H3 Hummer antennas

[Chiefs]

Anyone else having any problem with whip antennas on models like the H3 Hummer, Chevy Equinox, Jeep Liberty or Wrangler or PT Cruiser? Its weird somewhat in that these vehicles can seemingly go through just fine 5, 10, 20 times and then suddenly the antenna breaks. The single common denominator as I see it poor antenna placement and as a result design too.

We are combating this using the kill of fly with a sledgehammer approach. We remove the antenna and give it and a handout I put together explaining the problem to the customer. If we cannot get them off by hand, we offer to let the customer use pliers to remove it with. We give them pliers and a towel (to protect the natenna base from the teeth on the pliers) and they remove it.This way if it breaks, they did it.

If they do not want totake it off or cannot get it off and they still choose to go through the wash, we make them sign a waiver of liability in case it breaks. Only by doing this can we prevent the customer saying we forgot to tell him about the potential problem after he has gone through and if the antenna breaks.

When in the heck our auto makers going to be able to make a shorter more durable antenna or find a way to get it back in the glass without the fading in and out. Bad enough they use whip antennas, but placiing them down on the side of the fender is a hossible idea.

 

[JustClean]

We sometimes tape the antennas down if we can't get them off. That helps.
Cheers Justclean

 

[Chiefs]

What do you mean "tape them down"?

 

[JustClean]

You can't do it with all antennas but the ones that come out on an angle or the ones that are close to the windscreen and can be bent you just take some sticky tape and stick the antenna to the roof. Won't get cleaned underneath the tape but most customers are happy to accept this.
Cheers Justclean

 

[wood]

go with foam material/neoglide. lighter, like a good defense it bends but won't break

 

[Chiefs]

go with foam material/neoglide. lighter, like a good defense it bends but won't break

So you've never torn off an antenna with your wraps? Is this correct?

 

[wood]

i have broken 3 antennas in 3 years and 4 mirrors. 1 antenna was a liberty, 1 was a chevy suburban, and 1 was a ford car. 3 of the 4 mirrors were pontiac grand ams, which as you know is on the car wash damage hit list

perhaps i had a leg to stand on disputing 1 or 2, but i paid them.

like i stated earlier, the light weight neoglide makes a big difference. next time your cloth gets fatigued replace 1 set of your side washers or wraps with the product and see for yourself. you should see the stuff work on the top brush. on power antennas that won't go down it doesn't damage them at all - very remarkable, and nothing cleans like a top brush.

 

[DavidM]

That is the piece I was missing... Cloth vs neoglide materials. I couldn't understand why some washes have problems with these antennas and other do not.

We have been using Neoglide and envirosoft (Macneil's version) for at least 7 years. The only antennas that break are power antennas that are not retracted. Also, Macneils wraps are designed to decrease side pressure around the mirror area, which often includes the antenna mount location on the fender, this may help as well.

I do agree with Bill, it would be nice if automakers would perfect the antenna in the glass. Of course, I have a lot of design features that I wish the automakers would change to make it easier to wash cars. Unfortunately, they have never asked me

David