Side mirror / Tow mirror mash up....

[thrashingcows]

Been wanting to change the standard 1st gen chrome power side mirrors on my doors for a while. Didn't want to move the stainless tow mirrors and arms over from my original 84 doors...didn't wan the extra holes in my doors.

So I had been trying to come up with something that would give me better mirrors for towing, and not mess up the current mounting on the door. Well I finally came up with something.

First here is a pic of the OEM side mirror and the new style I wanted to put on.



And the little arms used to hold these onto the stainless tow mirror brackets...



What I found was that the OD of the tow mirror 90* bends, and the OD of the shaft, the chrome mirror uses were the same...Bingo! That was the info I needed.

I tried to come up with something that would be a simple drop in, but couldn't find anything. So went to plan "B"....lets make what we want.

First I measured the depth of the threaded portion on the 90...then gave an extra 1/4" and marked that out....that will be where my cut will go.



Then a bit of cutting on the chop saw...

[thrashingcows]

Then I cut some 3/4 round bar...BTW the OD measurement was .75"... I made the top portion of the arm 7" long...had to cut two different size pieces since the 90's were different lengths. And then made the lower section 8".



Then off to do some welding...



And after some quality time with the flapper disc on the 4.5" angel grinder...Love those flapper discs!!



Then I decided I would smooth out the surface a bit....mixed up some old body filler and gooped it on.

[thrashingcows]

Took some pics of the primer and paint...but pics didn't come through on the camera. Anyway once I smoothed the body filler I gave it a couple coats of sandable primer, then two more coats of satin black paint.

Now the fun part....

You will need to remove your interior door panels so you can unplug the power mirror connection. Once that is done remove the lower screw on the side cover and move the cover up out of the way.



I first thought I could leave the bracket in place, but the wiring for the mirror is bolted to the frame on the back side...bolt is 8mm. The main bracket, and mirror are held on with three 10mm nuts.



The bolts for the clamp are 8mm as well.

Once the assembly is off the truck take the time to clean the paint under neath...then give it a wax as well. But before you start assembling the new unit you need to get a couple pieces off.

Remove the wiring pins from the plug. Use a small jewelers screw driver to pop out the keeper..mine was yellow...then use the same small screwdriver to lift the tabs on each of the pins and pull them out.



Once the wiring is free remove the plastic shaft liner, and the main chrome body cover.

Then slide the plastic sleeve over the bottom of the arm, and makes sure you bracket is on good shape. There is a small ridge at the bottom of the area the arm sits in....the new arm will hit that and not slide down.



Then install on the truck....



I left the two 8mm bolts just snugged up...so I could adjust the mirror arm easier.

[thrashingcows]

Then I cleaned up the stainless bolts, washers and nylon spacers from the tow mirrors. Gave the mirrors a quick cleaning....and installed. Don't forget the never seize on the bolts.

And all done....











I'm quite happy with the way it turned out, I have much better visibility now.

[PToombs]

I made extensions for a set of mirrors, welded a bolt in one end of a pipe and a nut in the other. Screwed the extension into the factory Ell, then bolted the mirror back on the end. It worked good, a little silver paint and it barely showed. Those are good, you went up and out.
Seeing is a good thing!

[thrashingcows]

I made extensions for a set of mirrors, welded a bolt in one end of a pipe and a nut in the other. Screwed the extension into the factory Ell, then bolted the mirror back on the end. It worked good, a little silver paint and it barely showed. Those are good, you went up and out.
Seeing is a good thing!

Do you have a pic or two..always interested in other ways of doing things....

[matthewh]

I don't have any pics, but I had a 77 W200 that had a alum maint box and you couldn't hardly see past it when towing a trailer. What I did was source some 3/4" rod that had a 3/8" hole in the center, cut them about 7" long, and used a piece of all thread and couple of nuts. Loc-tire the all thread in, slid the rod over and reused the factory nylon washers and nuts. But that only got you out, not up and out.

Either way, looks nice

[thrashingcows]

I don't have any pics, but I had a 77 W200 that had a alum maint box and you couldn't hardly see past it when towing a trailer. What I did was source some 3/4" rod that had a 3/8" hole in the center, cut them about 7" long, and used a piece of all thread and couple of nuts. Loc-tire the all thread in, slid the rod over and reused the factory nylon washers and nuts. But that only got you out, not up and out.

Either way, looks nice

Ahh makes sense now. I saw a pic or two on an RV forum where someone did a mirror extension like that.

[PToombs]

I made extensions for a set of mirrors, welded a bolt in one end of a pipe and a nut in the other. Screwed the extension into the factory Ell, then bolted the mirror back on the end. It worked good, a little silver paint and it barely showed. Those are good, you went up and out.
Seeing is a good thing!

Do you have a pic or two always interested in other ways of doing things....

Nope, I did it long before the internet was invented and everybody takes pics to post! I don't even remember what truck I did it on. I was all proud though because I thought that up all by my lonesome.

[thrashingcows]

Got on the Hwy today to and from work...mirrors don't rattle or shake at all. Actually I think they are more stable then the old OEM power units.

[PToombs]

That's definitely a plus!