QUESTION ABOUT ANTENNA

It stiffens the antenna without adding weight. That is why if you really are speeding it does not bounce off your windshield like the old ones used to do, like my fathers old 79 Club cab always did when it was windy of driving fast.

on my truck and the black dots on the top of the

Helps to shade the eyes from the sun.

Anything else?

Actually the antenna was designed that way to cut down on wind noise. without that twist you may have gotten wind noise. If you remember way back there was even a commercial on TV that Chrysler had stating how much trouble they go thru to keep noises down, part of that ad was discussing the antenna. Not sure about the dot thing cause I am not a truck dealer. And without telling me the model and year I cant look it up to give you an answer. But it could be part of a deicer or just for protection from the sun.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

my assumption on the spiral was that it had somthing to do with your remote to unlock the doors. Now the dots I just figured they were an instant deicer. See I read a message in the chevy group and someone had replied but I didnt think that it was true.

Once again, model and year?

The black dots or Dot Matrix are sun protection. The cost of the vinyl ply with the tinting on the edge has been slowly phased out as a cost saving measure. Almost all new vehicles sold have the winshield edges painted to hide the sealer. With less trim and edges even exposed like the Jeep liberty it is a cheap way to cover things up. Now some Makers have automatic de-icers but this is an expensive option. And damn hard to make. Also if there are only a couple of dots they may be robot locating points for installation. Rick

Umm, why not ask this question in a chevy room

I asked this question in the chevy room but had a smartass answer the question and I didnt think he knew what he was talking about

So, You bothered Chrysler people? I know we are smarter then Chevy people. We have to answer there questions for them ;)

The spiral is actually cut into the stainless shaft that the antenna is made from. The end ball and the mounting screw fitting with locktite are then pressed on. Then it goes through a wash and pretreat and then through a powder coat booth. Ford and Chrysler were the first to use the spiral cut to both reduce wind noise and to reduce antenna harmonic motion due to wind drag. GM followed VERY shortly, The only real drawback is the spiral cut antennas are not as strong as the standard shaft units and they make lousy window breakers ( take a course on EMS vehicle extrication for that neat trick ) because of it.

Oh and if you own a Ford or Chrysler with a fixed antenna it was probably made in Amsterdam NY by Ward Products. The chrome or black spanner nut securing it was produced by Manth/Brownell near Kirkville NY. It was also painted by either WW Custom Clad or Sumax powder coaters. And at least 30,000 of them were scrapped after WW had a fire that damaged the coating after they were processed.