az4x4runner

I am thinking of buying a cheap whip antenna from Autozone, I haven't seen what it looks like under the piece of the wheel well I have to remove yet. Can I just buy a new antenna and hook it upto the old power ones wires down there, or do I really need to mess with the wiring behind the stereo??
thanks,
-Bryan

Bob_98SR5

Bryan,

Take a look at my write up to see what you *might* have to deal with. My write up is for a 3rd gen but the basics are the same. http://www.4runners.org/articles/whip

PM or email UKMyers as he as done this with his 2nd gen. Maybe Joey will chime in soon.

Bob

az4x4runner

Bob, I've been looking at your writeup, that's one of the reasons I am wondering if I can splice into the old wire, because it looks like it'd be quite a project tearing the dash apart. That is probably what I will do eventually though, when I feel like working out in the heat lol.

Bob_98SR5

Silver,

I believe what Joey did was to unhook the power cord running to the motor. Did you try to search and find his post? Sorry to pull the "search" card on ya, buddy I recall that he spent about $25 on the antenna too.

Bob

az4x4runner

We have a search feature?? lol j/k, I searched, but I frogot Joey did it, so I didn't search specificaly for his. I was at AutoZone this morning, they have a lot of cheaper antennas, some look like they might work, I guess I'll have to take mine out first and see.
thanks for the help Bob
-Bryan

midiwall

I had a huge reply written out, but by the time I went to post it, Bob had gotten in here!

A couple of thoughts...

• Some 4Runner folks (_not_ Tacoma folks) who have swapped in a $9 antenna from Shucks/AutoZone have had horrible reception problems. But, other folks have had no problems at all. I fell into the problem side of the story and ended up with a FireStik 3' AM/FM antenna and a solid base. It's working pretty well:
  
  http://www.midiwall.com/4Runner/firestik.html
  
  The reception issues seem to hinge around the 4Runners having what's called a "diversity antenna". That's the wiring in the rear side window on the passenger side. I don't know if it was on the 95's. Searching here on "diversity antenna" will find the thread.
  
• Splicing a shielded cable (like the antenna cable) is generally a bad idea... Anytime that you create a splice, you're increasing the capacitance of the cable and that can cause problems. You're also decreasing the effectiveness of the shielding because you have to expose the center core outside of the shield in order to splice it.
  
• When I pulled my power antenna, I just tucked the now superfulous power connector up under the fender splash guard, secured it with a cable tie and called it good. It's been fine.
  
• Getting up into the fender well with your hand is "fun", and mounting the new whip takes a bit of patience to hold everything together. It's not that hard, but you should expect some scrapes on your arm from reaching up through the fender.

Take your time, look at the problem at hand and you'll be fine.

Mark

Cebby

I did this before Joey . The base model 4Runner had a fixed mast. The antenna doesn't just mount to the fender sheet metal, it mounts down to the firewall like the power one does. If you just mounted to the fender sheet metal, I think it may fatigue the metal eventually and tear out. Not sure how much of a beating it will get out in AZ. In the NE, trees are all around the trails and it's normal to be whacking the thing repeatedly. I had trashed 3 power ones before I wised up. Cost is $26 from the dealer. Don't splice, bad reception would be in your future. If you have an aftermarket radio, the diversity antenna is a non issue. Aftermarket radio with the fixed mast works great. FWIW, the diversity antenna is mounted to the right rear window and looks like a defrost element. After you tear the dash apart once, you'll get pretty fast at it. It takes me under 10 minutes to have access to the radio. I use a screwgun though (clutch on 1 or 2)

BTW, make it easy on yourself, pull the front passenger tire and fender lining. I left my wheel on and fought it all the way.

Bob_98SR5

Cebby,

From the embedded wire element inside the right rear cargo glass, how can i "tap" into it? I recall SLC Punk saying that he tapped into it and that extended the range of his alarm remote. I need to do that b/c I have to be (literally) 2 feet away from my 4runner to arm/disarm. Peeeesing me off!

Bob

Cebby

Oooo! That's a good idea. Your alarm brain probably has a wire sticking out if it that functions as the antenna. Without tearing my dash apart to verify this, it should be possible to cut the connector off and tap it. It is likely a "coax" wire. If this is true, the center conductor is the wire you want to tap, since the outer shielding is the antenna ground. If it isn't coax it's that much easier - just put a butt connector on it and call it a day. There should not be any power going through this wire - let me check my wiring diagram later today to verify this.

nofilter

hey bob, any reason you wouldn't want to replace the power antenna? the main reason i guess would be that it snagged on a branch or something and broke off. the other is the price (about $33, i think i paid from the dealer). but i think reception would be better with stock.

i replaced mine (the rack inside the motor broke). i took out the fender lining, unscrewed the spanner on the outside, pulled the antenna out - yup, broken rack, dropped the motor. opened it up, pulled out the broken rack, and put in the new antenna. you have to power up, and let the gear pull the antenna in. then reassemble.

the only thing i haven't done yet - and it's been almost 3 years since i replaced the antenna - is wire in a switch that allows me to cut power to the antenna when the CD is on and the power up when the radio is on. makes no sense to have the antenna up when the CD is on!

