Hey guys,
On my recently bought 4runner, the kid who owned it before me thought it would be cool to get rid of the antenna, so he pulled the mast out. It seems like all the other components are there. I have no idea if its a powered or stationary antenna, and it doesnt much matter to me. Am I able to go to the local scrap yard and pull a stationary mast off of a 3rd gen even if mine is a powered antenna, or no?
Thanks in advance for the help!

What seems to be the popular thing to do is replace the antenna with a Tacoma antenna. Im sure there are quite a few threads on the subject matter and will even have listings for part numbers.

Try doing a search for "tacoma Antenna" "antenna swap". There are some pretty good write ups on most everything here.

No you cannot replace with stationary mast. There are no threads to screw the mast into. Can you hear the motor running when you turn the radio on/off? If so you can just replace mast (might have to pull assembly). If not you will have to replace the assembly, which is around $200.

The "Taco" Whip Antenna Mod

if you hear the motor running, you can get a original Toyota mast for about 49 to replace the stock, ( amazon) chances are you will have to pull the motor and clean it out of broken parts ( like I did)
don't waste your time with replacement power antenna masts that are NOT Toyota...tons of write ups on that

new whole assemblies, motor and mast, aftermarket, that fit correct run about 220 plus shipping
or do the Tacoma whip for about 120

or go to autozone, get some cheap manual antenna assy, and don't care if it fits right

I just went through all of this, and went with Toyota replacement mast for power antenna

Thanks for the heads up guys. Definitely going to go with the Taco whip mod. Anyone know if the part number listed for the black taco is for the long black taco antenna or one of the newer, shorter looking ones? Kind of like the old school bendy look.

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Hey, did you get that done after all? It seems the part number shown for the whip 86309-AA0400 has changed, and the only one I can find is for a "pull-top" model. If you found the long whip style, what was the new part number?

Here's a cheaper alternative. I found one at a junkyard for $4 and it matches up pretty well. http://www.amazon.com/Metra-44-TY23-...runner+antenna

Bumping an old thread because I just did this antenna replacement on my 3rd gen and learned a few things worth sharing.

I bought a no-name aftermarket mast and cable assembly off Amazon for like $20. If I had to do it again, I would probably spend the extra money and buy the OEM part even though it would have been more than double the cost.

The aftermarket piece is OK but feels a little flimsy and the teeth on the cable appear to be a bit more rounded that what they probably should be for the gear in the antenna motor. Everything works after the install, but I have a feeling I will need to do another replacement at some point in the relatively near future.

My mast was snapped off down in the shaft of the antenna housing, so it was a pain to get the broken mast pieces out since it wouldn't rise at all. There was no good way to grab the lip of the broken shaft. I tried finding a punch with a slightly wider diameter and trying to force it down in far enough that I could pull everything out from sheer friction of the punch being tight to the walls of the mast. That didn't work. I ultimately jammed needle nose pliers down far enough to be able to open them enough that it put pressure on the mast walls to be able to pull everything out.

Getting the wheel well liner off to access the motor was also kind of a pain because the clips holding it on were so old and crusty, they didn't come out easily. I ended up just snapping off a bunch of them and punching the rear posts out from the front, but I didn't have replacements ready when I was done with the job, so the liner was only attached in a couple of spots.

I watched a few YouTube videos beforehand that don't really show the full process to get the motor open to remove the old broken cable. There is a center bolt that holds everything together and there is a tiny nut in the recessed part of the back of the motor housing. I didn't realize that and the tiny nut fell out when I removed the bolt. Fortunately, I found it on the floor of the garage, but had no idea where it had come from. Put a wide piece of tape over the rear of the antenna motor housing to keep it from falling out and getting lost forever. You won't be able to put the motor back together without it. Then use a wide punch to hold it in place when you assemble and thread the bolt back in.

There is also a nut on the lower left-hand side that is sandwiched between the plastic motor housing that can get jostled around and out of alignment. It's captured so it won't fall out, but it can get moved out of alignment and prevent you from closing everything back up. Make sure you're aware of it. Again, having a thin punch is handy to be able to reposition it and get it centered on the opening.

The motor just sort of hangs down out of the wheel well, so it is a little awkward to work with. The plastic cable attached to the new antenna was also hard to get aligned with the gear. It was like there was tension on the assembly and the cable just kept wanting to spin the teeth the opposite direction of where they needed to be to feed into the gear. But once I was able to hold it still it fed in.

Make sure you have a helper to turn the radio on and off to make sure everything is working before you close the motor and get it back in the truck. I had one of my kids help and it took a bit of trial and error to get the cable to feed so I was getting consistent up and down action.

All in all, this job was a bigger pain in the neck than it should have been. It probably took me about 90 minutes total if you don't count the time spent on YouTube trying to figure out where the tiny bolt came from.

It wasn't terrible, but I really don't want to have to do the job again any time soon. Hence, why I would buy the OEM antenna if I had a do over.

I hope this helps you and maybe others. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures along the way.

The tape is an excellent Idea.. I did loose that nut on one once. I mostly just pop the cover off and clean all the pieces out then wind a new antenna in. I actually take the whole assembly lose so i can work in the fender well to fix it. :-)