Towing mirrors

[lilredtdi]

Ok, surfing the web looking for towing mirrors. I am not going to use them often so temporary ones will suit me. The trailer I have is a tilt bed, aluminum snowmobile trailer. It is about 8' wide and 10' long. Admittedly, I SUCK at backing up any trailer and it is compounded by the stock mirrors not showing enough when the trailer pivots. Perhaps lowering the tailgate will help some (rolling eyes) Seriously, if you want a good laugh you should see me trying to back up the damn thing. I have been told to only use one hand at the bottom of the steering wheel but I still suck.

I have the swing lock mirrors so I need something compatible with them. Found this online and while it is not my ideal looks reasonably priced and should do the job.


http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/tow-n-see-towing-mirror-flat/53921

Input and suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[79jasper]

I would get the clip on type sold there. There's even a clip on with convex mirror.

 

[Blind Driver2]

That little mirror will be useless on the passenger side as it sits too far away, but will work good on the drivers side. Might be time to hit the local junkyards and survey potential mirrors.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

could always put the dodge tow mirrors on there......

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Dodge Towing Mirror Conversion

 

[79jasper]

could always put the dodge tow mirrors on there......

Ughhhh............. I think I just threw up a little.... :roflmao:

Or just step up to some big boy mirrors.

 

[The Warden]

Ughhhh............. I think I just threw up a little.... :roflmao:

They're ugly, but I like that the vent window still opens. Does it open all the way, and how much air do you get with the mirror assembly there? And, more importantly, how sturdy is the mounting point? Is there issue with the mirror vibrating?

I'm a fan of big mirrors and would love to go with a full-on West Coast mirror assembly, but at the same time, there's something to be said for mirrors that can fold in when needed. Hmm...

 

[79jasper]

The Dodge mirrors eliminate the vent window. I meant these http://m.campingworld.com/aHR0cDovL...waW5nL2l0ZW0vY2xpcC1vbi10b3ctbWlycm9yLzI1ODU1 look way more useful than that suction cup type he linked.
These are what I have on my 94. Work just fine when they're adjusted right. http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/778635/fullsize/mirrors.jpg
I hardly ever use mirrors when backing up. I lean over with my head out the window looking back, or look out through the rear window. Just depends on which truck I'm driving.

 

[The Warden]

The Dodge mirrors eliminate the vent window.

If I'm correctly looking at the write-up Eric linked to, it looks like, with the way he did it, the vent windows still open up...although I'm not sure if they open fully. I have seen other setups that eliminated the vent window altogether and would go out of my way to avoid that; I for one like my vent windows

These are what I have on my 94. Work just fine when they're adjusted right. http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/778635/fullsize/mirrors.jpg
I hardly ever use mirrors when backing up. I lean over with my head out the window looking back, or look out through the rear window. Just depends on which truck I'm driving.

I have those mirrors on my truck as factory equipment, and I don't really have any complaints about them except that they don't readily fold in unless I loosen the bottom bolt enough that they don't stay in one place. Something that folds in would be nice, although I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble. OTOH I also like the West Coast mirrors that the medium-duty trucks have, like this:

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You get GREAT visibility and zero vibration but they stick out further than the 7x10's and there's no way they're folding in...

Re: not using mirrors when backing up, I regularly drive vehicles that have no rearward visibility except for the side mirrors (and, sometimes, a back-up camera), so for me, it's a bad habit to NOT use them...heck, on some of the buses in my company's fleet, I can't even stick my head out the window to see behind me!

 

[79jasper]

In that link, he welded a plate over the wing window. I love the wing windows. Also I hate the dodge mirrors. All them sissy city slickers driving around with them flipped up all the time kinda ruined them. But that's IMO.
My brothers truck has those swing out type mirrors. I thought about seeing if he'll trade me lol. His have room to fold in, not a lot but at least some.
Yeah with the bigger trucks and buses, you do have better mirrors though. So it'd be easier to get used to them. Plus I think those mirrors have magnification don't they?
What happened was when I worked for the small 3 man construction company, my boss would get pissy if I adjusted the mirrors or even moved the seat(I'm short but I needed to fully reach the clutch being the zf-6) so I had to get used to no mirrors. Having the winch bed I couldn't see out the back window, same exact setup on my 94.
I like the super duty mirrors with the bottom convex or whatever it is.

 

[The Warden]

In that link, he welded a plate over the wing window. I love the wing windows. Also I hate the dodge mirrors. All them sissy city slickers driving around with them flipped up all the time kinda ruined them. But that's IMO.

If this link works, the welded plate only covers the forward-most 1/3 or so of the vent window, and given that that part folds in and not out, the window's still able to open at least partially:

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Re: the aesthetics, I agree with you, and I doubly think they look silly on an OBS Ford. But, I'm generally a function-over-form type

Yeah with the bigger trucks and buses, you do have better mirrors though. So it'd be easier to get used to them. Plus I think those mirrors have magnification don't they?
What happened was when I worked for the small 3 man construction company, my boss would get pissy if I adjusted the mirrors or even moved the seat(I'm short but I needed to fully reach the clutch being the zf-6) so I had to get used to no mirrors. Having the winch bed I couldn't see out the back window, same exact setup on my 94.
I like the super duty mirrors with the bottom convex or whatever it is.

Depends on the bus...two of our buses are F-550's, and the company that built the buses took the factory SuperDuty mirrors and extended them. The end result is that you can see around the bus, but the mirrors end up with three effective pivot points and they flop around like nobody's business When they're not flopping around, visibility's about the same as on an OBS 7x10 mirror. The Chebby C5500's mirrors are excellent; that's about the only good thing about that battleship...I wonder how those would look mounted to a Ford door?

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BTW, our stretch Town Cars don't have any mirror upgrades...visibility SUCKS on those cars!! Even with moving your head forward to try and change the viewing angle, you have a mile-wide blind spot on the starboard side ...you get used to it, though.

 

[79jasper]

:duh I must've read over it too fast. Or thought it was the same one I read before. I must just be losing it haha.
I'm sure those super duty mirrors would be okay if they hadn't been extended by that company. But again, they would probably interfere with the wing window. Unless they could be done like the Dodge mirror.
Those chevy type actually mount to the area in front of the doors don't they?

 

[jonathan]

I am surprised that no one said the obvious small trailers is hard to back up. I would get a bigger trailer plus it would be handy.

 

[lilredtdi]

Will those clipons work with the swing away mirrors?

 

[lilredtdi]

This is compounded when you SUCK at backing up a trailer. When I was in the ARMY I was a mechanic and we had to get certified driving everything we worked on. We had some AM General semis that fell into that category and they were easy peasy to back up compared to any small trailer.