My 3rd gen has a power antenna that is not feeling well. It goes up and down with radio on/off, however once I turn the radio on and the antenna has reached full extention, the gears inside the unit grind and grind and grind for at least 10-15 seconds. Not only is it annoying, its embarrassing when the ladies get in. Anyone have any tips or tricks to fix this?
Thanks

 

Sounds like you need a new antenna mast. There's a plastic strip in there with teeth on it, and it probably broke. I replaced mine recently, its wasn't a bad job. Another popular option is to lose the power antenna and replace it with a Tacoma mast antenna.

 

A new mast sound like the way to go. Thanks for the info Tom. Where can I get that mast from? Where did you find yours?

 

I got mine at the dealer, although I think you can find some on ebay. I think I paid around $40 or something.

Check the thread below for how I replaced mine.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...656#post272656

 

You can also look at replacing it with a fixed mast. It's kindofa suave' look for The Ladies to admire!

This is the common approach, use the Tacoma whip:
http://www.4runners.org/articles/whip/

This is what I did:
http://www.midiwall.com/4Runner/firestik.html

 

Why not just run a wire along the windshield or anywhere else? Unless you live very far from the radio stations... cheaper and no wind noise.

 

Radio antenna's can be tricky things.

While stuffing a coat hanger into your broken mast and twisting it up into a cool semblance of a dragon may technically work, it will tend to produce a lot of IM distortion and develop directional habits (turn left 90 degrees and you drop "All Classic Rock - All The Time!").

There are impedance issues as well which have to be dealt with to get gain of signal and not noise.

 

I had the same frustration. Go with the fixed mount Tacoma mast. Its a pricey swap but worth it.