antenna

MillerClemsonHD · January 25, 2007

Has anyone here replaced their stock radio antenna with a shorter one? My garage door is only 7 feet tall and with 315s on it my antenna hits the garage door every time I pull in. I am getting kind of tired of it. Any specific products or anything would be greatly appreciated. Would prefer to be able to just screw off the old one and screw on the new one.

I tried a stereo shop near me and the one they had requires replacing the wire to the stereo and a bunch of stuff. I really don't want to take the side cutters to it to shorten it up.

Thanks for any help.

Wingnut · January 25, 2007

I don't know about the trucks, but a lot of the guys on TrailblazerSS.com are taking the antenna off and sliding it under the cowling, leaving it hooked up. Kind of like an antenna delete...Only...Not.

They say that they still get great reception.

Something I thought you might want to look at anyway.

MillerClemsonHD · January 25, 2007

I don't know about the trucks, but a lot of the guys on TrailblazerSS.com are taking the antenna off and sliding it under the cowling, leaving it hooked up. Kind of like an antenna delete...Only...Not.

They say that they still get great reception.

Something I thought you might want to look at anyway.

Thanks I will check that out and see if it will work.

MillerClemsonHD · January 25, 2007

I don't know about the trucks, but a lot of the guys on TrailblazerSS.com are taking the antenna off and sliding it under the cowling, leaving it hooked up. Kind of like an antenna delete...Only...Not.

They say that they still get great reception.

Something I thought you might want to look at anyway.

Thanks I found that topic and was able to make it work somewhat similar on my truck. Will try it out for a few days and see if the radio works just as well as it does now.

ABQFirefighter · January 26, 2007

I have a 18" billet one on my truck. Couldn't stand the garage door thing either. Look around on Ebay or elsewhere, they are pretty cheap and look good.

Wingnut · January 26, 2007

I don't know about the trucks, but a lot of the guys on TrailblazerSS.com are taking the antenna off and sliding it under the cowling, leaving it hooked up. Kind of like an antenna delete...Only...Not.

They say that they still get great reception.

Something I thought you might want to look at anyway.

Thanks I found that topic and was able to make it work somewhat similar on my truck. Will try it out for a few days and see if the radio works just as well as it does now.

If it does...You mind modifying the instructions posted over there and making a quick and dirty walkthrough for the folks here?

superbee · January 26, 2007

My buddy had the same problem and he got one from a regular parts store. Unthread the old one and thread on the new one. Also, pretty cheap.

ATMINF · January 26, 2007

Here is my 2cents, Hopefully you will be good to go. Before my 2006 Pickup I had a 2001 2500 Suburban and when I switched out the stock antenna for one of the smaller billet ones, I had wind noice at highway speeds.

I took it to the dealer three times to get the "wind" noise removed and they replaced all the weatherstripping and stuff, but the noise was still there. Finally the bodyshop manager and I talked and the one thing we did not check was to see if we put the stock antenna back on and see what that would do. Well, the noise then was gone.

The funny thing is that my brother in law that had a 2003 tahoe had the same billet antenna on it never made any noise. So hopefully for you the billet antenna works(mine had no problems with radio reception)and you are good to go! Good Luck

chicken-n-rice · January 29, 2007

I had bought a shorty antenna. I think it's only like 9 inches in total. Short looks trick and I still get good reception on my radio. Didn't have to change anything. Just screw in and go. It's made of metal, not that flimsy rubber crap. Looks great.

FergieDSP · January 29, 2007

is it bad to just remove the antenna and leave it off, meaning weather wise? I never listen to AM/FM because i have XM so i thought about just removing the antenna.

MillerClemsonHD · January 30, 2007

Here are some quick and easy instructions. I have not really traveled other than to and from work and a few trips to lowes so Im not sure how much my reception might have changed. Right now I really do not see much diff but here is what I did.

Unscrewed antenna

loosen plastic cover at base of windshield (bit of a pain there is a plastic clip in the middle so be careful not to break it.)

Open the hood and then there are 3 7mm screws to take out. Not easy to get to because of the fender, hood, and plastic cover.

I then laid the base of antenna to the side, and ran the antenna down the side of the hood. There are rubber stoppers and so I was able to put it in the middle of one of them to help hold it in place. Careful when closing the hood to make sure it is out of the way. I did not put any of the three screws back in or plug the hole with a plastic cap like guys on the other site did.

I have not decided if this will be a permanent fix or temporary until I find an antenna that will work. I don't think my reception has been hurt much. Hope this helps, if anyone has a question about it let me know and I will try to help out. It took about 15 mins to do.

itsclay11 · January 30, 2007

there are a couple of different ways to do it, you can replace it with a small ones, like a billet 9inch or 12inch or whatever, but one of my buddies was doing the same thing(hitting the garage) so he took it to the dealership and they cut the stock antenna for him so it doesn't hit anymore.

with the billet antennas i think you get crappy reception, but they look good, so i would just cut the stocker.