# Roof Mount Antenna



## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

Hey all,

Has anyone ever installed a roof-mount antenna other than the factory radio one? Examples would include CB antenna, Cell, GPS, WiFi...

As you know, I'm planning to have WiFi with my car PC, and I've been looking at my X-Trail to figure out where I'll pass the cable up to the roof. The computer's going to be under the passenger seat, so I'm thinking of routing the cable up the B-pillar. When it gets to the roof I can do one of the following:


Try to pop off the plastic roof "rail" and drill through the roof here, seal it up nicely and notch the roof rail to let the antenna wire out after I pop it back on.
Run it along the headliner to the back, and poke it through near where the wiring and washer fluid go to the hatch. The wire would come through the gap between the hatch and the roof.

Has anyone ever figured out how to remove the plastic roof "rail"? (I mean the plain black ridge that runs the length of the roof on each side, not the new hyper roof rails.) I figured out that the covers for the rack brackets pop off, but is the rest of the the assembly snap-off too? I'd rather ask before I start blindly breaking stuff.  

I'm also open to other ideas. At this point I'm partial to the first choice because there won't be anything pinching the cable or wearing on it.

Thanks!

P.S. - I didn't add to the "Geeking My X-Trail" thread, 'cause I figured if this gets answered it will be of interest to folks just looking to put in a CB or something.


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

There are a couple of good and easy to get to spots for mounting the CB UHF antenna which involve purchasing the Z bracket and mounting it on the inside edge of the fender





You can then run the cable through the hole if the firewall (there are 2 existing holes in the exy which you can use. One on each side)

The other method would require having a nudge/bull bar where you can mount the antenna on (this is what I have done for mine when I connected the UHF CB Radio)

Removing the roof railing is super complicated process as they're bolted on from the inside, this will require taking the roof lining off completely to get to these bolts.

The only other position I can think of to mount on the roof would be in the roof rack spots using a bracket, but then you would have to conceal the cable somehow and get it into the roof.

Drilling the roof is a big no, no, as this would/could bring leak and rust issues into play.


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## SCHESBH (May 25, 2004)

*My Antennas*

My GPS Antenna is mounted on the front right hand side of my Dash directly under the window above the speaker grill. As for the Sirius Satellite Antenna it is mounted in the same location on the Left side. My TV module antennas are mounted on the left and right hand windows. One is for UHF the Other VHF.

I have had no issues at all loosing signals... Sirius has been perfect as has the GPS system. The TV well it picks up locals at night much more!

Stephen




ecrase2500 said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Has anyone ever installed a roof-mount antenna other than the factory radio one? Examples would include CB antenna, Cell, GPS, WiFi...
> 
> ...


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## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

Thanks, guys, that's helpful.


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