I like the idea of the short antenna, but does it affect radio reception? And, how difficult is it to install?

 

A friend shortened mine for me. It's 24" and no noticeable decrease in reception at all.

 

I bought a 14" and I didn't notice any reception difference. The install took about 30 seconds.

 

scale 1-10 1 being the easiest, Its a 1.

I have a 14" antenna, and I think the recieption is just fine. No issues.

 

I have the 8". no reception problems at all

 

I cut mine into half. No reception problems.

 

I have an 8" antenna and had no reception problems when I was living in Los Angeles. I moved to southern Orange County last year and the reception is dramatically worse. I will probably get a 14" antenna. Hopefully the reception will be better.

 

If clipping the stock antenna to a shorter length absolutely, positively, undeniably NEVER EVER affected reception in the slightest all all EVER.. why don't they just come short from the factory?

 

I have a 8 inch ****..... I mean 8 inch billet antenna and It works great. I listen to XM most of the time though.

 

it probably has to do with how far away from the towers you are.

I don't ever listen to the radio, so I just unscrewed mine.

 

heh heh

 

ugly long ones are needed so that the shorter ones have something to compare against

 

I heard from someone else that it's because Ford wants to be able to use the same antenna mast on multiple models to save the money of retooling a machine to make shorter ones. Also, from my days as an Elecrtonics Tech., I think I recall that it has much more to do with AM reception.

But sure, clipping the mast would potentially affect reception, but just cutting it down to about 24" would not affect reception noticeably, unless you're out in the middle of nowhere in Kansas on a road trip and halfway between any radio stations, and at th edge of each one's transmission range, or something like that. That's why it's more noticeably with the 8" ones. The shorter you get, the more you'll notice the difference. I find 24" to be just as good as the original 32".

 

you must be a true fire fighter.

 

I have the eight inch and the reception sucks......I notice a difference bigtime!
But I uasually listen to CD so reception doesn't matter, The look of the shorter antennas is awesome

 

Just shortened my stock one today to 14".Rarely listen to radio anyway, so not to worried about reception.Looks alot cleaner with it shortened.

 

Yes, all the girls love the reception they get from my 8 inch antenna. Especially the hot latin one who just left my apartment with a big smile on her face and another date for tomorrow night. **** SHE WAS HOTT

Just something about Latin women, all i can say right now is WOW.

 

A friend sent me a real short one, would guess maybe 12" or less. I haven't noticed any loss in reception at all with it. They just screw in or out with a 3/8" or 7/16" wrench (forget which). Simple to install.

you can also cut your own for free. But you have to cut it at the right spot or the ball won't fit on tight, thats if you wish to retain the ball.

I don't see how one brand is any better than another when it comes to "shorties". Had I bought mine I would have just picked the cheapest one available, I imagine if you get a fancy one some jerk would just rip it off anyway.

 

I have the UPR antenna delete. Reception is limited to only the strongest stations in your area, that's 2 for me.

Like others, I really don't listen to FM, mostly CD's so it's okay with me.

 

You should be able to cut it to 8 inches and still get good reception. I bought a 12inch one from pep boys and it works great. Unscrew and screw it back in. Cost 7.99 and I don't notice any loss in coverage.