1A Auto Trail Ridge power fold mirror stopped folding

[Zoomschwortz]

My driver's side power folding mirror now only folds about half way. These were the 3rd Gen to 4th Gen upgrades sold by 1A Auto, made by (or packaged by?) Trail Ridge, which is tied to TRQ.

I contacted 1A Auto and they said that they would refund my money because the TR00139, power mirror, heated, power fold w/running light has been discontinued.

1)The big problem is that I love these mirrors and don't want to give them up. I am more than willing to rebuild them myself if I can just get replacement parts and maybe some drawings, so I have spent a few weeks (on and off) trying to locate Trail Ridge contact information, which led to TRQ being associated to Trail Ridge, but I have as yet not received any reply.

2) I don't want to have my truck unusable, for who knows how long while waiting for refund and then trying to find a different mirror, that most likely will not be power folding. At least the passenger side is still working perfectly.

Has anyone had to repair their Trail Ridge power folding mirror or have any idea where I could get replacement parts? I am tempted to open up the mirror, but then my Lifetime Warranty would be null and void and I could be stuck with no replacement parts or refund.

Thanks in advance for any input or information that you might have.
Ken

 

[Yo Hoot]

I dont think they will ask for the mirror back and still give you the refund. It's probably made in China. Good luck contacting them.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I dont think they will ask for the mirror back and still give you the refund. It's probably made in China. Good luck contacting them.

Unfortunately, they emailed a UPS shipping label and said they would send a refund after they received the mirrors.

 

[Topzide]

@Zoomschwortz, Check these out:
https://www.topgearautosport.com/17...g-towing-mirrors-conversion-smoked-led-signal
Not sure if this is what you'd want to do, but might be worth checking into.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

@Zoomschwortz, Check these out:
https://www.topgearautosport.com/17...g-towing-mirrors-conversion-smoked-led-signal
Not sure if this is what you'd want to do, but might be worth checking into.

Thank you
I have looked at them a few times and have been kicking the idea around. The one thing that has given me concern is that the wiring and or connectors may be different than what I currently have installed. I would hate to go through all of the rewiring and if the new switch for power folding is a different size than what I now have, I may not be able to make it look good.

The best case scenario for me is if I can find out what parts were used for the mirrors that I have.
Chances are that the parts in my mirrors have also been used in other mirrors on other makes of cars and trucks. In my searching I have found many repair parts that do away with the plastic gears, which I am guessing has caused my trouble and replaces them with steel parts. If I can find steel parts to replace what I have, I believe that it would permanently cure the mirror problem.

Thanks again for sending the link.
Ken

 

[Yo Hoot]

Thank you
I have looked at them a few times and have been kicking the idea around. The one thing that has given me concern is that the wiring and or connectors may be different than what I currently have installed. I would hate to go through all of the rewiring and if the new switch for power folding is a different size than what I now have, I may not be able to make it look good.

The best case scenario for me is if I can find out what parts were used for the mirrors that I have.
Chances are that the parts in my mirrors have also been used in other mirrors on other makes of cars and trucks. In my searching I have found many repair parts that do away with the plastic gears, which I am guessing has caused my trouble and replaces them with steel parts. If I can find steel parts to replace what I have, I believe that it would permanently cure the mirror problem.

Thanks again for sending the link.
Ken

I would think the connectors are correct. These are specifically for your years.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I would think the connectors are correct. These are specifically for your years.

They very well could be the same, but since these trucks did not originally come with power folding mirrors, there really isn't a standard or OEM connector for 3rd Gen trucks. There is a chance that these mirrors were made by the same company that made my Trail Ridge mirrors, which would increase the chance that they used the same connectors and switches, but there is also the chance that the mirrors were made by different companies which would increase the chance that wiring, connectors and switches are different.

 

[Yo Hoot]

So the folding part probably has its own harness... maybe a switch that needs to be mounted somewhere.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

So the folding part probably has its own harness... maybe a switch that needs to be mounted somewhere.

That is correct.
Mine came with a switch and harnesses.
The mirror fold control switch is now mounted just above the E-Brake release.

I do thank you for your help and suggestions.
Ken

 

[Ozymandias]

I can not recommend to open that mirror, I had to do mine and several of that Tabs broken off that keep it together. It's not meant to be opened, I used "nice" screw afterwards to close it.

I mean to remember that they say to fold it manually and open it again to re-adjust the folding mechanism.
- if it isn't broken of course.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I can not recommend to open that mirror, I had to do mine and several of that Tabs broken off that keep it together. It's not meant to be opened, I used "nice" screw afterwards to close it.

