Antenna snapped off 2022 F-150

[ScottsXLT]

I got a TEKK short antenna. It worked great until I went through a car wash and it snapped off. I couldn't get the post out of the antenna base and needed to replace it. I ordered one through Phil Long Ford for $44. It would have been really easy if i could have removed the base at the hood (3 bolts) and didn't have to run the whole wire but the wire would not come out of the base for me...grrrrr. The replacement comes with the wire but it goes through the firewall and under the dash which makes this a real pain to replace. It's going through the firewall that is the pain. If i could just pull the new cable with the old one, life would be good. Kameron S made a great video on doing this the easy way but mine would not come out without damage so now i must run the whole cable. Ran out of daylight the other day before I could get it done. Check out Kameron S Video

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[WD8CXB]

I got a TEKK short antenna. It worked great until I went through a car wash and it snapped off. I couldn't get the post out of the antenna base and needed to replace it. I ordered one through Phil Long Ford for $44. It would have been really easy if i could have removed the base at the hood (3 bolts) and didn't have to run the whole wire but the wire would not come out of the base for me...grrrrr. The replacement comes with the wire but it goes through the firewall and under the dash which makes this a real pain to replace. It's going through the firewall that is the pain. If i could just pull the new cable with the old one, life would be good. Kameron S made a great video on doing this the easy way but mine would not come out without damage so now i must run the whole cable. Ran out of daylight the other day before I could get it done. Check out Kameron S Video

Is the Tekk antenna flexible rubber or rigid? I keep looking at buying a different antenna as I don't want to take my antenna off every time I go through the car wash. I currently do this on my Grand Cherokee. What a pain. Some people have said a flexible rubber antenna would not break if going through a car wash.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

This antenna has gone through the automatic wash many times in the winter.

 

[ScottsXLT]

This antenna has gone through the automatic wash many times in the winter.

Is it rubber or hard plastic? What brand? Nice garage!

 

[ScottsXLT]

Is the Tekk antenna flexible rubber or rigid? I keep looking at buying a different antenna as I don't want to take my antenna off every time I go through the car wash. I currently do this on my Grand Cherokee. What a pain. Some people have said a flexible rubber antenna would not break if going through a car wash.

Its rigid. I liked it and had great reception but taking it off every time is very irritating. It also could be the wash I went to. I'm seeing quite a few people saying they had there antenna snapped off. This happend at the Metro car wash on Sante Fe.

 

[JohnMcClane]

This gave me flashbacks to my 15.

Had the 21 inch cb style antenna snap off. Car wash replaced it and paid for the new part (which I spent a lot more time installing myself than I should have).

Long story short, I have an Untenna now.

I can’t find the picture I posted of it a while back, but I very rarely ever use AM/FM and I live near a city, so oddly enough, I still get reception of locals.

Anyway:
https://www.cravenspeed.com/the-untenna-for-ford-f-150-2015-2021/


They also shell short/stubby options that appear to be very flexible.

 

[ScottsXLT]

Not looking forward to pulling this apart when it's cold. Haven't seen the Untenna. I like the concept.

 

[Big Cam]

I picked up this one for my new truck. I had it on my 2013 and it survived many car washes.

The shortest I could find, shorter than the tekk.
MAXRACING Short Aluminum Antenna Compatible with Ford F150 Pickup Truck 1997-2023 https://a.co/d/1VM6uXO

 

[crazywayne311]

i keep trying to decide between the Rydonair 7" or 13". its flexible. I do listen to a local radio morning show on the way to work so id like to keep my FM functionality.

 

[sbi]

Look at those mountains surrounding Kameron's house. Wow!!

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Is it rubber or hard plastic? What brand? Nice garage!

I got it from American Trucks but I don't see it listed when I quickly looked. It's rigid hard "plastic".

Thanks!

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I have this antenna on mine and it has been through the wash tunnel on average 2 times a week for the past 3 months and not one single issue. The bottom is a touch wider than the base but nothing too bad and reception is just as good as OEM.

 

[jb55]

Thanks for the video! Mine just ripped off last night, but from the stud. I could not extract it with my drill bits so a new base here we go!

I have used the same one on 3 post 2015 trucks, but I went to a car wash other than my 2 usual ones. I guess it was a bit more aggressive.

 

[RociPB]

Just looked at my friends truck and it had a similar issue, but his ant mount bracket sheared off leaving the other half of the bracket in place bolted to the rest of the cowling thingy. Is it possible to cut the ant wire and just re crimp a new connector terminal on the end? I can’t get the connector to budge, it looks like it ox welded itself into one piece. Crimping a coax is for sure different then say a spark plug connector, not sure exactly what it takes. I’m going to see if it’s easy to do with the kind they use to splice tv coax cable with. What are the chances that is just a common SAE antenna connector? If that is some special ford part then it could need a special tool. I’m aiming for the path of least money and time wasted on this. It would be great if a car wash employee could remove it for you. They just let you drive right in. Last week I forgot to unscrew my stock whip antenna, and it got beat up bad. I had seconds to decide whether it was worth it to reach out the window and grab it. I didn’t know what kind of hell I’d unleash by opening the window mid wash… I could see myself getting pulled out the window by one of those spinners. Think I’d rather just pay to replace the broken part.

 

[Mosey]

Funny story. In 1992 I took the company F-150 thru a car wash (boss liked trucks clean). In the middle of the wash the big horizontal brush grabbed the antenna and ripped it right off. Worse yet, it began to flail the antenna against the truck on every rotation, bang, bang, bang, until it finally ejected the thing. I grabbed the station owner. He looked at the antenna and said “I’ll be darned, it ripped it out by the roots.” Sure enough, all four sheet metal screws were still attached. Ended up replacing the hood, windshield and fixed the dents in the roof.

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