Replacing Antenna Base

[Nick B]

The black rubber antenna base on my 4R is cracked . Anybody replace one of these ? Just wondering what’s involved ?
Thanks in advance .

 

[HerT4R]

The black rubber antenna base on my 4R is cracked . Anybody replace one of these ? Just wondering what’s involved ?
Thanks in advance .

reviving this! I just searched for a good while and found a whole lot of nothing.

There are a ton of people who break the stud off and leave threads in the piece, but like the OP my black PLASTIC threaded piece is broken. I cant even find a damn OEM PN let alone a writeup on how to get the thing off (if taking the fender liner out is required or not).

I have seen [MENTION=8206]harper7[/MENTION] pics and info on how he got into there. and that is was pretty terrible and that i may need to have replacement fender clips.

anybody have any information or a part number?

*** EDIT *** found OEM part number Toyota-86392-35040-Antenna-Ornament

Can this be installed WITHOUT having to remove the fender liner piece and breaking the clips?

 

[rihavens]

Can this be installed WITHOUT having to remove the fender liner piece and breaking the clips?

I am assuming that 2011 is the same as what you have. I installed mine, no problem. Unscrewed the antenna and used needle nose to break what was left of the old one. Slid it down and kind of twisted it back and forth while applying downward pressure until it was in place. Not sure of procedure, and I likely did it wrong.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Need install help

Has anyone else put this Ornament Antenna rubber piece on successfully? I tried pushing and twisting it on unsuccessfully. Maybe I'm just a weakling. I really don't want to pull the fender liner to do this.

 

[STX4Runner]

I put a new one on a few months ago. It was a huge PITA. The piece did not want to fit in the space allotted. I eventually tore off the rubber lip on the interior at the bottom and installed with only the top interior rubber lip holding it to the fender. It's been fine since then.

 

[scrappyirishman]

I tried to do this last winter. After a few fails I soaked it in near-boiling water first, then put some dish soap on the bottom before I pushed real hard and twisted the base slightly and it went in "most" of the way. I'm waiting for a real hot day here in Houston, hoping it will soften it up again, before I try to push it the rest of the way in.

I think STX4Runner may have the best idea, by just cutting off some of the extra lip on the bottom.

 

[STX4Runner]

I tried that method too. Soaked it in HOT water, used soapy water to try and got it in, no luck.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Right Way

Looks like the right way of doing it is pulling the fender liner and removing the antenna base inside the fender is needed. I attached install instruction which say (a) install antenna ornament first. (c) Insert the fender antenna into the antenna ornament.

 

[chester4Run]

I put a new one on a few months ago. It was a huge PITA. The piece did not want to fit in the space allotted. I eventually tore off the rubber lip on the interior at the bottom and installed with only the top interior rubber lip holding it to the fender. It's been fine since then.

I took a similar approach, but removed the top lip and most of the side lips, just leaving the bottom one. This works perfectly. The seal looks tight and the antenna holds the top section very securely while the bottom lip secures the bottom section. Took five minutes.

 

[csteranko]

Hey guys. This thread helped me out while replacing my antenna and antenna ornament yesterday, so I figured I should post another helpful tip. I recommend not removing the fender liner. I thought I was prepared with spare clips, but at least in my 2012, I would have had to remove/break clips behind at least one painted panel. Too much risk for me for an antenna repair. For me, it wasn't the top or bottom of the ornament that needed to be trimmed, but just the sides (the part that goes inside the panel of course). Applied dish soap around hole, heated a bowl of water for a minute and forty seconds and dropped ornament in to soften it up. Then it popped right in, nice and snug.

 

[csteranko]

While I was fixing the antenna ornament, I decided to replace the whip antenna. The whip is a tired look to begin with and the fact that half of the black paint had worn off didn't help. Instead of painting it, I replaced it with a Stubby Jr antenna, which I really like. My first non OEM part! It only took 8 years and 90,000 miles. As you can see in the first picture, the antenna ornament rubber got so stiff and brittle after 8 years that the front of it ripped off and flew away on the highway. Here is a before and after. The OEM part number that I used for the hood ornament was 86392-35040.

 

[clin9383]

How's the reception?

 

[wwjbd]

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. I tried the trim technique but had issues with that so I went whole hog and disassembled the fender to get to the antenna. To do this I had to:
1. Remove the 10mm screws holding the fender liner and trim in
2. Drill out the pita black fasteners
3. Remove the exterior trim on the fender to drill out the fasteners behind it.
4. Pull fender liner back
5. Loosen the antenna and slide the ornament in. Went in as easy as you can imagine
6. Replaced a lot of the fasteners I drilled or broke. Orange, blue, black.
7. Reassemble it all

Was way too much work, but in hindsight I wish I just did it the way the instructions above said to begin with. Hope this saves someone else some time.

 

[Nick B]

I’m the very OP. I bought a replacement base off of Amazon. Looked like factory but could have been a copy . I didn’t remove the fender.
I just pulled the old crumbly one off the antenna and slid the new one on .
Then with a little silicone lube on the base I just worked it back and forth until it snapped in place .