I mean to remember that they say to fold it manually and open it again to re-adjust the folding mechanism.
- if it isn't broken of course.

This evening I was parked next to what I believe is a 4th Gen truck and I had some time to closely compare my mirror to theirs. With the exception to the inner arm that bolts to the door, these two mirrors looked identical. My inner arm was shorter.

When I got home a few minutes ago I did a search for steel gear upgrade for 2013 Ram 2500 and immediately found replacement upgrades for the 2013 and no doubt with a few more minutes of looking, I am sure that I would find more.

I cannot help but wonder if the Trail Ridge mirrors use a factory outer arm and attaches it to one of their inner arms and if they do, I'm guessing their is a good chance that the drive units are the same.

When you opened up your mirror, did you find that a plastic gear had broken?
Is it a spur gear with a worm gear shaft?
If you had a gear break, where did you get it at and was it another plastic gear?

Here is a link to the parts and I read, but have not yet had time to look for, a repair video that they are supposed to have on their site.
https://www.gruvenparts.com/ram-power-folding-mirror-gears-and-motors/
A link for repair instructions. It is a GM, but once you get to the motor the repair is supposed to be the same. https://www.gruvenparts.com/gm-power-folding-mirror-gear-replacement-repair-instructions/

Youtube video for GM, but once they get down to the motor (it's at 7 minute mark) disassembly, clocking, reassembly are supposed to work the same.


I understand that it is not easy to open these up, but, the only options I have is:
1) leave it alone and manually open and close the driver's mirror until the passenger side also breaks.
2) Send it back for refund, buy and reinstall another brand mirror with a short warranty which stands a good chance of breaking the gears again unless they use upgraded steel gears.
3)Open up what I have and try installing a steel gear set.

Did you by any chance take any pictures of the inside of the mirror that you opened up?

Thank you for your information, I actually feel encouraged.
Have a great night
Ken

 

[Topzide]

I'd say if you're not worried about the whole warranty thing, open it up and see what goes! Already broken, can't hurt any more. Since the company doesn't have a replacement anymore, I'd dive in and see how it works and how it can be fixed. If it's gears that are broken, maybe you have a clock repair shop close by. They would be able to source small gears for small shafts. the shaft diameter can be drilled out to fit. Just throwing that out there with my experience with clocks. Wouldn't hurt to check. Good luck!

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I'd say if you're not worried about the whole warranty thing, open it up and see what goes! Already broken, can't hurt any more. Since the company doesn't have a replacement anymore, I'd dive in and see how it works and how it can be fixed. If it's gears that are broken, maybe you have a clock repair shop close by. They would be able to source small gears for small shafts. the shaft diameter can be drilled out to fit. Just throwing that out there with my experience with clocks. Wouldn't hurt to check. Good luck!

Gruvenparts responded to my email this morning and was wondering if I had any pictures of the motor.
I'm Hoping that Ozymandias might have some pictures of the inside of his mirror from when he opened up his mirror.

I hope that Trail Ridge just made a 3rd Gen to 4th Gen adapter arm and then used a factory 4th Gen outer assembly. It wouldn't be practical for them to invent a whole new motor assembly when there are so many off the shelf motor assemblies already available.
The $500 dollar question is, which motor did they use and I am hoping that it is a 4th Gen Ram motor.

I am in the same camp as you, I want to open up both mirrors and replace the plastic gears with metal ones.
Getting my money refunded and buying another mirror with a 2 year warranty and most likely plastic gears is just buying more trouble.

I have asked Gruvenparts if the have a video or PDF file for 4th Gen Ram mirror disassembly, which might help me avoid the issues that Ozymandias had when he opened up his mirror.

Have a great day
Ken

 

[Ozymandias]

Hi Ken

I'm really sorry that I can't provide any Pics from the mirrors inside.

Actually, I bought the very same mirrors that you have, but at the point to install them I shied back from doing * so and gave them to @mwilson and bought another set with manual fold.
That manual fold i opened to install a rearview camera into the mirrors body.
The point is that I've read the manual back then and I remember that they mentioned the point of a mis alignment of the power fold mechanism if the mirror is accidentally fold manual and how to solve it.
But if you are totally sure that it is broken then there is no way around then to open it and try to fix it.
Yesterday I was googeling these very same mirrors and found them still available on Amazon.

*various reasons

 

[Zoomschwortz]

Hi Ken

I'm really sorry that I can't provide any Pics from the mirrors inside.

