Hey, Has anyone else bought an aftermarket billet antenna, and have it fall off after a year of use? Well I just did!! I was washing my 04 150, and the antenna just fell off. I picked it up and looked at the treads. They were gone, same in the socket, no threads. Just completely rusted away. The bad part is, now I have to replace the whole unit. Anyone know how to get the little rubber cap off without scratching the paint

 

rusted ? I thought billet was aluminum ?

Fish

 

Are you sure it really was a billet? I've had mine for 2 years now and now issues at all. I even used a couple of small drops of locktite. I've had no problems.

 

x2 - I've had mine for almost 2 years, used a little loctite on it, and it's been perfect. No imperfections, cleans right up.

 

When I get a new sound system installed I think if its possible I will get an electric antenna installed. I don't listen to the radio at all in my truck so I will leave it down & out of the way.

 

Lots of "billet" stuff is simply machined aluminum. (All of it in fact.) It looks great coming right off the CNC machine and even better after a bit of polishing. Trouble is, many manufacturers simply ship it like that - with no protective surface coating. This leads to the situation you experienced - which is technically called oxidation. If you live in the right kind of environment (like Arizona), you'll probably never see this problem. Live someplace where they use road salt, and the stuff will oxidize faster than a Clinton campaign promise.

 

Mine didn't fall off. But when the ant. got bent I went to take it off to straighten it back out I noticed the threaded bolt was very rusty(only on for a few months). So I said the hell with it and chopped a few inches of the stocker so it would clear the garage. The billet antenna was in good shape but they must have used some cheap steel for the bolt it attached to.