Moving the XM antenna to Mopar snorkel

[CallMeJoe]

I've been unsatisfied with my sketchy xm dropouts since I got my Gladiator and determined to fix the problem with a better antenna. After much research, rumination and addition of the Mopar snorkel, I decided to just move the stock xm antenna off the sports bar and see what happened.
I won't post the removal process as that's well established elsewhere and mostly involves removing 800 various fasteners and plastic. Oddly enough, the antenna plug terminates into a plug under the driver's side kick panel. Weird...

Here's the stock xm antenna mounted to the snorkel. Remove the front screen, drill a hole and file it square. Easy.

Here's where the antenna wire terminates behind the kick panel. That's the driver's door electrical disconnect at the top of the photo

I ran the stock antenna cable through the firewall plug by the master cylinder and over the engine bay in front of the cowl. Here, it's secured by clamps holding my aux switch panel wiring

I ran the wire out between the hood and cowl by the snorkel as shown

Here the antenna wire enters the snorkel through an 8mm hole I drilled for the purpose

The antenna wire has a disconnect about 6 inches from the antenna. A bit of putzing with a small flat top screwdriver will allow easy removal of both ends of the plastic fakra connector. (Allows passing the antenna wire through a smaller hole into the snorkel. If you want to leave the connecter on, you'll need to drill a much bigger hole in the snorkel). I pulled the wire up to the antenna, plugged it together and secured it with heat-shrink tubing. Easy...

Here's the inside view of the snorkel without the bird catcher attached

It's not hard to do and requires NO ADDITIONAL parts other than a stubby piece of heat shrink.
Testing, Testing....One, Two...
The results are immediate and enlightening. I no longer get xm dropouts every time I pass through the shade of a tree, phone pole, building etc. I can now get xm in my shady driveway. Couldn't before. Signal is no longer bothered by my Yakima roof rack.
I know, I know....the roof doesn't impede xm signal. You just keep believing that......

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[ACAD_Cowboy]

I like the final position, very discrete. If anything, drilling a chunky hole for the plug would also serve as a drain for accumulated moisture in the snorkel. I would recommend a rubber grommet though where ever the wire passes through a hole to avoid chaff problems.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Yeah...I'll pick up a grommet for it. I've got a few but they are all too big. I considered just silicone'ing it in, but I want to be able to just pop the wire out if I need to...

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

It looks good though, a very how oem solutions should be. I could only imagine the factory jeep solution; some double sided tape and a poorly drawn diagram showing the wrong vehicle.

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