Radio Antenna vs. Car Wash ?

Guest · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:51 am

Out here in the winter time salt belt my vehicles see a lot of car washes and I usually go to Mike's Express Car Wash when it's too cold to do it myself(mostly all winter).

They will not let me drive through the car wash without removing my antenna; they say that the Liberty antennas are prone to breaking.

Is this a myth or a fact :?:

I have had to remove the antenna with a small wrench about 8 times so far and I am getting worried about a lifetime of stress on the antenna mount from doing this.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:13 am

If you are talking about the actual AM/FM radio antenna; I haven't ever had a problem going through the car wash with mine. It has not broken yet and I always wash my Liberty in the drive through car washes. The places I go just fold in the mirrors, give me a quick rinse to get rid of the dirt and send me on through....

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

FACT!

Mine broke the first time I had the KJ washed. To add insult to injury it got tangled up in the spinning brush and scratched up the entire passenger side along with a window or two. Total cost of not taking the antenna off = $500. I even asked the kid to remove my antenna and he said they didn't have a wrench and there "wouldn't be any problem." Needless to say, they paid for all the repairs. :twisted:

priell3 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:50 am

I remove mine when I go thru the car wash (usually in winter). One time I didn't, the entire mounting got rotated where it attaches to the body.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:58 am

Wow! so far it's 1 to 1

If more check in with broken antenna's I am going to start removing mine then.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

I count 2 to 1. Broken to Non-broken.

SD-KJ · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:02 am

We have taken ours through with no problems, HOWEVER, are you guys talking about the brushless? or the ones with brushes? I would NEVER take it through a car wash with brushes. Thats a big no no to me. I think that makes a big difference with this particular thing. We always just take it to the 'laser' washes to get the salt off but then we will actually wash it by hand to really clean it.

-Nick

PitViper · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:13 pm

I went through the car wash one time with mine on and it was the last tine i'll ever leave it on.

WV(0)IIIIIII(0) · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:30 pm

Been through at least 50 drive-thru washes and so far so good

tskalil · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:30 pm

I sometimes take mine to an automatic brush car wash. On the two times I didn't remove the AM/FM antenna, it bent badly but was correctable. I now keep a wrench handy to remove it along with the rest of the antennas. If the mount eventually wears out, which I think would take a long time, it will be cheaper to replace it than the potential damage that the antenna might have caused.

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:58 pm

The car wash I use makes Liberty's remove the antenna. I have been through it with no probs, but the guys working there told me they put up the sign after breaking a few-so now I do!

adamkrz · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:13 pm

Take it off,I bought the small one that sells on e-bay and thought it would be fine but after a drive thru wash w/brushes it was gone,now I'm back to the original and remove it before I go ...

Bullet · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:32 pm

I have only taken my Liberty through a car was one time. My hose was frozen and she had to be clean to get her new wheels! Anyway, I asked the guy about the antenna and he said it was fine. It was a cloth car was where the pieces just swiched back and forth. The antenna was fine. I would never take it through a brush carwash, antenna off or no, they are just horrible for paint! :twisted:

Metrowest_Kev · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:44 pm

I go to Scrub-a-Dub all the time and no problems (knock on wood). It does whip around a bit at the vertical spinner brush.

I always remove my sirius antenna.

LimitedLurker · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:18 pm **Posts:** 114

The SaD I go to has always taken mine off. They had probelms with a KJ before I started using them.

I can't imagin there is that much stress involved in taking it off and putting it back on. If it is that tight maybe you can try a dielectric lubricant.

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:32 pm

My first job was at a car wash. It was one of those soft brush washes (which work better then the touchless car washes). I worked there for two years and never once saw an aerial antenna break off. The telescoping power antennas love to break off though. If you're worried about it, by all means take it off. If it were me and I had to remove it constantly, I would just make sure I didn't over tighten it, maybe spray a silicone lubricant (WD40 or similar) on both threads to protect em and make your life easier.

Myke · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:43 am

I broke mine twice in the car wash.

Skymech · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:03 am

I go through Mikes about once a week since last OCT. Up in Planefield, Avion and the new one On SR37 in Noblesville.
No problem so far. BTW i have the "Works Wash" done :wink:

Skymech

jdumont · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:18 am

I took mine through a few times when I first got it and noticed that the mount started getting a little loose. I replaced the antenna with one of the short ones from Ebay and now dont go through the automatic washes anymore. Thats what rain is for!

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

I thought all the brush car washes were gone ???

Here in Green Bay there is a brushless car wash manufacturing place (PDQ) ... all the car washes here are brushless ... and generally top of the line models as everyone has to keep up with the Jonses ...

I don't think Iwould ever take any vehicle I own through anything with brushes ...

Radio Antenna vs. Car Wash ?

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