About once a month I like to run my Stang through a good car wash (the rest of the time I'm diligenlty scrubbing by hand). My last car had a 'regular' antenna on it- I could just screw it right off, go through the wash, screw it back on. Easy. This car has one of the black shorty antennas. I don't see an easy way to pop it off quick. I'm probably missing something though. Anybody know?

 

What year is your car? Avatar looks like a '09 or earlier, if it's the antenna on the front passenger side it just screws off. May have to use pliers with a rag to protect the paint to get it loose.

 

Its an 05. The antenna has a black base, that looks like it could scratch pretty easily- will that base come off if you twist it? I'm worried about being able to get it back on there too, unless it's made to come off pretty easy.

 

I never use the automatic car washes unless they are 'touchless' the brushes and other material can rip stuff as well as scratch the paint. Just my 2 cents

 

It comes off the base, screws on/off.

 

It could be that someone tightened it way too much.

In any event, there are places for a wrench to be put on it to unscrew it. Use a towel or such to prevent scratches.

Now, I sanded mine down and shot it with epoxy primer, sanded that, then shot the thing with high temp engine enamel satin black. It looks *gorgeous*.

I then put my shorty back on *by hand*, and remove it before washing. Never again will it be scratched, bent, etc... unless someone else is a jerk and does it.

 

+1, save yourself the trouble and go brushless bro.

 

Even touchless can scratch your car, by blasting existing debris around. Certainly better than bristles however.

If you unscrew the antenna and dont put it back on, can water seep down inside and cause damage? I dont even listen to the radio so I'd just assume leave it disconnected.

 

Screw brush car washes! Some kids in highschool thought it would be funny to tie razor blades to the brushes... I think you get the idea of what happened...

 

For real?

 

Dead serious. It wasn't my car but we all heard the story in school. Kids spent some juvy time

 

That's so bad it sounds like an Urban Legend or something. Horrible.