2024 Ranger Raptor Height - does it include antenna?

[Mikknj]

I read that the overall height is 75.9. Does that include the goofy roof antenna?

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North America/US/product/2024/ranger/All-New 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Technical Specifications.pdf

I would like to mention to those that don't like the goofy antenna. The length of the antenna will be directly proportional to the signal received by the radio. The old fender mount ( which was a much better design ) was much more efficient than that little stubby. The FM Frequency band around 95Mhz requires an antenna whip of about 2.5 meters to be fully resonant. The stubby coil that's stock, takes that wire length and coils it up into a base load, which barely functions at all with a 6 inch stub. My point is, shortening the antenna even more by a stubby 1/2 that length will severely impact FM radio reception. If that's not a concern then the little tiny shark fin stubby swap is a great visual improvement. I do whish the fender antenna's would come back. By the way, AM reception at 1.1 Mhz will also be affected. But FM will be affected more dramatically. Back to the original thread. Can anyone confirm the Raptor height includes the stubby antenna?

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[Wags]

I relaced my antenna on my Taco with a stuby and it didn't make a huge difference unless I get out to the middle of no where.

 

[goalieThreeOne]

I would like to mention to those that don't like the goofy antenna. The length of the antenna will be directly proportional to the signal received by the radio. The old fender mount ( which was a much better design ) was much more efficient than that little stubby. The FM Frequency band around 95Mhz requires an antenna whip of about 2.5 meters to be fully resonant. The stubby coil that's stock, takes that wire length and coils it up into a base load, which barely functions at all with a 6 inch stub. My point is, shortening the antenna even more by a stubby 1/2 that length will severely impact FM radio reception. If that's not a concern then the little tiny shark fin stubby swap is a great visual improvement. I do whish the fender antenna's would come back. By the way, AM reception at 1.1 Mhz will also be affected. But FM will be affected more dramatically. Back to the original thread. Can anyone confirm the Raptor height includes the stubby antenna?

Just about everyone that did the stubby swap on the 5G reported no issue with reception. FM antenna design is very forgiving. Car antennae are already compromised to start with since they’re a fraction of the signals wavelength (about 1/4). Coiling it up to get rid of the whip antenna has been going on for years. I’m actually surprised the Ranger had one to start with given that Ford doesn’t put them on any models to start with. Point is, you’re not gonna notice any difference with your 1,000kW local FM radio reception.

 

[Mikknj]

Just about everyone that did the stubby swap on the 5G reported no issue with reception. FM antenna design is very forgiving. Car antennae are already compromised to start with since they’re a fraction of the signals wavelength (about 1/4). Coiling it up to get rid of the whip antenna has been going on for years. I’m actually surprised the Ranger had one to start with given that Ford doesn’t put them on any models to start with. Point is, you’re not gonna notice any difference with your 1,000kW local FM radio reception.

Yes, it's a poor starting point so making it even more of a coil is only making it fractionally worse. I do see a big difference with the traditional car antenna compared to the stubby... we are on the fringe of some of the better FM stations... Time to start streaming!

 

[goalieThreeOne]

Yes, it's a poor starting point so making it even more of a coil is only making it fractionally worse. I do see a big difference with the traditional car antenna compared to the stubby... we are on the fringe of some of the better FM stations... Time to start streaming!

If anything the stubby is better than what every other Ford comes with which is a wound coil potted into the shark fin. I don’t want to speak for everybody, but in 2023 who is still listening primarily to terrestrial radio anyway? The sound quality is abysmal, and you only get to hear music that the record labels and major broadcasting giants like Clear Channel, iHeart, and Sinclair want you to hear along with ads for things you don’t need to be spending money on. The $11 a month I pay for Spotify is the best money I spend all year. Podcasts are free and more interesting, in depth, and niche than anything on the radio. And Sirius has you covered for no signal areas (if you can get past the fact that it’s impossible to cancel, seriously never activate it even if it comes free with your car. You’ll never stop getting junk mail from them). The only reason I’m even okay with FM is if there happens to be a local emergency.

 

[Mikknj]

If anything the stubby is better than what every other Ford comes with which is a wound coil potted into the shark fin. I don’t want to speak for everybody, but in 2023 who is still listening primarily to terrestrial radio anyway? The sound quality is abysmal, and you only get to hear music that the record labels and major broadcasting giants like Clear Channel, iHeart, and Sinclair want you to hear along with ads for things you don’t need to be spending money on. The $11 a month I pay for Spotify is the best money I spend all year. Podcasts are free and more interesting, in depth, and niche than anything on the radio. And Sirius has you covered for no signal areas (if you can get past the fact that it’s impossible to cancel, seriously never activate it even if it comes free with your car. You’ll never stop getting junk mail from them). The only reason I’m even okay with FM is if there happens to be a local emergency.

