Low profile XM (shark fin) antenna swap

DEERUNNER · Mar 30, 2016

Titanpat57 said:
can I ask a stupid question??
any reason we can't take a saw and just cut off 3/4 of the fin off, and seal the hole back up with some black plastic and silicone?

Not stupid at all. I thought about doing that, and the best way that I would go about it and decided I just didn't want to risk water infiltration. What to use? Epoxy? Silicone? What plastic? Using the smaller shell is reassuring, one less thing I have to keep an eye on. But if one were to cut the fin, the outcome could be good and may be dependable. Nice flat cut trimmed neatly to the edge, why not? Do it and post up!

Titanpat57 · Mar 30, 2016

DEERUNNER said:
Not stupid at all. I thought about doing that, and the best way that I would go about it and decided I just didn't want to risk water infiltration. What to use? Epoxy? Silicone? What plastic? Using the smaller shell is reassuring, one less thing I have to keep an eye on. But if one were to cut the fin, the outcome could be good and may be dependable. Nice flat cut trimmed neatly to the edge, why not? Do it and post up!

How high off the roof?...maybe an inch?. The components don't look like they stick up very high.:fear:

DEERUNNER · Mar 30, 2016

Titanpat57 said:
How high off the roof?...maybe an inch?. The components don't look like they stick up very high.:fear:

The replacement is about 7/8in./24mm total height from the roof. It could be made less high, but why? How about play it safe and go 3/4in? You will know what to do when you remove your antenna and can then take measurements. Measure twice before....

oljedi11950 · Mar 30, 2016

Well if it was good on ya ! All the links say used but I don't care it's just an antenna but all I saw were clearly marked used . Even 57$ ain't bad as long as connector plug works .

d_clark · Mar 30, 2016

oljedi11950 said:
Well if it was good on ya ! All the links say used but I don't care it's just an antenna but all I saw were clearly marked used . Even 57$ ain't bad as long as connector plug works .

All the links I posted were used, I think most of them had an option to Make Offer, so can always try for a lower price.

oljedi11950 · Mar 30, 2016

No we're good @d-clark got one from same guy in Utah ! 37$ I was simple commenting on the 1st link as new ? but always showed used when I went to it ! All good for me

weeeee · Mar 31, 2016

d_clark said:
All the links I posted were used, I think most of them had an option to Make Offer, so can always try for a lower price.

Pretty sure these are gonna go up in price once everyone starts snatching these used ones up :rofl:

oljedi11950 · Mar 31, 2016

57$ ain't to bad for new from camelback toy !

keph13 · Mar 31, 2016

On the opposite end of things, has anyone measured the hole to see if it would work with an NMO mount? I believe it's normally a 3/4" round hole, but if the dimensions line up right I could see it being a good spot for a scanner or public-freq UHF antenna.

weeeee · Mar 31, 2016

keph13 said:
On the opposite end of things, has anyone measured the hole to see if it would work with an NMO mount? I believe it's normally a 3/4" round hole, but if the dimensions line up right I could see it being a good spot for a scanner or public-freq UHF antenna.

In the first post there's a photo with dimensions listed

Brandon_Reed · Mar 31, 2016

If I understand right we can swap the shark fin on 2014+ for 86960-12010-xx directly correct?

Xx is the paint color..
D0 red
E0 beige
C0 black
J0 blue
B1 gray
B0 silver
A0 super white
H0 turquoise

Titanpat57 · Mar 31, 2016

Stay tuned....

I'm sawing that f'er off tonight or tomorrow....:faint:

as soon as find some black plastic to shape and glue on that bit ch....:doh:

DEERUNNER · Mar 31, 2016

Brandon_Reed said:
If I understand right we can swap the shark fin on 2014+ for 86960-12010-xx directly correct?

Xx is the paint color..
D0 red
E0 beige
C0 black
J0 blue
B1 gray
B0 silver
A0 super white
H0 turquoise

Directly? Maybe. The connectors have changed for different models and years. If there is a way to confirm the connector on what you are purchasing matches what you currently have you should do so. In my case the 4R connector was blue, the replacement antenna was a gray not compatible connector. You may have to swap the internal antennas.

Brandon_Reed · Mar 31, 2016

Post 30 in this thread seems to show the connectors being identical
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?p=2303332

e60ral · Mar 31, 2016

weeeee said:
In the first post there's a photo with dimensions listed

only in one direction

DEERUNNER · Apr 1, 2016

Brandon_Reed said:
Post 30 in this thread seems to show the connectors being identical
Low profile XM (shark fin) antenna swap - Page 2 - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

Mine was different, yet it had the same part number. Feel free to ignore my advice.

Brandon_Reed · Apr 1, 2016

DEERUNNER said:
Mine was different, yet it had the same part number. Feel free to ignore my advice.

So, worst case scenario we have to swap the electronics. Personally I think the extra height of the fin is silly if it serves no purpose. It's beyond silly on the 4runner actually because it interferes with loading long objects on the factory roof rack. I could see someone damaging the roof by loading something on the rack and hitting the side of the fin.

DEERUNNER · Apr 1, 2016

Brandon_Reed said:
So, worst case scenario we have to swap the electronics. Personally I think the extra height of the fin is silly if it serves no purpose. It's beyond silly on the 4runner actually because it interferes with loading long objects on the factory roof rack. I could see someone damaging the roof by loading something on the rack and hitting the side of the fin.

You are correct. The shark fin has a "look at me, I have satellite radio" design to it. Poor design and unnecessary. Design reeks of influence of marketing weasels. I did damage my roof, I forgot about the fin and when I placed my roof box up there and pushed it onto the cross bars, it caught the fin and bent the roof a bit leaving a 1/16" gap towards the rear. The box was resting directly on the f'in fin. The fin is strong. I did swap the internal antennas.

Brandon_Reed · Apr 12, 2016

My 2016 has a different connector and fastener. The bolt has a 10mm head. The connector is soldered to the circuit board.

The penetration in the body is different too.

The sharkfin itself is mostly dead space. There's just the flat circuit board that appears to be mostly unused.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

weeeee · Apr 12, 2016

Brandon_Reed said:
My 2016 has a different connector and fastener.

Can you snap a photo of the actual antenna? Let me know if you find a replacement slim antenna so I can update the first post. What model do you have?

Low profile XM (shark fin) antenna swap

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