(suggestions wanted) Pro Tip: don't let the radio antenna get pulled out of your roof - pictures included!

[myothercarizahearse]

Reminds me of the 12 seater plane (I think it had that many) I flew from Gitmo to Fort Lauderdale. There was duct tape on all the windows on the inside! They called it 200 mph duck tape. I kid you not!

EVERY southwest flight I have ever been on. I can't remember where I was headed but there were still ash trays full of butts 20 years after smoking was banned on planes

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[RANGER_MARC]

Why not just tape the wire to garage door? When you need it the wire should pull out of the tape.

I was thinking of just wrapping the head or handle of the wire in duct tape. That way I can grab it when needed (which is hardly never) with no risk of it getting caught on the antenna.

 

[Delirious]

That’s what I would do.

Out of pocket! You might be able to figure out how much your insurance rates would go up just by using Internet calculation thingamabob or in casual conversations with other insurance companies as if your price shopping using the cost in a hypothetical situation defined out how much your insurance rates would go up. Some offer accident forgiveness but on such a small amount I would not go that route because if you had a large claim, then that's where they would get you. Check the reviews on your local independent shop. A Ford dealer is no better qualified than an independent shop. Either one of them could have bad reviews. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Apples]

Being an amateur radio operator, I can relate.

I also notice the safety cord is left dangling. Like the folds in an overhead door, the cord can be enough to rip off antennas.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

I was going to smother the handle in duct tape so that it would not catch on anything, but then I thought, "life is too complicated." One swipe with my handy scissors and game over! It does not really need a handle, anyway. I can always just reach up, wrap the rope around my fist, and pull!

 

[Joeiconic]

I've decided that I'm paying out of pocket either way, my insurance is calling this an at-fault collision which will create some serious hell for me in a couple weeks when I go to register my truck (I just moved halfway across the country a week ago)

i don’t understand why having an insurance claim would impact your registration of the vehicle one way or the other. And, when you say your insurance is “calling this an at-fault accident”, does that mean you have you already reported it to them? If so, they may have recorded a claim against your policy whether you ultimately pay for it yourself or not.

 

[UnregistredHypercam2]

i don’t understand why having an insurance claim would impact your registration of the vehicle one way or the other. And, when you say your insurance is “calling this an at-fault accident”, does that mean you have you already reported it to them? If so, they may have recorded a claim against your policy whether you ultimately pay for it yourself or not.

A recent collision won’t impact registering the truck, but will impact insuring the truck. I just moved from Florida to Colorado.
I didn’t open a claim with my insurance but I did call to ask how they’d code it which is where the at fault collision thing came up.

 

[Motorpsychology]

After Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer left Our Gang, he went on to design radio antennas for the Buick Division.

Ford bought the patent rights after GM abandoned the design, citing that too may were getting broken off in emergency garage door pull handles...

 

[ScrappyLaptop]

I was going to smother the handle in duct tape so that it would not catch on anything, but then I thought, "life is too complicated." One swipe with my handy scissors and game over! It does not really need a handle, anyway. I can always just reach up, wrap the rope around my fist, and pull!

Seems simple enough, given that all you have to do is pull down hard enough to disengage the pin...

 

[Glocker]

I would get a paintless dent repair guy to look at it. I'm wondering if they can push the roof back into shape and re-secure the antenna base????

 

[IAFFR]

Honestly, if this happened to me I would probably try to remount it myself and get some high temperature sealant to make sure it doesn't leak.

I had a 2015 F350 and one of the small yellow lights on the roof above the windshield developed a leak. I ended up removing it and sealing under it and then removed the head liner and sealed from the inside. Never had any issues.

I can't really tell how much of a dent you have but you could probably tap that out from the inside as well. Like others have said, you'll probably be the only person who would know.

 

[Apollo51]

I did this same thing. Luckily I found one on ebay

 

[OrangeStreak]

I learned from a previous mistake and was able to prevent damage to the original antenna. It could have clipped the bottom end of the rod attached to the sliding mechanisim on the garage door bar (especially with the bigger K02's which raised the height of the truck about 1.5") if the two came together (See pic. 1). The preventative measure taken to spare the antenna was to simply align the left middle ridge on the hood with the AC outlet on the wall when pulling into the garage (See pic. 2). This alignment puts the antenna about 16" away from the bottom of the attached rod.

I learned a lesson about parking postions when I first got the Ranger. Didn't pull it forward far enough into the garage and the garage door came down and clipped the edge of the back bumper and body panel beneath it and had to have it repaired and re-painted (See pic's 3 & 4). Left the scratch in the bumper unrepaired because it isn't very noticeable. Solved this parking issue by putting a mark on the garage floor to line up with the split on the driver's door step panel (See pic. 5 & 6).

 

[UnregistredHypercam2]

Little update: finally dropped the truck off today for repairs, part of the roof was torn and requires welding, sanding, and painting to prevent rush. I should hear back tomorrow if they have any additional findings, here's hoping my duct tape kept the moisture out as well as it appeared to be doing.

 

[Glocker]

Little update: finally dropped the truck off today for repairs, part of the roof was torn and requires welding, sanding, and painting to prevent rush. I should hear back tomorrow if they have any additional findings, here's hoping my duct tape kept the moisture out as well as it appeared to be doing.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

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