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Posted by Eric B. [75.42.234.151] on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 23:40:44 :
In Reply to: Re: Rare...Yes posted by Ron in Indiana [71.97.200.191] on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 23:28:09 :
Well there were two antenna designs, the early and the late. I reproduced the later style as they had added a spring to allow the antenna to flop over if the truck went under something low. The early design was just a plain piece of rod, and they almost always snapped off.
The later ones had chrome plated brass parts press fit into the stainless spring. Over time the brass wore a little, and the whole spring fell off with the whip.
Mine are all stainless in that area, and are press fit a little tighter to prevent that "wiggle" that allowed the originals to fall apart.
As for low garages. In 1958? Most of these trucks most likely lived outside! Trees, and low overhangs may have been a danger, but I bet most of our trucks saw very little of the inside of garages. Heck I tried to pull a 1957 W100, 1958 W100 and 1958 W200 into a couple of standard built between 1954 and 1980 garages, and they cleared with NO room to spare. They all scraped the rubber seal at the top, no way even the radio stub would have cleared, let alone the antenna.
The guys that bought my reproduction antenna mostly seem to take them off when storing the truck for that very reason. It is a neat period accessory, though!
Eric