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I have actually went to ford and purchased the Antenna Kit for the reasonable price of $30.00. 2014 F150 Regular Cab Tremor Eco Boost 3.5
The part is a simple wire with plugins on each end. So just how complicated could this simple wire be to install. Instructions are 5 pages and basically take passenger side dash apart, remove headliner install wire as per template.
I'm old guy been working on my own stuff since I was 16 years old, but disassembling the interior is just not something I want to do. So got the part in hand walk up to service department and the guy says $400-$500 to install the wire.
I don't know how critical installing under headliner is but I believe I want to go the cheat under the dash maybe poke a hole in firewall run it under the hood method.
I have the picture of the part and the bag it came in.
Wire Antenna Kit from FORD to get better range on your remote.
I also have scanned the install instructions that come with the part in the bag.
Would like to know if anyone has installed one of these as per instructions or cheated by running through the fire wall or under the carpet.
A lot of us just place it under the headliner by removing the front visors and tucking it in there. You need to remove the antenna from the black plastic case. Rnlcomp did a nice write up on it in the post 27 of this thread
Well I got the wire in and got the RSA module moved up to the headliner. Removed it from the plastic box and wrapped several layers of thin packaging foam sheet material and still seemed to give me a little bulge at the headliner. So I pulled the corner of the headliner down and saw a lot of room in the corner behind the large group of wires and decided to just put it there. Was curious if I placed it there it would be standing up straight and not laying flat as it would in the front of the headliner also right next to a huge bundle of wires, so I did a test. I laid the RSA module on top of the truck, stuck in the front of the headliner and placed it in the piller at the top corner. Walked to the street and it's 250' from the truck, behind a chain link fence and found no difference in rage of 250' no matter where I stuck it. While I had it all apart I also stuck my mirror cam wire down the pillar and got it out of the way also. I want to thank "Rnlcomp" for his ideas and instructions to help me get it done. Took about 1 1/2 hours because I kept experimenting with locations.
I also went to the link for the service manual that is created for your VIN # and order the Deluxe Version with click links and WOW!!! I'm glad I did, 12,294 pages. Well worth the $130.00 if your wanting to know "everything" about your truck.www.factory-manuals.com
I relocated mine without using an extended cable. At first I was just experimenting to see whether the range would get better if I left it sitting on the dashboard so I tried it a bunch and to my surprise it was much much better.
So I didn't bother with the extension. I removed the antenna from the plastic mounting box, wrapped some foam around it to prevent it from knocking into things and shoved it into the lower corner of the passenger A pillar.
I actually was able to get the cable more than halfway up the A pillar but couldn't find a good place for it. Things were too tight in there and the connector was too thick.
The pic shows how much slack you have with just the factory antenna wire.
I don't think I want to spend $30 at this point.
Last edited by Underwhere; 10-26-2018 at 09:47 AM.
Just posting an update. I tried 2 more things.
1 - The factory extended wire
2 - A universal remote start extended antenna (I soldered the factory connector onto it)
At first after I had just laid the universal extended antenna on my dash it seemed as if I could get about 100 yards off the thing (looking head on at my truck). I left the wire just loose on my seat. Once I tucked everything away and then double-sided-taped the antenna vertically along the A pillar my range dropped significantly. The instructions say to place it away from metal. Perhaps the A pillar affected the reception.
So then I tested the factory extended wire. I tucked the antenna in the roof liner in front of the passenger visor. I wrapped it in foam with some rubber bands.
I used a laser range finder and walked down my street with no obstructions. I was on the passenger side closest to the antenna looking at the passenger side of the truck. (perpendicular to it)
That's a significant improvement over stock which I didn't measure but can guess at maybe 7 yards consistent and sporadic up to 15.
I was hopeful that the universal antenna would work better (and cheaper) but for me it didn't pan out that way. I don't know much about antenna's though. Maybe I bought the wrong one.
Note - Even with the stock antenna unplugged I could still lock, unlock and remote start up to 7 yards away..
So, I was debating on the bi directional but didn't want to have 2 remotes and spend the extra $ so I ordered this kit. Installed today and am unpressed with the change. Well worth the $.
07-26-2018, 12:18 PM
Remote Start Problem, Fix
