · February 5, 2023

Great mod. A lot of people with lifted trucks can use your idea.

Jus Cruisin · February 5, 2023

17 hours ago, slj2008 said:

used touch less car wash or self serve , no problem with anttena

40 years ago I used the "quarter" washes before moving to Florida. Now back in Michigan, I can't handle the cold plus there don't seem to be many well maintained diy's locally. Touch less? I've never seen a car come out of one actually clean. The drive thru I use starts with 2 employees hitting the truck with pressure wands, then once moving the truck is lathered with soap then once done and thru the last drying flappers and air, another employee hand dries the drips. $29/mo is money well spent for unlimited washes. Plus a couple of bucks tip to the kid drying at the end. April I'll spend a day with the Porter Cable and get the paint spiffed up for the spring.

Bucketmouth · January 9, 2024

Just wanted to show what I did. Shortening an antenna seems to cut down signal strength so I tried this instead.was to strip off most of the paint about 6-8 inches down. used paint remover then a quick blast on a wire wheel. Wasnt completely clean but should do the job. I then heated up the end of the antenna with my gas oven and tried to remove the wire. I got it broken loose and unwound it about 7 or 8 inches. I then cut the metal rod part and started to tightly wind the wire back around the shortend rod. I used a small plers and kept it tight around the wire and rod and started crankiing it around while slowly moving it upwards. it seemed to stay fairly tight so

i figured it should be good for the next step. I mixed up some black epoxy and coated it over the newly wound area. Knowing it probably would drip off slowly I decided to slide over shrink tube in order to keep the epoxy in place. I used white to match the truck . Finally I epoxied the top of the rod and slipped the cap back on. Unfortunately I havent tried it out yet but Im hoping that I didnt loose much if any signal strength. I will report back tomorrow,

Edited January 9, 2024 by Bucketmouth

Jus Cruisin · January 9, 2024

Isn't the only reason for the wire to be there is to stop the antenna from whistling?

Bucketmouth · January 11, 2024

God, I hope not. Lol. I just wasted a bunch of time otherwise. I figured it had to do with reception but heck, now I'm not sure.

Bikerjon · January 11, 2024

On 1/9/2024 at 5:21 AM, Jus Cruisin said:

Isn't the only reason for the wire to be there is to stop the antenna from whistling?

17 hours ago, Bucketmouth said:

God, I hope not. Lol. I just wasted a bunch of time otherwise. I figured it had to do with reception but heck, now I'm not sure.

Jus Cruisin is correct. The wire is to stop the antenna from whistling when air passes by it at high speed.