My unicorn horn antenna decided to fly away...

tomwetherald

tomwetherald

Member
Car
06 FX35 Sport AWD
I was driving over a mountain pass and heard a thunk on my roof... Turns out the front antenna decided to fall off... not sure how it attaches, but guessing it had got loose over time.

So what to do now? Can I buy another one, or is there another option?
 
I think if you plan on buying another one you should just get the sharkfin antenna thing that way it looks clean. I think you dont need the antenna right?
 
Depends on which part separated. The stalk is screwed on a threaded end. But the base is held on by a bolt to your roof. You can replace it or if you don't use the radio/get good enough reception with the secondary antenna, you can think about doing the antenna delete.
 
I deleted my front antenna, and without an amplifier of some sort you will no longer get AM reception.

FM reception when driving is almost exactly the same as before, but range has probably suffered some if I go outside the city.
 
Thanks guys,

Its the stalk part I guess. I have the base, and the swivel part, but then above that there is no more antenna. I have been carrying a paddle-board lately, and when I do I have to push the antenna down to not have it touch the board. Guessing the process of tilting it up and down loosened the antenna part, and the wind finished it off.

So someone sells a shark fin version? As far as I understand, the rear antenna is the xm and gps antenna, and the front is am/fm?
The delete option, you remove the base, and then there is some sort of a cap that covers that part of the roof?

In the mean time should I tape off the tip of the antenna to prevent crap/water getting inside there?
 
tomwetherald said:
Thanks guys,

Its the stalk part I guess. I have the base, and the swivel part, but then above that there is no more antenna. I have been carrying a paddle-board lately, and when I do I have to push the antenna down to not have it touch the board. Guessing the process of tilting it up and down loosened the antenna part, and the wind finished it off.

So someone sells a shark fin version? As far as I understand, the rear antenna is the xm and gps antenna, and the front is am/fm?
The delete option, you remove the base, and then there is some sort of a cap that covers that part of the roof?

In the mean time should I tape off the tip of the antenna to prevent crap/water getting inside there?
Click to expand...

Yeah just wrap it with some electrical tape although crap getting in there isn't a big deal.

If you just pull down the front of your headliner slightly you can gain access to the big nut on the bottom and unscrew it. Then there is just 2 wires hooking the thing up.

Here is an image of my assembly:

IMAG0925_zpswn4tvw7b.jpg

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 PM ----------

Oh and the back antenna is also AM/FM but it doesn't do a very good job all by itself.

---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 PM ----------

Honestly I bet if I pulled down my headliner and just took some speaker wire, and zig-zagged it all the way to the back of my car I could get just as good reception as OEM.

I may even just cut all the plastic off the base of this unit and try and flatten it enough to cram under the headliner. Something is better than nothing.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0925_zpswn4tvw7b.jpg
    IMAG0925_zpswn4tvw7b.jpg
    43 KB · Views: 12
Drive around without it for a few days and see what signals you miss. If you do't replace it with OEM and don't want to do full removal, you can use a short stubby cap instead.


21870f49153708fe2fd1_17.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 21870f49153708fe2fd1_17.jpg
    21870f49153708fe2fd1_17.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 16
If you are interested in the cut antenna just send me a pm, I will ship it for free. If not, anybody else can have it.
 
Thanks dude, I did not check forum for a few days. That cut one will probably work better than a generic one off amazon I was looking at. The radio here in San Diego is pretty lousy since all our stations are broadcast from Tijuana for some sort of FCC bypass or tax purpose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top