XM antenna going INSIDE the spoiler

It's settled, I'm placing the XM antenna inside the spoiler. After careful analysis, I realized I could cut a somewhat large hole behind the center brake light, slip the antenna inside, and run the wires through the same path as the brake light. The spoiler is made of ABS plastic, just like the housing on the antenna. As long as the metallic paint doesn't cause issues (unlikely, since it's probably mica in the paint anyway) I will have the ultimate hidden XM installation.

I have already cut the hole and tried slipping in the oem Toyota antenna. After discovering that the fit was tighter than I was happy with (it left a bulge in the spoiler) I have ordered the terk xmicro antenna with blitzsafe splitter adapter to make the fit perfect.

I placed strips of 3M camper mounting tape around the hole and reinstalling the light completely hides and seals the hole. I'll post pictures as soon as I am done, but there is nothing to see once it's reassembled. ;-)

Nate

 

It works! I purchased the Terk XMICRO antenna with Blitzsafe splitter, total cost about $60 delivered. The new antenna is barely 1.5" x 1.5", and the single thin coax cable was way easier to snake through into the car.

First, I removed the trim panels from the back of the hatch. Next, I removed the plastic holder from coax connector on the wire to make it easier to fish through. Then, I ran the wire through my hole behind the LED light and through the hole that the LED wires come through into the vehicle. I then carefully pulled almost all of the wire through, until the antenna was inside, leaving a few inches of slack to work with. I then shut the hatch.

Since I had some slack to work with, I pulled the antenna out a little. I peeled the bottom label off of the antenna and popped out the magnets with a scribe (like a small punch). I figured the fewer magnets the better with respect to the SE/SS (SKS) and the reception, LED light, etc.

I then used a piece of 3M heavy duty double sided sticky foam tape, the one that says: "Warning: this adhesive will basically never come off." on the back. (This is different from your average household sticky foam tape from 3M, which has limited holding power).

I cleaned the bottom of the antenna with alcohol and the inside of the spoiler where I wanted to stick the antenna. I then stuck it in place, laying flat, directly behind the light, and squeezed it for a count of twenty. It's not moving!

To seal my hole in the spoiler, I used 3M pickup truck camper tape. It's single sided sticky, and is "closed cell", meaning it's waterproof. I cut 1/2 inch wide strips of this and placed one strip of correct length around the rectangular hole, with about a third of the width of the material "oozing" into the hole. Next, I simply reinstalled the LED brake light. Wow! The only way to even know something is there is to open the hatch, take a piece of paper, and try to slide it up between the back of the light assembly and the spoiler, where it stops when it comes in contact with the foam. The foam is visible from this angle if you shine a flashlight up into the crevice and know what you are looking at. The best part, no foam is visible above the light assembly because Toyota left a small recess in the top of the spoiler, so I made sure my foam doesn't extend past that point, and the top of the light sits perfectly flush with the spoiler above it. (Just like before I started!) It is completely and totally waterproof, noiseproof, and the spoiler is just as solid as before since the area around my hole was reinforced to accomodate the factory hole for the light's own harness. To reiterate, my hole is just like the factory hole, only bigger and in the center, and I cut a little further, into the top of the spoiler.

(Photos to follow).

Next, I ran the coax wire up along next to the rest of the wires. I made sure it wasn't in any spots where it would rub or be crushed over time. I attached it to the factory harness in select places with pieces of electrical tape.

Now, to get the wire into the car: I used the a MAC tools panel pulling tool to remove the ivory clip from the ceiling on the driver's side. I then pulled the headliner down just a hair. Next, I found the boot on the left that contains the rear washer hose. (I decided to use this one because the one on the right with the wires was kind of full). I grasped it firmly, and gave it a quick pull, and it unsnapped from the body. I repeated this to unsnap it from the hatch. Next, I pulled the disconnect apart from the washer hose and pulled it out of the boot. Why? To make it easier to push the coax cable through the other way! I pushed the cable through the now empty boot, into the hole in the car, and out the gap in the headliner. Then, I pushed the hose back through the boot, (a little silicone spray makes this easier) and reconnected the quick release (again, a little silicone spray will help here). Next, I simply snapped the boot back in place. Lastly, make sure you have some slack so the cable can tolerate a lifetime of twisting! The cable will slide reasonably easily through the boot. Use some silicone spray if you need to.

All that's left is to reattach the panels on the hatch, and then to route the cable down the F pillar towards the rear area where the XM module will live. I'll work on that tonight. (Started snowing last night, so the car is still in pieces in my garage).

Although I have some work left, I highly recommend this enhancement. The ugly, magnetic antenna is the one thing that makes the XM kit "Not Stock" so to speak. Signal does not appear to be decreased. Like I said before, the material for the spoiler is ABS plastic, as is the antenna housing. The metallic paint doesn't seem to be a problem, either.

Nate

 

The Toyota unit is technically an "older" Pioneer design, having seperate inputs for Satellite and Terrestrial inputs. It has one dark green connector and one light green connector. The Terk Antenna I bought is designed for newer XM designs which use a single, pink connector for both Sat and Ter signals. The Blitzsafe splitter converts a single pink connector to a dual, seperate SAT and TER connectors.

