I know, I know. It should be an easy change, but it can be a pain in the ***, so hopefully I can help a few people out.

So I had a little issue recently where I went to replace my antenna only to find I couldn’t get it out of the base because the connection part of the base was broken and therefor useless. I had to replace the entire base /wire at that point, which was a fun little project. Not hard, but I couldn’t find any step by step guides online, so I’ll make it easy for anyone wanting to do the same moving forward.

Please note, I have a 2012 F150 XLT. I’m not sure how far back/forward the years go in which this procedure is exact, but it should be close none the less.

Step 1. Pop off the plastic cover at the antenna base and you’ll see the metal plate with 3 screws. You can unscrew it now or wait til later. I pulled up on the base to see if the wire would come out a little but the wire popped right out. Doesn’t matter, if you follow my steps, you’ll be able to switch yours out in under an hour.





Step 2. Go to your glove box, push in both sides to drop it completely and you’ll see an orange wire with a connector right in front. This is your antenna wire. The connector is right in the middle and all you have to do is disconnect it right there in front.




Step 3. Attach a string to end of the wire that goes further behind the dashboard. This goes all the way to your antenna base. There are a couple of plastic pieces that hold the wire in place. Just work the tabs out so it comes loose.





Step 4. Remove your tire. It makes everything a lot easier.

Step 5. Take out the hex screws holding your plastic wheel well liner in place. There were 4 or 5 holding mine. At that point, just use a little bit of muscle to get it pulled away from the fender so you can get underneath it.





Step 6. You see that orange wire and rubber grommet…work the rubber out toward you and pull the wire gently out. Your string will come along with it. The grommet is attached to the antenna wire, so if you buy a new one, you don’t need a separate grommet. Also note, the new antenna base and wire are all one piece. It cost me $35.








Step 7. Guide the wire of your new antenna/base down through the top of the fender until it comes out below








Step 8. Tie/tape your string to the open end so you can pull it back through the hole under the dash. Once it’s pulled through, work that rubber grommet into the hole to keep water out. Don’t push it all the way through, just get it tight.

Step 9. Go back under the dash, untie your rope and connect the new wire to the old connector. Close up your glove box. You’re done here.



Step 10. Screw the base of the antenna back on the truck and put the plastic piece back on.

Step 11. Screw your plastic wheel well back on and put your tire back on.

Step 12. Put an antenna on and you’re ready to roll.

 

wrong section this is pre 1997

 

Is it necessary to remove the tire?

 

Sorry. Didn't mean to. Can a mod please move it over?

 

I'm sure you could probably get it done without removing the tire, but trust me, it'll be easier if you took the 5 min to do so.

 

Thank you for this write up. Had to change my antenna base on my 2011 F150 because my last crap antenna base broke and couldn't find any write ups on how to do it. Didn't remove my tire just cranked my wheel to the left. My truck is lifted with 35's so the tire helped hold my wheel well liner out of the way. Genius idea with using the string on the old antenna wire when removing made everything 100x easier. Took a little more than an hour and a couple beers lol. Saved me a good amount of money by doing this myself. Thanks again for the pictures and full write up. Very well done.

 

I just replaced the antenna assembly on my 2010 F150 following these instructions...took me about an hour...the hardest part was figuring out how to remove that fender liner. I could barely see the 7/32" hex screws! I bought the assembly, antenna, and base cover from Amazon, cost me a total of $60.00. The only suggestion for improving this would be to show where those 7/32" hex screws are located...thanks for posting this!

 

[QUOTE=JRD1982;4725737]I know, I know. It should be an easy change, but it can be a pain in the ***, so hopefully I can help a few people out.

So I had a little issue recently where I went to replace my antenna only to find I couldn’t get it out of the base because the connection part of the base was broken and therefor useless. I had to replace the entire base /wire at that point, which was a fun little project. Not hard, but I couldn’t find any step by step guides online, so I’ll make it easy for anyone wanting to do the same moving forward.

Please note, I have a 2012 F150 XLT. I’m not sure how far back/forward the years go in which this procedure is exact, but it should be close none the less.

Step 1. Pop off the plastic cover at the antenna base and you’ll see the metal plate with 3 screws. You can unscrew it now or wait til later. I pulled up on the base to see if the wire would come out a little but the wire popped right out. Doesn’t matter, if you follow my steps, you’ll be able to switch yours out in under an hour.





Step 2. Go to your glove box, push in both sides to drop it completely and you’ll see an orange wire with a connector right in front. This is your antenna wire. The connector is right in the middle and all you have to do is disconnect it right there in front.




Step 3. Attach a string to end of the wire that goes further behind the dashboard. This goes all the way to your antenna base. There are a couple of plastic pieces that hold the wire in place. Just work the tabs out so it comes loose.





Step 4. Remove your tire. It makes everything a lot easier.

Step 5. Take out the hex screws holding your plastic wheel well liner in place. There were 4 or 5 holding mine. At that point, just use a little bit of muscle to get it pulled away from the fender so you can get underneath it.





Step 6. You see that orange wire and rubber grommet…work the rubber out toward you and pull the wire gently out. Your string will come along with it. The grommet is attached to the antenna wire, so if you buy a new one, you don’t need a separate grommet. Also note, the new antenna base and wire are all one piece. It cost me $35.








Step 7. Guide the wire of your new antenna/base down through the top of the fender until it comes out below








Step 8. Tie/tape your string to the open end so you can pull it back through the hole under the dash. Once it’s pulled through, work that rubber grommet into the hole to keep water out. Don’t push it all the way through, just get it tight.

Step 9. Go back under the dash, untie your rope and connect the new wire to the old connector. Close up your glove box. You’re done here.



Step 10. Screw the base of the antenna back on the truck and put the plastic piece back on.

Step 11. Screw your plastic wheel well back on and put your tire back on.

Step 12. Put an antenna on and you’re ready to roll.


My old 2003 F150 has an RCA type plug on the wire going into the antenna mount. I just had to twist the antenna wire at the mount and pull it out.