Sounds like it's time to get rid of AM and FM in the car and retire the old tech.

 

[Gator21]

I’ll be the outlier because I like FM radio. I’m not a huge music person, so I’m just fine with whatever hits they’re playing on there for a 15-20 min drive. If I’m driving for a couple hours then I’ll put on podcasts or audiobooks though.

 

[goalieThreeOne]

I’ll be the outlier because I like FM radio. I’m not a huge music person, so I’m just fine with whatever hits they’re playing on there for a 15-20 min drive. If I’m driving for a couple hours then I’ll put on podcasts or audiobooks though.

I think there’s a lot of folks in your same shoes.

For me, I hop in the car and it connects to wireless CarPlay while my phones in my pocket. Picks up right where I left off on my playlist. Instant easy tunes.

 

[jedadiah]

I've had several Volkswagen's over the years and they all used the rear window defrost wiring as the radio antenna. They still had the shark fin for GPS, but no other antenna. I guess Ford doesn't do this on its trucks because I don't think the XL has a rear window defroster. The antenna on my 5G is only a problem when I fit my Yakima rack, but it'd be nice if it wasn't there at all.

 

[Deleted member 6764]

Just about everyone that did the stubby swap on the 5G reported no issue with reception. FM antenna design is very forgiving. Car antennae are already compromised to start with since they’re a fraction of the signals wavelength (about 1/4). Coiling it up to get rid of the whip antenna has been going on for years. I’m actually surprised the Ranger had one to start with given that Ford doesn’t put them on any models to start with. Point is, you’re not gonna notice any difference with your 1,000kW local FM radio reception.

FM design isn't that forgiving really, but they transmit a pretty powerful signal and the receivers are much better. Compared to AM, FM is indeed much more forgiving. The 1/4 wavelength is the ideal of the bad because of how electromagnetic waves propagate. Less than that is much less resistant to multi-path, interference, weak signal to noise, etc. Better transmitters at the station and receivers in the headunit have allowed for worse antenna designs. Coiling an antenna is minimally effective as at those frequencies the physical/dimensional length is more important than the electrical length. But better stuff all around allows for those compromises.

 

[Deleted member 6764]

I've had several Volkswagen's over the years and they all used the rear window defrost wiring as the radio antenna. They still had the shark fin for GPS, but no other antenna. I guess Ford doesn't do this on its trucks because I don't think the XL has a rear window defroster. The antenna on my 5G is only a problem when I fit my Yakima rack, but it'd be nice if it wasn't there at all.

GPS is 1.5742 GHz, so a small ceramic patch antenna or helical coil antenna is all you need for good reception. Line of sight to the sky is more important at that frequency, especially to get the most satellites at once.

Often times they don't use the defroster for the antenna, but the traces antennas on the glass are near or look like defrosters. You could use it for both, but you need filter circuits and they have to decide on that trade-off.

 

[Mikknj]

I’ll be the outlier because I like FM radio. I’m not a huge music person, so I’m just fine with whatever hits they’re playing on there for a 15-20 min drive. If I’m driving for a couple hours then I’ll put on podcasts or audiobooks though.

I really like old FM because when I driving through a region I like to listen to the local regional goings on. Some of the local radio stations were ( were ) quite amusing. But things are changing and even those local stations play a syndicated format piped over the internet. I want my next Ranger to be a time machine - take me back to 1980

 

[uthunter]

I guess I'm old school.

We have four locally-owned radio stations (Classic Rock, 90's Country, Soft Rock, Today's Hits) that are ALL better than anything on Sirius. I took one of the $5/mo deals on my truck for Sirius and I still feel I got screwed.

There's not a single good music station on Sirius. Total garbage.

I've never streamed music, but I'll take FM radio over satellite radio any day of the week.

 

[Crapblaster]

I guess I'm a caveman. Most of the time I don't listen to anything.

 

[nikhsub1]

So I still feel like there is no definitive answer on the height here... I will be moving to a condo and the garage is only 6 feet 5 inches or so. If the height of the RR is NOT at the antenna (which would seem very weird to me) then the truck likely won't fit. Would anyone be willing to lay a 2x4 or something across the roof and take a proper measurement? Would be super helpful!

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