Contributor I
For those of you with roof racks, and/or RTTs on your Jeep JKU, this mod is probably something you’ll need to consider. I know that after I installed my RTT, my XM radio reception was crap. I tried one of those brackets that mounts it right in front of the passenger sun visor, but the reception was spotty (I assume because it mounts the antenna upside down). The radio would lose the satellite signal about 25% of the time (especially when I was driving east or south). I decided to try and figure out a better solution, and I had hoped there would be something that would be free, or fairly cheap. After some deliberation and looking around, I was able to relocate my XM antenna to the area up by the upper front right-hand side of the windshield, behind the plastic roll bar cover in the corner. To pull that particular plastic piece down, you need to remove your sun visor (T-20 bit), and then you’ll need to remove the plastic rivet that holds it to the A pillar (using a small philips screwdriver, and needle nose pliers). After that, the corner plastic piece just basically just pulls off with a downward tug by the roll bar. I took some pictures to give you an idea of where to mount it, and what to remove. I’ve also seen videos on YouTube that show how to do it as well.
I need to mention that in order to move your antenna, you will need to remove your hard top - or at least remove all the mounting bolts and prop/tilt the front section up about a foot or so to get to the antenna. I tilted mine and put a 12” piece of 2x8 under the front lip to hold it while I accessed the XM antenna. Once you get the hard top out of the way, unzip the right-hand portion of the roll bar pad located on the right side of the speaker bar to expose the metal corner roll bar bracket that holds the XM antenna. Use a 13mm socket and remove the roll bar bracket, then remove the 10mm bolt that holds the antenna clamp, and squeeze the 3 tabs and push it through the hole. You will have to also disconnect the antenna cable so you can feed it through the hole and remove the antenna from the bracket. I removed the screws on the right-hand side of the speaker bar, and loosened the left have side to allow the right-hand side of the speaker bar to lower slightly to gain access to the XM antenna connector. Not 100% sure if you will need to do that, but I did. Reinstall the bracket and zip up the padding, and then you can reinstall the hard top. Once you get the antenna removed, you will need to also remove the trim on the right-hand side of the passenger area (the floor/threshold trim and the B pillar) to access the antenna wire. . Once you get all of the B pillar and floor/threshold trim off, just follow the XM antenna wire where it’s routed, and remove the clips and the tape holding the antenna wire clips and gather the wire to move it to the front area. I also removed the glove box, and the right-hand side dash trim, and fed the wire up behind the A pillar plastic trim to the area up by where the upper plastic roll bar cover piece goes. Once you get the wire re-routed, re-install all the floor/threshold and B pillar trim. I then used some gorilla tape and taped the XM antenna in the cavity located in the roll bar cover piece (see pictures). Reconnect the antenna wire, and re-install the roll bar trim piece and the sun visor and you’re all set. Let me know if you have any questions – I’d be more than glad to help.
I need to mention that in order to move your antenna, you will need to remove your hard top - or at least remove all the mounting bolts and prop/tilt the front section up about a foot or so to get to the antenna. I tilted mine and put a 12” piece of 2x8 under the front lip to hold it while I accessed the XM antenna. Once you get the hard top out of the way, unzip the right-hand portion of the roll bar pad located on the right side of the speaker bar to expose the metal corner roll bar bracket that holds the XM antenna. Use a 13mm socket and remove the roll bar bracket, then remove the 10mm bolt that holds the antenna clamp, and squeeze the 3 tabs and push it through the hole. You will have to also disconnect the antenna cable so you can feed it through the hole and remove the antenna from the bracket. I removed the screws on the right-hand side of the speaker bar, and loosened the left have side to allow the right-hand side of the speaker bar to lower slightly to gain access to the XM antenna connector. Not 100% sure if you will need to do that, but I did. Reinstall the bracket and zip up the padding, and then you can reinstall the hard top. Once you get the antenna removed, you will need to also remove the trim on the right-hand side of the passenger area (the floor/threshold trim and the B pillar) to access the antenna wire. . Once you get all of the B pillar and floor/threshold trim off, just follow the XM antenna wire where it’s routed, and remove the clips and the tape holding the antenna wire clips and gather the wire to move it to the front area. I also removed the glove box, and the right-hand side dash trim, and fed the wire up behind the A pillar plastic trim to the area up by where the upper plastic roll bar cover piece goes. Once you get the wire re-routed, re-install all the floor/threshold and B pillar trim. I then used some gorilla tape and taped the XM antenna in the cavity located in the roll bar cover piece (see pictures). Reconnect the antenna wire, and re-install the roll bar trim piece and the sun visor and you’re all set. Let me know if you have any questions – I’d be more than glad to help.
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