Telescoping mirrors - oem vs aftermarket

I replaced my OEM mirrors on my F250 with 3rd party towing mirrors and love them. As good as OEM but a lot less money. :)

I too started out towing with a pair of Cipa slip-on extended mirrors. Then order OEM Ford towing mirrors on my next truck and love them for the same reasons.

"Best to keep them retracted except only when towing."

I see no reason for not retracting them when not towing. As a standard practice, I always retract the mirrors once our TT is uncoupled from my truck.

I tried the clip-on Cipa mirrors on our old F150 and hated them. Replaced them with OEM towing mirrors and they were WAY better. The large glass area on OEM tow mirrors really helps. Our F250 has split mirrors so you can glance in the blind spot. I found that the tow mirrors extend beyond the clip-on ones.

One downside I did find though is that your mirrors can get tagged by another oncoming pickup with tow mirrors. Had this happen on a narrow street once. I also find that sometimes when making a left turn and there's an island at the intersection with a signpost, the mirror seems to come perilously close to a sign sometimes. Best to keep them retracted except only when towing.

You just about always get what you pay for and wouldn't bother with cheap aftermarket knockoffs.

I had aftermarket mirrors on my Tundra. Side by side comparison you couldn't see any difference and they functioned fine, for less than 1/2 the price. I would get them again.

I have read a lot about aftermarket mirrors being of poor quality and having issues with vibration but haven't experienced it personally.

They can come close to OEM. I went with aftermarket on my van. About 200,000 miles after putting them on, both mirror motors have seized. The OEMs seem to go forever. But.... I can buy 3 aftermarket mirrors for the price of one OEM. By now there are starting to look weathered anyways. Most likely I'll replace them with another aftermarket pair.

http://www.ttt-mirror.com/ has a few left, the company stopped making them.

i love my oem tow mirros but keep trying.

http://www.truckchamp.com/towing-mirrors