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Tow Mirror Issue

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Old Aug 1, 2008 | 07:10 AM
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Hunter11's Avatar
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From: Austin, Texas
Tow Mirror Issue

I came out yesterday after work and someone had pulled my drivers side tow mirror all the way forward on my truck. I pulled it back into place but it did not lock in like it did before. I know before I could pull it back against the truck if I needed to but it would kind of lock into place when I moved it back to the regular position. Is this something I can fix or do I have to replace the mirror? It seems to stay in place aty 70 mph but I worry it may get loose enough to move backwards in the towing position if enough wind hits it.
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Old Aug 1, 2008 | 08:39 AM
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From: Sand Gap, KY.
Originally Posted by Hunter11
I came out yesterday after work and someone had pulled my drivers side tow mirror all the way forward on my truck.
Gotta love it when someone else abuses your personal property.

Out of curiosity, did you by any chance fold the mirror towards the back of the truck to see if it might help ?

Greg
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Old Aug 1, 2008 | 08:47 AM
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Greg, yes I did and that did not help. I don't know if it broke something inside or if it is something I can fix. It does not "lock" into place like it use to or the passenger side does.
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Old Aug 1, 2008 | 08:54 AM
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From: Sand Gap, KY.
Sounds like a detent or broken spring most likely........I'm not very familiar with the internals on these mirrors.

Greg
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Old Aug 2, 2008 | 08:16 AM
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From: High River, Alberta, Canada
I've heard Ebay is the cheapest place to get replacement mirrors....it sounds like something is broken. You may be able to open it up and fix it but I doubt it.
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Old Aug 2, 2008 | 09:43 AM
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If its the regular miorrs it should have been fine. If it was the trailer tow type mirrors then their most likely broke (per the owners manual).
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Old Aug 4, 2008 | 09:10 AM
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Someone pulled my mirror so far forward it broke off the truck. I'm pretty sure your unit is broken, they just don't like to be pulled forward. I think I still have the pieces and if I get a chance tonight I'll take a look at the mechanism to see if it can be repared.

I got my replacement off of Ebay, not cheap but less than 50% of dealer cost. Fits perfect but the mirror does vibrate a bit more then the stock one, view is a litle fuzzy. Someone posted instructions awhile ago, maybe a 45 minute swap. Time saver is just to loosen up the interior door pannel, don't take it completly off. Gently use some kind of wedge in to give you some room, where the mirror attaches to the door. There are 3 nuts and one connector.
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Old Aug 4, 2008 | 09:17 AM
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It is a tow mirror. ColdCase, I would be intested to see what you find out as far as repairing it. If not I guess I will be watching Ebay.
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 05:05 PM
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Well I got my truck jammed in drive through the other day that kept tapering as I drove in and then my passenger side mirror got pulled forward on the fence trying to get out. I took it to the dealer and in seconds we almost got it fixed but I was just free picking their brain. There is a nut under a round cover on the bottom of the mirror next to the pivot....I think if you can loosen the nut then you can then rotate the mirror far enough forward to put the mirror back into the spline it has jumped out of....if you look the gap between the mirror is about 1/4 inch bigger which is the height of the spline.

I'll check the service manual and see if they have a more definite fix. Kerry
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by gsbrockman
Gotta love it when someone else abuses your personal property.

Out of curiosity, did you by any chance fold the mirror towards the back of the truck to see if it might help ?

Greg



someone probably hit their head on it and got mad. I was at dinner once and was watching a woman who parked next to my truck, get out and into the back door of her car to pick her kid up. I said to the wife "watch this" sure as ship, the woman walked straight into my mirror. You'd be suprised how many people have close calls with my mirrors. Guess their just at the right height to be in a blindspot so to speak.
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Old Aug 13, 2008 | 10:09 AM
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From: Austin, Texas
abc4yew, I did pull the bottom plug off the mirror this past weekend and saw the nut you are talking about but did not mess with it. So you are saying I should loosen that large nut and pull the mirror forward until it seats down tight again then pull it back to the normal position? Just trying to understand what to do before I screw it up worse than it is. And thanks for all the help.
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Old Aug 13, 2008 | 12:05 PM
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From: Del Rio, TX
The towing mirrors are not designed to fold forward, only backward. Hope you can fix it, but I'm betting it's broke.

Good luck.
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 09:41 PM
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From: Casselberry, Florida
Just got new tow mirrors in today but no parts bag? I am missing the 6-10mm nuts that hold them on, can you use the ones that you take off the old mirrors or are they different?
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