Cebby

If you have a factory radio, try this. Shut off the radio. Antenna goes down. Insert CD, antenna stays down until you change to AM/FM. That's how my factory 3 in 1 unit used to work (til it died)

ohio

I replaced my (broken) power antenna on my '95 V6 4x4 (so I'm guessing the same setup as you) 5-spd with double-din dash with the crutchfield cheapo antenna.

It's a pain to run the wiring all the way back to the head unit, but it's not that big a deal and fairly easy to do, just time consuming. It certainly works better than my snapped off power unit did.

Since it required taking all the dash plastic off, I took the opportunity to replace my factory head unit and speakers while I was at it. No point in putting 3 hours to replace a $10 part, when it only takes and extra 15 minutes to do the full setup.

Bob_98SR5

Cebby,

The antenna wire is a grey wire w/ black striping and is very close to the ignition wiring harness. No wonder it doesn't get good reception in that location!

I believe the wire you're talking about is a coax. If that is the case, do they make a coax t-tap? If so, that would be great. Otherwise, I've never spliced a coax.

Nofilter: I've replaced the powered unit w/ a non-powered antenna unit. http://www.4runners.org/articles/whip

Bob

AznSky

I just replace my power antenna with one of those cheap 8$ rubber bend-able antenna's from Autozone. Honestly the hardest part was getting the power antenna part out of the dash because the tip got hooked onto something, and we were too lazy to take apart the dash. It was pretty simple, but we sorta had to rip a little part off of the inner sides to get to the motor. It wasn't a big rip, because we just put the screws back on from the fender and it covered it up. It's really easy and I reccommend it to anybody that goes off-road and doesn't want to turn off their radio.

But of course you have to take apart the middle dash to access the plug into the stereo. I'll try to get pics up later if you guys want.

nofilter

cebby, i wouldn't know, because when i got my runner, the 3in1 was already dead. i have since replaced it with a indash cd/amfm unit.

and it only took me 20 minutes to replace the factory antenna. i plan on putting my cb in the slot where the 3cd changer went. when i do this, i'll wire in the switch for the power antenna.

Cebby

That's why I cut the coax connector off at the radio. Made it easy. I just chucked the thing after I pulled it anyway...

Cebby

Yep, I figured it would be coax. I'd bet that it would be possible to get a coax "female" receiver (like those on the back of a radio) with a pigtail on it so you don't need to hack your vehicle wiring... You'll want the center conductor to connect to the alarm antenna aire. The shield could be connected to ground - but since the alarm antenna is one wire, connecting the sheilding will likely have no effect.

az4x4runner

Wow, thanks for all the information guys, I think I will attempt it later this week, because tomorrow is my last day of finals/school. woohoo.. anyway, are the directions for taking the dash apart the same on a 2nd gen as a third or does someone else who has done this before on a 2nd have pics/writeup on what screws to remove/etc?
thanks again
-Bryan

Oh yeah, I still have the factory radio too..

UKMyers

Silver95 read my write up on the indiglo gauge install and that will get most of your dash out. It's really simple to do. Take the glove box out first. (1) 10mm bolt in the bottom right corner, then there's a phillips screw on the bottom left hand corner. Finally open the glove box and there's 3 across the top. It should now "pop loose. Be careful cuz you'll have to unplug the right front speaker and the plug for the glovebox light before taking it clear out. Throw it in the back seat so it's outta the way. Now move to the drivers side and take out the 10mm bolt in the bottom left hand corner and then remove all the phillips screws. The big piece under the steering column will now drop down. You DO NOT have to disconnect your hood release or the gas door release!! Just let the plastic hang down. Right where the seam by the Ebrake is you'll have to work it a bit to get it apart it sorta locks in with the other piece. After you get that stuff done pull off your heater knobs and use and itty bitty flat head to to pry the cover off. Start in the top right corner and work your way from there. Remove the small cubby hole that's right in front of the shifter housing. To pull these plugs push in the little round bit in the middle. Be careful with them or you'll break em. Last part is to pull the piece around the stereo out. It'll take a little work especially if it's never been apart but it will come out. Once there you'll have access to the 4 screws holding the deck in. I may have missed something here so use common sense and if something is not moving look for what's holding it don't force anything however comma a few of them pieces take a little force to get out. Hope this helps and good luck with your mod. You should see the antenna wire once you get the glovebox out. It's easy to reroute the new one. Good luck man
UK

az4x4runner

Thank you UK, that should definately help a lot