andyegan
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2020 9:52 am
Delivery Date: 02 Apr 2020
Leaf Number: 205510

Radio Aerial/Antenna

Hi
I am andyegan and a newbie located in the UK. I have a 2020 Leaf tekna with a FM AM DAB radio and a roof based twisted wire stick aerial that I would like to change for an OEM shark fin antenna.

Hopefully this can be done by just unscrewing the stick wand and attaching a single wire from the fin fitting to the screw on the remaining aerial piece on the car roof. Are there any issues with that and how successful is a shark fin antenna? Do I need any particular shark fin aerial or materials inside the fin? Appreciate any advice offered.
Learjet
Posts: 382
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2020 8:04 pm
Delivery Date: 11 Mar 2020
Leaf Number: 309454
Location: Louisiana, USA

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

I believe you can by the kit from Nissan to replace it...more info in this video https://youtu.be/_JakePS3M_8
2019 Nissan Leaf SL Plus
Build Date 2/19...car sat new for 1 year until I purchased 3/20
jjeff
Posts: 2821
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2016 9:10 am
Delivery Date: 13 Jul 2014
Leaf Number: 422121
Location: MSP MN

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

Sounds like a major PIA! Not an easy job, requires specialty tools and taking down the headliner amongst other things.
I replaced my rod antenna with a shark, one off amazon supposed to be specifically designed for the Leaf and it was probably as much of a PIA as the youtube posted here. Long story short the fin did NOT fit over my existing body(the part the rod screws into) and required me grinding my body narrower, using a hack saw and modifying the new fin, NOT an easy job and took hours and hours to complete, I would NOT do this again. Now if you could find a properly sized fin(larger) it might have been easy with the included 3M tape, simply unscrew the rod, screw in the wire, use included 3M tape to attach it to your roof but unfortunately for me, this was not the case. I left my review on Amazon saying this fin did not fit Leafs, at least '12 and '13 models like it was supposed to, I don't have access to a newer Leaf to see if they might have a smaller body.....
Note I didn't replace my rod just to have a fin, the body threads ended up cracking making the rod not fit securely after driving through a car wash, the threads were strong enough to hold the wire from the fin but not the rod which due to wind blowing over it had more leverage on the threads. I lost a few further away FM stations as the fin isn't as good as the rod and while I never listen to AM, I also lost all but the strongest AM stations.
2012 SL purchased used 2/'16
2013 S w/QC purchased new
Juicebox Premium 60a L1/L2 EVSE, Ebusbar 16a L1/L2 EVSE
'12 EVSEupgrade'd 20a L1/L2 EVSE, '13 EVSEupgrade'd adjustable 6-20a L2, 6-13a L1 EVSE
Zencar 13, 20, 30a L1/L2 portable EVSE
GE Durastation 30a
Rodriguez
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:46 am
Delivery Date: 26 Nov 2019

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

It's pretty easy to replace the antenna with a small stubby, just screw the old one out and the new one in, and they are like >€5.
powersurge
Posts: 1743
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:24 am
Delivery Date: 06 Dec 2014
Location: Long Island, NY

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

Just got a brand new car into your house and the problem you want to correct is the look of a radio antenna?

This potential project sounds senseless....
ovirtdirt
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:50 pm
Delivery Date: 11 Jun 2021

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

2022 leaf anyone know if I have to drop headliner to remove shark fin? Need to install vinyl wrap wondering if shark fin is easy to remove? There is a plastic snap on piece directly underneath it on headliner. Is there is bolt right there to just unscrew maybe?
DavidJones
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2022 7:30 am
Delivery Date: 13 Oct 2022

Re: Radio Aerial/Antenna

ovirtdirt wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:36 pm 2022 leaf anyone know if I have to drop headliner to remove shark fin? Need to install vinyl wrap wondering if shark fin is easy to remove? There is a plastic snap on piece directly underneath it on headliner. Is there is bolt right there to just unscrew maybe?
Vinyl wrapping might not bother while removing shark fin.

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