I used to do this on my mustangs, but they had just a regular straight rod. the antennas on 04-08 trucks have a spiral to them. is it possible to cut down the antennas with this design?

 

Yes, i done it. and it didnt hurt anythang. I was talkin to my neighbor other day about why the newer antennas have the spiral to them and he said its to break the wind and it wont wobble.......

 

Not that I know of. That spiral is a wire that does something with the radio.

Best bet, go to a junk yard, and pull a solid one like your Stangs had, then cut it.

 

the spiral is the copper wire which is the part that actually recieves the signal, the rest is something like fiberglass just to have the shap and extend the wire for signal

 

Why not spend $10 on Ebay and get a short billet antenna?

 

You could do what I did, go get some BMX bicycle brake parts and fit them together as a shorty antenna, I still great signal too.
Have to get a pic of that later....

 

i just bought a shorty rubber antenna from autozone. worth 7 bucks in my opinion. but yes you can make your factory one into a shorty for free

 

Cut mine down to my roof line. No problems here. I have heard the spiral is to cut down on drag also. Mine is shortened about 8 inches and still have awesome reception.

 

I cut a few inches off mine as well. Just enough so that it would clear the garage door. I first removed the little ball on the end by using a torch and pliers. Then cut the antenna with a cutoff wheel and hammered the little ball back on. I don't think the ball does anything thing but I thought I would keep it the same.