I know I'm one of the very few who still want the stock powere antenna. I got a great deal on a used one from a member then some a$$hole broke the mast off in less than 48 hours.

I am posting info here for anyone else who may search for info about replacing the mast on a 1st Gen 4Runner or similar model truck. It is MUCH different than a 2nd Generation and all I found here was information about how to do those. Trust me you can pull as hard as you want and the antenna mast will NOT come out of a 1st Gen 4Runner.

I found everything I needed to know on 4Crawlers site linked here:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ent/index.html

Pretty straight forward repair / replacement if you follow his page.

I did get the replacement mast for $25 from anythingtoyota.com not $40.

Now if I can remember to retract the mast every night so it doesn't get broken off again

 

I know 16 years is a long time to wait for a reply, but this is the information I have been searching for! I probably needed to know this before I tried to pull the broken mast out of my first gen's antenna assembly recently. It didn't go well at all and I ended up completely destroying it. Epic fail...
Fortunately I have a parts truck - which also has the power antenna with a broken mast. I am going to attempt to follow these instructions tomorrow to remove/replace the mast.

 

I just replaced the mast on my 99 4Runner. Took a few tries to get the right orientation on the teeth. It was already gone when I bought it, so I had no example to follow. Once I oriented the teeth correctly, it took 2 or 3 cycles to properly get the motor and antenna matched together. So it would go all the up, AND down. Now it works great.

The new antennal cost us $26.00 at Rock Auto. Not unreasonable, IMHO.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

Well I followed the above instructions today and I am ecstatic to report that for the first time in 20 years, my '88 first gen Surf (aka 4Runner) now has a working power antenna.
I excitedly told my wife how good it was, and invited her to come outside and watch it in action.
She didn't give a ˟˟˟˟ LOL

 

Heh...
When we replaced ours, my wife sat there and turned the key on and off just to watch the antenna go up and down. Since we hadn't had one since we bought the truck, she was so excited to finally have an antenna to match the sounds the motor had made the whole time.
I was just glad to finally receive te stations out of Klamath we didn't get very well out here. Now we do. It's such a nice change...

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

So I tried this repair but all did not go smoothly. The drum and hub assembly essentially all came apart and I am not certain how to get it all back together properly. I might give it one more go but otherwise I think it will be a fixed antenna for me.

 

I’m not sure where you hit a hiccup.
the easiest way was to run the cord down the tube, then peen it to the drum. Mount the drum to the motor
then plug the motor into the harness and have someone hit the switch to lower the antenna. Help feed the cord into the tube as it coils. Keep going until most of the metal antenna sections are pulled in.

 

I'm not sure either this is actually exactly what I did but the antenna only retracted halfway and then I started hearing a regular clicking sound and it stopped either going up or down so I took the hub off again and that's when the inside plastic part had the center fall out. I've tried attaching a few pictures of what it looks like now in case you are curious. The problem is I'm not sure where all those extra washers go to reassemble the plastic drum.

 

I just did mine last week, so it's fresh in my mind. The 4Crawler instructions are a bit poor, they leave out a lot of important steps and details, such as crimping the plastic cable in the drum.

I can't decipher your photos, can you post bigger pictures?

Here are some photos that I took along the way, maybe they'll help.

 

Thanks for the pictures I think those are helpful to help me decipher what happened. I have posted a few of my pictures below. What it looks like may have happened is that the top of the plastic hub (where it connects to the brass outer hub) on mine is broken and so it might not be working properly.

I've attached some better photos to show you what happened.

 

Hi Leon.....well as luck would have it now that my Runner is back home I found that the antenna mast is bent and broken and needs replacement.
A couple of questions:
Do you remove the antenna on a 84 Runner via the wheel well or do you have to remove the entire fender to get to it?
Hopefully my motor still works so I will just replace the antenna mast.....you see Antenna Masts R Us.....do you have a part number?.....I found it on their website for $96.50 I believe.

Mike

 

Hi Mike, oh boy, fun! Here is the antenna mast that I bought through ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/372606815760.

Good news is that it is easily accessible through the inner fenderwell, just take out the plastic. Easy peasy!