Nate

 

Here's the site I bought the stuff from:

http://www.myradiostore.us/

Here's the Antenna:

http://www.myradiostore.us/antennas-cables...ro-antenna.html

Here's the adapter: (You should buy it with the "Add Adapter" option on the Antenna page for a better price)

http://www.myradiostore.us/antennas-cables...a-splitter.html

The adhesive strips I used are UPC 051111060100 , 3M Heavy-Duty Attachment Adhesive, item 6010ES. I bought this item at Home Depot on clearance. (I don't know if they still carry it). The important thing about this adhesive is that it is extremely strong. The hatch will be going up and down, so I wanted to be sure the antenna wouldn't come loose. It's possible to use a weaker foam mount tape but you should probably check it from time to time to make sure it hasn't come loose. (Not hard, just remove the two screws holding the light in).

The foam tape I used to seal the hole is UPC 0 51131 62556 3 , 3M Camper Mount Foam Tape, Item Number (Catalog Number) 2319. The important thing about this material is that it is a closed cell foam intended for automotive application with weatherproofing properties. (Heat, Cold, Water, Dry, Pressure, Vibration). Open-cell foam is not intended for this; it will leak water. 3M makes several open-cell foam weatherstrippings as well, be sure not to buy these. (Any product that touts itself as "Camper Mount Tape" is fine). I got this item at a local auto parts store.

To cut the hole, I used a dremel with a cut-off wheel. (I actually went through 3 of them, but the wheels come in multi-packs). This only cut the hole most of the way; I had to use a metal grinding/ cutting bit (looks kind of like a drill bit, but is designed to cut from the side instead of the end) in order to finish cutting the hole.

Good Luck! I still need to get photos taken...

Nate

 

Yes, I turned my brain back on, and attached the "original" antenna to the radio module and listened to channel 001. The sound quality is still poor. I'm about to fire up the subscription, I'm just waiting to hear from someone on this board whether the $60 per year is good on new subscriptions. (Anybody know? Anyone have the flyer itself?). I suspect that channel 001 is a little compressed because you don't listen to it much, but I should know by tomorrow.

The spoiler installation still has "metal underneath" because there is a metal plate like a trunk under the spoiler. It is about the same size as a Solara trunk and is in about the same place, so I really don't think these are factors.

I'll have a verdict soon.

Nate

 

Photos are in my album!

Nate

 

Okay, it's up and running.
The verdict: Ch 001 sucks for sound quality. As a matter of fact, so do just about all the talk stations. I've been doing some R&D, and it turns out the system is built for 100 channels of clear audio, but they now have over 120. Something had to give, and it's quality. Fortunately, the music stations sound pretty good. Maybe this weekend I'll experiment with my other antenna, but at this point, I believe the XMICRO inside the spoiler has identical sound quality to the big one on the roof.

I'll issue a final analysis later.

Nate

 

Sorry, I thought the photo would turn out better. The module is mounted vertically. If you open the hatch, remove the cargo floor, the tub underneath, the small floor panel to the left, and the tub under that (using a 10 mm socket) you can then get to where the module is mounted.

The antenna connections are towards the bottom, facing to the right side of the vehicle. The radio connector is towards the top, up under the rear cloth trim, and also faces to the right of the vehicle. The wire to the head unit runs from there, follows the wiring up over the LR wheel hump, down under the upholstered panel next to the seat, under the LR kick panel, behind the C pillar panel (or is it B? depends whether you count the two pillars in the front as one or two). Next, it goes under the LF kick panel, under the toe kick by the left front foot (behind the fuse block). Then, up over the steering column, behind the shifter (watch the sharp metal! Choose a route that avoids this!) and on in behind the stereo.

How's that for descriptive?

I think there are only three bolts to remove for all the panels except the dash. One under the backseat (seat pulls straight up to come out) for the side bolster, and two bolts in the rear panel, one long and silver, the other short and black. Everything else is just a matter of clipping and snapping into place. That rear one is a pain, though. Take your time.

Nate

 

The reception is as good as it gets. I was expecting cd-like quality on all channels, but on xmfan.com, I've discovered that XM's quality varies depending upon the channel, time of day, and sometimes the programming itself. My ear confirms this. What suffers is indeed the level of compression (lower bitrate). This is due to the XM system being designed for 100 channels of stereo, which is now stretched to 130 channels; (some mono). Something had to suffer, and it's the audio quality. This reminds me of the situation we suffered through with DBS (Dish Network satellite) TV in the early days. Too many channels + not enough bandwidth = compression artifacts (mostly visual on the dish). The solution was to launch another satellite to increase the number of transponders and switch to spot beams for local channels. XM will have to do something similar to improve sound quality. Spot beams for local traffic and weather and the Nav data stream plus more bandwidth. We'll see if the hardware can support the improvements and if XM will invest in the system.

I could tell no improvement using the original antenna on the roof, so unless something is wrong with my receiver module (codec wise) I think it is no worse inside the spoiler. I pass under two bridges, one (sometimes) gives a dead spot a few seconds later, but the other one suffers no effects (but the nearby hill drops my cell phone every time).

For the record, my wife thinks the whole system sounds great, even better than FM. To clarify, my only complaint is with the compression of audio, I have no problems with dropouts or loss of signal.

I know this isn't very scientific, but I am concluding that the antenna installation inside the spoiler was a complete success, xm itself is another question.

If you have XM, antenna-in-spoiler is the way to go. If you are considering XM, listen to it somewhere first if you are quite fussy like me.

Nate