Stubby vs. Pilot ANT-029B Antenna (IMO)

[j0hn]

Stubby: $25.00 shipped from Amazon
Pilot ANT-029B: $14.43 after tax from PepBoy's (w/ Military Discount)

So I bought the Stubby from Amazon; sold by CravenSpeed.. and I would give it about a 1.5/5.0

The only reason it's getting that grade is because of the looks and packaging. That's about it for me. It looks nice and the neat little packaging was cool. It came with a little "Inspection" card.

However,.. it sucked. The installation was terrible. I starting screwing it in and it got stuck with about a 1/4-inch of thread to go. I used a rag/wrench combo to tighten it so that I wouldn't damage it's cheap little coating, and that failed. It got damaged anyway. And finally, once it was in, the reception was god awful. When it came time to remove it, the antenna came off of the threading and left the little adapter inside. I contacted Amazon and told them how I felt about it and they kindly agreed to refund me the full amount I paid for it.



Then today, I went to PepBoy's and grabbed this cheap antenna: Pilot ANT-029B, and would give it about a 4.0/5.0



The look is great. Much better than the Stubby even though the Stubby is good looking. This is slightly taller which is a little better looking (IMO). It came with a few adapters since it is universal, and the installation was infinitely better. The reason for the grade is the reception. It is good, but not great. But it really does enough that it isn't overly annoying. So if this is something you are looking to do, I'd say go with the Pilot ANT-029B. It's cheaper AND better (again, IMO).



And can anyone tell me why the pictures show up sideways?

 

[moparrtguy]

I hear you, I just sent back a Stubby for a refund too. I didn't have the install problem you had, but reception defiantly was poor.

 

[Cardsin2005]

I just installed the Stubby last weekend and everything went well. At first it did seem like the threads were bottoming out and it was not screwing down all the way. I backed it off a little and re tightened it back down a few times. Kind of the same motion you use when using a tap and dye. But it did fully seat down. I was also worried about harming the finish on the Stubby using a tool of some kind, but after a little messing with it I got it tightened full by hand. The reception seems fine to me, but I also don't listen to terrestrial radio much any more. I could see if you were not very close to the radio stations you would not get very good reception. I am sure the range is much less then it used to be.

 

[Sir John]

I couldn’t figure out (other than cost) why Ram put stupid silver antennas on our trucks. It is even worse when you have a black Ram like me. It stuck out like a sore thumb….one of the 1st things to go. I went to AutoZone and got a black universal one. It was longer than yours (no pun intended), as the very short ones just don’t look right to me. For some reason I picture trucks with big giant CB radio whip antennas…lol…like my old man had. Anyway, after about 4 months my reception tanked. I unscrewed the universal antenna off only to find rust on the threads and connection. I decided to spray paint the OEM antenna black and put that back on. I actually think it looks a lot better and even more important….i could actually listen to the radio static free again.

Btw….i live in the country and commute to the city.

 

[j0hn]

I couldn’t figure out (other than cost) why Ram put stupid silver antennas on our trucks. It is even worse when you have a black Ram like me. It stuck out like a sore thumb….one of the 1st things to go. I went to AutoZone and got a black universal one. It was longer than yours (no pun intended), as the very short ones just don’t look right to me. For some reason I picture trucks with big giant CB radio whip antennas…lol…like my old man had. Anyway, after about 4 months my reception tanked. I unscrewed the universal antenna off only to find rust on the threads and connection. I decided to spray paint the OEM antenna black and put that back on. I actually think it looks a lot better and even more important….i could actually listen to the radio static free again.

Btw….i live in the country and commute to the city.

I am pretty much going to get to that point should this antenna fail. I will just throw the stock back on after I paint it black. The only station I listen to on the radio when not using Pandora or my trusty iPod, is 101.9 WFAN for you NY/NJ people. I'm a sports guy and enjoy sports talk radio and listening to games on the radio. More informative than in person or on TV.

 

[kris319]

I have a stubby and live in Miami. With the stubby I only get the major radio stations and sometimes they have a bit of static. I almost always listen to my ipod so it doesn't really bother me.

 

[RAMeister]

Stubby: $25.00 shipped from Amazon
Pilot ANT-029B: $14.43 after tax from PepBoy's (w/ Military Discount)

So I bought the Stubby from Amazon; sold by CravenSpeed.. and I would give it about a 1.5/5.0

The only reason it's getting that grade is because of the looks and packaging. That's about it for me. It looks nice and the neat little packaging was cool. It came with a little "Inspection" card.

However,.. it sucked. The installation was terrible. I starting screwing it in and it got stuck with about a 1/4-inch of thread to go. I used a rag/wrench combo to tighten it so that I wouldn't damage it's cheap little coating, and that failed. It got damaged anyway. And finally, once it was in, the reception was god awful. When it came time to remove it, the antenna came off of the threading and left the little adapter inside. I contacted Amazon and told them how I felt about it and they kindly agreed to refund me the full amount I paid for it.

View attachment 37671

Then today, I went to PepBoy's and grabbed this cheap antenna: Pilot ANT-029B, and would give it about a 4.0/5.0

View attachment 37673

The look is great. Much better than the Stubby even though the Stubby is good looking. This is slightly taller which is a little better looking (IMO). It came with a few adapters since it is universal, and the installation was infinitely better. The reason for the grade is the reception. It is good, but not great. But it really does enough that it isn't overly annoying. So if this is something you are looking to do, I'd say go with the Pilot ANT-029B. It's cheaper AND better (again, IMO).

View attachment 37672

And can anyone tell me why the pictures show up sideways?

Thanks for the info, been considering this change for some time, perhaps the Pilot is the one to switch to. Thanks again. Amazon order placed.

 

[DavidRam]

I have the stubby too. I mostly listen to xm/sirius so the ****** reception does not bother me at all.