Might be a dumb question but is it okay to just unscrew the antenna and leave it off? Can it hurt anything, like water getting in the hole or anything like that?

I haven't used my radio in ages and likely never will. I never really noticed how goofy the antenna looks, this giant 3ft tall pole sticking out of the hood for no reason.

 

Could get a cheap rubber or vinyl short antenna, - cheap and look good. Or just cap it with a vacuum plug. You could also just cut your existing down some, then cap it.

 

Well now I feel dumb. Just looked on ebay and amazon, between $10-20 there is a whole mountain of choices, even billet aluminum. Thanks

 

check out late model restoration for a stubby lighting antenna if you're trying to keep the clean factory look!

 

Your welcome, yea sometimes you don't realize choices you have until they are presented to you...done the same thing.

 

Or pop the ball off the end, cut the antenna down and put the ball back on

 

AntennaX makes several kinds and I did not notice any change in radio reception. You can kind of see it in this picture. Sorry I don't have any pics of it close up.

 

Some later 99-03 expeditions have a right fender without an antenna hole. If you can find one in the junk yards or on car-part.com, that gets rid of the nub for a shaved look.