I just replaced my antenna with one from BD about two weeks ago.   It seemed to
work reasonably well for low cost item made in an asian country for a european
vehicle.   The only hassle I had was I had to bear down on the nut to compress
the rubber gasket to allow the nut to grab the threads.   After that the nut
secured the antenna to my satisfaction and it is straight and stable.
 My $0.02

John McLean   87 Vanagon  GL

>
>  If there is one out there that simply works I think I am going to
> >return this to B.D. It only tightens up on a flat piece of metal why so
> >complicated ?
> >Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one out there with this problem,
> >I thought I must be simple or something to not figure it out.
> >>>Brian I had the same problem with the antenna replacement from the Bus
> >>Depot.
> >>  I had to ground down the barb and make the clearance area between the
> >>barb
> >>and the body of antenna base wider/bigger so that it would let the antenna
> >>itself slip further up onto the body of the van.  I  took quite a bit off
> >>if
> >>I remember, I think I used a hack saw and then cleaned it up with a hand