Antenna grounding question.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 48
From: Lakeport CA
Antenna grounding question.
Years ago I bought the "upgrade" from MAD or someone like that and installed it per the "limited" directions. I currently have the rear facia off & before I re-install it I wanted to clean up & route the extra antenna ground leads again.
My question has to do w/ actually attaching the far ends of the new leads to the frame. The origional instructions didn't have you do that, however, the 3 factory ground straps DO connect to the frame. One to the side, one to the antenna mount & the last to an upper screw where the rear facia mounts. That would give you the steel strip around the top of the facia as additional ground.
Any thoughts, knowledge on if I should go ahead & terminate the "upgrade" ground wires around various points on the rear subframe? Will it help FM radio reception at all? I'm in the sticks so FM is pretty limited.
TIA
My question has to do w/ actually attaching the far ends of the new leads to the frame. The origional instructions didn't have you do that, however, the 3 factory ground straps DO connect to the frame. One to the side, one to the antenna mount & the last to an upper screw where the rear facia mounts. That would give you the steel strip around the top of the facia as additional ground.
Any thoughts, knowledge on if I should go ahead & terminate the "upgrade" ground wires around various points on the rear subframe? Will it help FM radio reception at all? I'm in the sticks so FM is pretty limited.
TIA
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,793
Likes: 9
From: VA
Years ago I bought the "upgrade" from MAD or someone like that and installed it per the "limited" directions. I currently have the rear facia off & before I re-install it I wanted to clean up & route the extra antenna ground leads again.
My question has to do w/ actually attaching the far ends of the new leads to the frame. The origional instructions didn't have you do that, however, the 3 factory ground straps DO connect to the frame. One to the side, one to the antenna mount & the last to an upper screw where the rear facia mounts. That would give you the steel strip around the top of the facia as additional ground.
Any thoughts, knowledge on if I should go ahead & terminate the "upgrade" ground wires around various points on the rear subframe? Will it help FM radio reception at all? I'm in the sticks so FM is pretty limited.
TIA
My question has to do w/ actually attaching the far ends of the new leads to the frame. The origional instructions didn't have you do that, however, the 3 factory ground straps DO connect to the frame. One to the side, one to the antenna mount & the last to an upper screw where the rear facia mounts. That would give you the steel strip around the top of the facia as additional ground.
Any thoughts, knowledge on if I should go ahead & terminate the "upgrade" ground wires around various points on the rear subframe? Will it help FM radio reception at all? I'm in the sticks so FM is pretty limited.
TIA
I don't know whether electrically grounding the ground plane wires would be harmful to it's purpose, but it definitely isn't normal. The factory ground plane wires in the later cars are not electrically connected to anything but the antenna.
OTOH, if you actually bought grounding straps, then by all means get them connected to a ground.
