I was not looking forward to replacing the power antenna mast on my 3rd gen, particularly once I looked at the hardware holding the factory oversized fender flares to the body. I realized that you only need to pop out 3 of the plastic fender liner clips and you need not mess with the flare itself. Peel the liner back and unbolt one bolt that attaches the antenna assembly to the body, unscrew the chrome nut up on the body and pull the assembly down to tire level (remove wheel/tire by the way). Remove six screws from the assembly and separate the power antenna assembly so you can pick out what's left of the plastic toothed rod that raises and lowers the antenna. Reassemble. Turn off radio and feed in new mast/rod assembly. Done.

It usually takes me 10X longer than everyone else to complete a job, but this one was done in an honest 2 hours.

 

my mast was stuck 6 inches from goin all the way down. with help from a YT member I learned that all you have to do is put the radio on and when the mast goes up, give a tug (after loosening the chrome nut). the antenna mast and plastic spine looking things comes right out. after you just feed it back in when you hit cd and the motor pulls it back in. FYI if anyone has there antenna not going completely down, first check for a bend , and second check that black plastic stopper. for some reason mine seized on the mast making it unable to go down. I loosened it and all is well.

 

Unfortunately mine was broken down at the bottom--I initially tried reaching down into the antenna with one of those mechanic's "grappler fingers" to extract the broken parts, but to no avail since I discovered later when I took the unit apart that the broken part was completely inside the drum.

 

did you take any pics along the way? im sure a write up that explains an easier way would be appreciated by all who suffer from antenna mastatitis..that didnt sound good..haha

 

Mine was bent a tiny bit so it stuck abotu 3-4" from all the way down, and while leanign over to change out a wiper, i broke it, so I did the Taco Whip mod.

 

Replaced mine about a month ago and it went smooth.
The "gromments"/clips were the biggest pita.
My local stealership did hook me up...they gave me extras from mechanic stock as damaged mine getting them out.
Cleaned the motor out since it had several broken sections of the plastic teeth in it.
Put all back together.
Turned the radio ON, then OFF.
As the motor was working after turning the radio off, I fed the plastic tail of the mast and whaalaaa! It sucked it rightin. Had to turn the radio on and off again to center itself and job done.

Quick easy job thanks to yotatech!

 

hehe

Ive gotten this job down.

My attena usually falls out about once every few months... the nut gets loose over time? I donno I always forget about it and then im sitting there turning the radio on and the thing just keeps going up and falls out to the ground

Funny.

 

No pics, sorry. Skyrat posted some great pics in another thread, but unfortunately the internet links are dead. Perhaps he still has them on his harddrive.

 

I have a 1st gen writeup on-line:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ent/index.html

 

My '88 Supra had the same cable & drum as your 1st gen 4Runner....what a PITA! The newer plastic toothed kind are more reliable and much easier to fix, IMHO.