i recently got the electric/heated towing mirrors for my 2001 ram 2500,already have the connection for the heating and adjusting but need a switch for raising and lowering the mirrors. does anyone have any suggestions, thanks.

 

What mirrors are you talking about? The factory Mopar tow mirrors for the 2nd gen. trucks aren't avaiable with power & heat, you have to make a hybrid set out of 2nd & 3rd gen. mirrors. Also, the factory Mopar tow mirrors do not raise and lower themselves.... you have to get out and manually flip them up and down.

 

the 3rd generation tow mirrors

 

So the factory tow mirrors with heat and power from a 3rd Gen don't bolt right up and plug in? I need to get some tow mirrors and just stopped at the dealer yesterday and they have a pair for an '03+, but they can't confirm if they will bolt right up and plug in to the 2nd Gen '98.5-'02.

I have an old mirror housing that I am going to take up there to see if the bolt pattern and plug location matches, but if someone here can confirm or deny before I do that it would save me a little trouble.

 

Not even close to a bolt on procedure. I can verify that for a fact. They are two different body styles and the doors are completely different.

3rd gen. base on the left and 2nd gen. base on the right:


The wiring harness on 2nd vs. 3rd gen. are also different and the mirror connector plug is in a different spot. You have to cut the plug off and lengthen the harness from the 3rd gen. mirror head to reach the harness plug down in the door. Also, the 3rd gen mirror head has a different plug altogether than the 2nd. gen. The wires are also different color so those don't match up either. About the only thing they have in common is the physical shape and appearance of the arm and head.

 

Wonderful! So without taking a 3rd Gen mirror and modifying it there is no way to obtain power heated tow mirrors for a 2nd Gen truck? Maybe aftermarket? I'll do some more searching, but thanks for the info and picture.

 

That's right. If you want MOPAR power/heated tow mirrors on your 2nd gen. you have to buy a set of 2nd gen tow mirrors, remove the heads and set them aside and retain the bases. Then you buy a set of 3rd gen. power/heated tow mirrors, remove the bases and set them aside and retain the heads. Then you reassemble the 3rd gen. heads on the 2nd gen. bases. Viola!!!

Oh, then you can reassemble the left-overs and you have a perfectly good set of manual 3rd gen. tow mirrors that nobody wants. It gets kinda pricey since you have to buy two sets of mirrors, but it was worth it to me.

The bolt-on alternative is to buy an aftermarket tow mirror.

 

Not to steal your thread, but does anyone have any extra backing plates for the 2nd gen mirror base, you know the plate that the studs go thru before you put the nuts on? hows about the nuts?