Aftermarket mirrors

[gopherslayer]

For those that have installed these, are the aftermarket tow mirrors worth the money quality wise? I am not talking about the slip on mirrors. I am referring to the extendable large towing mirrors. Pricing seems to be all over the map, from $125 to $450 for power, heated, turn signal mirrors.

[gopherslayer]

210 miles this weekend and no vibrations to speak of. Mirrors worked great, especially for backing into the narrow site we had. Was nice to see more than the corner of the TT.

[gopherslayer]

Mounted them up tonight. Took about 1.5 hours from start to finish. Foam gasket sticks out a bit and the tops don't lay as flat as I would like but it doesn't appear I will have a problem. Time will tell.

I will update after the weekend.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

No clip on mirror will give you the view that a tow mirror will.

folded down for driving around town

or tipedp up for towing.


I have to say Ram has the best tow mirrors out there and yes I have seen both Ford and the Twins tow mirrors with a trailer on the back.

Don

[gopherslayer]

My mirrors came from Amazon. 10 yr warranty for $170. Heated, power, directional. Now to install them tomorrow night. Burning alot of midnight oil to leave Friday when the daughter is done with school.

[TurnThePage]

BigToe wrote:

gopherslayer wrote:
It seems with the slip ons that you don't get much in terms of field of view. Very narrow viewing area. Is this the case?

Being narrow isn't the issue... it's having a tow mirror that is taller that is the issue.

A taller mirror offers better simultaneous analysis of the lane next to you both up close as well as further back, so you can see what is coming, at the same time as seeing what is immediately next to you.

Also, a taller mirror offers both curb check and tree limb check simultaneously when backing, without moving the mirror up and down.

The clip on mirrors are plenty wide enough... they are not tall enough. All the semi's and busses and Class A motorhomes use T A L L L mirrors. The biggest improvement to the GM OEM tow mirrors ten years ago was to make them taller.

I modified my old CIPA slip-on mirrors with convex mirrors, effectively doing just that. Not as large, but the info (view) was there.

[BigToe]

gopherslayer wrote:
It seems with the slip ons that you don't get much in terms of field of view. Very narrow viewing area. Is this the case?

Being narrow isn't the issue... it's having a tow mirror that is taller that is the issue.

A taller mirror offers better simultaneous analysis of the lane next to you both up close as well as further back, so you can see what is coming, at the same time as seeing what is immediately next to you.

Also, a taller mirror offers both curb check and tree limb check simultaneously when backing, without moving the mirror up and down.

The clip on mirrors are plenty wide enough... they are not tall enough. All the semi's and busses and Class A motorhomes use T A L L L mirrors. The biggest improvement to the GM OEM tow mirrors ten years ago was to make them taller.

[allen8106]

Try Rock Auto on the net. I looked into OEM style replacements from my 2013 GMC and they ranged anywhere from about $95 to $280 depending on if the were original OEM or after market.

[Community Alumni]

I never claimed that my aftermarket mirror was better than the OEM mirror. I said that my aftermarket mirror functioned just as well as the OEM towing mirror. It goes up, down, left, right, and heats just like the OEM towing mirror. I said that the towing mirror I have now gives more visibility than my stock mirror since it is larger. I was speaking to the OPs original question of clip ons vs aftermarket mirrors.

On another note, after years of being in service I'm completely satified with the mirror's quality and operation. I guess I just got some well made junk.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

No they are not all made in China or Mexico, the OEM mirrors are built in Canada and sorry but the junk you are buying for $150 a pair is no where near the OEM quality not even close. Where did you buy power/heated mirrors for a $150 that were better then the OE mirrors?

Don

[Community Alumni]

I bought a set of heated and powered aftermarket mirrors for my 08' Ram for $150 for the pair. It functions just as well as the factory version. The towing mirror is larger than the stock mirror so I have better visibility even when they're in the non towing position.

[Cloughfam]

I bought a set that clip onto the housing for my 2008. They were designed for that style of mirror and clip on very tight and don't vibrate. Memory serves they cost less than $40 for the set. Work well.

[gopherslayer]

BigToe wrote:
I have a 2005 Suburban, and I would one day like to get the CIPA Magna Extendable Full Replacement mirrors, with power adjustable glass and heat. These mirrors match the more rounded design lines of the 2000-2006 GMT800 full size Truck & SUV body style (Part Number 70700). Post edited to include part number.

However, my current OEM mirrors have so many more features in addition to heat and power adjusting glass, including power folding mirror body, reverse tilt curb view, auto electrochromic dimming at night (yes, the outside mirrors), built in turn signals, puddle lamps, and memory adjustment settings for 2 drivers. I've been having a hard time giving up all those features, which is why I continue to use the CIPA clamp ons instead.

It seems with the slip ons that you don't get much in terms of field of view. Very narrow viewing area. Is this the case?

[gopherslayer]

Aren't they all Chinese or Mexican mfg?

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

As long as you don't buy the cheap Chinese garbage that some internet auto stores are selling! I bought a set installed them then pulled them right back off and bought new mirrors from the dealer. Absolute junk!

The issue was the mirror was not glass but plastic and when you adjusted them the image was distorted. You could get a clean image if you very quickly pushed the mirror adjustment button the opposite direction to flatten the mirror back out. But for me not thank you.

Don