Actually, I bought the very same mirrors that you have, but at the point to install them I shied back from doing * so and gave them to @mwilson and bought another set with manual fold.
That manual fold i opened to install a rearview camera into the mirrors body.
The point is that I've read the manual back then and I remember that they mentioned the point of a mis alignment of the power fold mechanism if the mirror is accidentally fold manual and how to solve it.
But if you are totally sure that it is broken then there is no way around then to open it and try to fix it.
Yesterday I was googeling these very same mirrors and found them still available on Amazon.

*various reasons

Thank you for your help and information.

I will take another look on Amazon. I checked a few weeks ago, but the only Trail Ridge I could find were manual folding and not power fold.
I have seen another brand with power fold, but since I had such good luck with no vibration and being trouble free (until the one mirror stopped folding) I am inclined to stick with Trail Ridge.

I have been poking around on the mirror that is on my truck trying to figure out how to get the mirror glass off without breaking it. It must have 8 maybe 10 tabs that need to get lifted. It's 90 degrees outside and I'm in the sun, so I'll do some more poking around when it cools down a little.

Thanks again
Ken

 

[Ozymandias]

Check out the 1Aauto page, they sell replacement glasses, do you can see on the pictures how they are attached, maybe there is even a video that shows how to replace a glass.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

Check out the 1Aauto page, they sell replacement glasses, do you can see on the pictures how they are attached, maybe there is even a video that shows how to replace a glass.

Yesterday I opened up the mirror. The mirror glass turned out to be very easy to remove with a medium size flat tip screwdriver. There are 12 tabs on the back of the glass that snap onto a hub on the tow mirror assembly. To remove the glass you insert the screw driver between the tow mirror assembly and a white pad that sits between the tow mirror assembly and the mirror glass. With the screwdriver between the tow mirror assembly and the white pad you just give the screwdriver a gentle twist until you hear the tab unsnap and just repeat this procedure until most of the tabs are released from the hub and the mirror glass is free.

Upon removal of the glass and removal of the screws as seen in OEM and Aftermarket mirror videos, it quickly became obvious that unlike what the videos showed was necessary to gain access to the folding drive motor was not needed for the Trail Ridge mirror.

The glass and screw removal turned out to be a waste of time for me, but it may be helpful for others that need to replace their upper mirror on their Trail Ridge Tow Mirror. Also note, what I saw on videos concerning the replacement of the smaller convex mirror for Trail Ridge tow mirrors appears to be true. The only way that you can remove the small mirror is to take a small hammer and break the center of the mirror to access a bolt. The replacement mirror kit comes with the glass, glue bad, cage and bolt.

Next came the removal of the front plastic cover that sits on the forward half of the arm when it is in the unfolded position.

The removal of the front cover turned out to be fairly simple with the use of some nylon pry bars. Since I was flying blind on what was under the plastic and what was holding the 2 halves together, I was being very careful and it took me about 15 minutes to get the cover off. I started by prying up the cover on top, about half way between the mirror and the folding pivot point. Once I got the first pry bar in between the 2 halves I took another pry bar and slid it along the seam lifting the front cover up away from the rear cover. After getting the top portion free I progressed around the outer edge which required me to rotate the mirror up and down a few times until it was free and then I proceeded with the bottom and it was off.

Once the cover is off I found that the entire inner brace and drive motor is a one piece aluminum casting and is very solid and well made. They did a wonderful job on the manufacturing of the component. Unfortunately for me, I was hoping that the drive motor could be removed and replaced with a whole new drive motor that had brass/steel gears but that was not to be. When switching to steel/brass gears on a Dodge Ram, because of electrical grounding, you need to have a plastic cover, otherwise your drive motor will not work. With the Trail Ridge drive motor being one piece with the entire mirror brace, an stand alone steel gear drive motor will not be an option, so I did not go any farther with disassembly.

Reassembly was literally a snap and took a minute at most, just align and snap the front onto the back.

I am lucky that it was the driver's side mirror that stopped folding. I can still power fold the passenger mirror and just roll down the driver's side window and manually fold the driver's mirror.

I took some pictures of the insides and hope to get them posted this afternoon or tomorrow.

Take care everyone and thank you for your help, suggestions and input.
Ken

 

[Ozymandias]

Thank you for sharing your Findings. When I was prying mine apart I broke off all the lower tabs, that's why I had to use a screw afterwards to keep it together.
Lucky you accomplished it better then is did.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

 

[Zoomschwortz]