Dang! I wish I had read this before I replaced my antenna this morning. I ended up taking the flare partway off and breaking all of those plastic grommets to get the wheel liner off. Fortunately, I bought a handful of replacement grommets when I bought the replacement antenna. Now my only problem is running the new antenna wire to the radio. My wire doesn't follow the same path as indicated in the Taco Whip Mod write-up.

2001 Silver 4Runner, Nokians, Thule rack
2003 Red Tacoma Extended Cab, V6, 5-spd