Dodge towing mirrors

The easiest and most trouble free way to do it is to simply buy the aftermarket mirrors and install them. It's a bolt-on, plug-in operation. No splicing, no dicing. :) The pair for my '01 cost less than $200, and the operating switch I got off Ebay for $25. Mine are the non-heated ones.

Just make sure you have a supply of the mounting plugs for the door panels, makes life easier. I also got those off Ebay. :)

proxim2020 wrote:
The (98-01) 2G mirrors are a direct swap. 3G mirrors (01-08) will work as well. The mirrors use the same connector, but there's an bracket that has to be installed between the mirror and the door. If you don't the mirrors will vibrate. 4g mirrors (09-current) won't fit at all. The mounting points and the base are a completely different size. There's only one size mirror between 1500, 2500, and 3500.

The 2500 and 3500's 2nd gen goes thru 2002. The 3rd gen arm that mounts to the door will NOT fit the 2nd gen trucks.

That is why the ONLY way to get "MOPAR" powered/heated mirrors for a 2nd gen truck is to have the 2nd gen base and 3rd gen mirrors. You will have to splice the wires since the connectors are different.

The (98-01) 2G mirrors are a direct swap. 3G mirrors (01-08) will work as well. The mirrors use the same connector, but there's an bracket that has to be installed between the mirror and the door. If you don't the mirrors will vibrate. 4g mirrors (09-current) won't fit at all. The mounting points and the base are a completely different size. There's only one size mirror between 1500, 2500, and 3500.

braindead0 wrote:
If you want to be able to plug and play, make sure the options on the mirror match what you have. I don't know if this is the case for 2001 but for later model (2015 at least) all of the tow mirror options I could find included puddle lights (which I don't have, just heated and power). Turns out the plug is different, so in order to install them you'll have to do some wiring adjustment.

At some point, Ram went with larger tow mirrors on the 2500 and larger trucks. I think the 1500's continue to use smaller ones, so be careful when looking for replacement upgrades.

Mine are manual to flip up to tow position though they are power to fold in and back out...power flip up would be awesome!

If you want to be able to plug and play, make sure the options on the mirror match what you have. I don't know if this is the case for 2001 but for later model (2015 at least) all of the tow mirror options I could find included puddle lights (which I don't have, just heated and power). Turns out the plug is different, so in order to install them you'll have to do some wiring adjustment.

donn0128 wrote:
See no reason to domit. I think the Ram towing mirrors are fine. Take all of 2 minutes to flip and adjust.
But if you feel you need powered mirrors, do a web search. There are several places that sell them for from 300 to 500 dollars a pair. Connecting might take some time to wire them, but nothing a compentend person could not do.

I take it the OP's current mirrors are not powered at all, even for mirror adjustment. My 2004 Ram has the mirrors that you manually flip up for towing. But the adjustments for the position of the mirrors on both sides, is electric.

Therefore, retrofitting Ram mirrors that do have electric mirror adjustments might be another option for the OP.

Look into 1aAuto.com

My '99 2500 SLT had power towing mirrors from the factory.

I put the power towing mirrors on my 2001 Dodge 3500, so it's no different than your 2500. I bought after market mirrors which worked great, and the mirror adjustment controller I got off Ebay. Installation is straightforward and easy. Like was mentioned, the wiring is already there, you just need to plug everything in.

I didn't go with the heated mirrors since that does add complexity since the controls for the heat are in the dash controls and I didn't want to mess with that. I decided I didn't need those.

It is very nice to be able to readjust the mirrors easily when you go from towing to non-towing positions. The manual mirrors don't adjust very easily and I broke one mirror while trying to adjust them. I also sold the manual towing mirrors pretty quickly on Craigslist so I recouped some of my cost.