Idea for pwr heated mopar towing mirrors

[VicR]

Was at the dealer today checking out the 2002's, and was looking at the nice factory heated power towing mirrors available on the 1500's. Now I know that you can get the unpowered, unheated ones for the 2500's. But I was wondering if you ordered the door mounting plates from a 2500 set and the mirrors from a 2002 1500 if you could 'make' a set for our trucks. This dealer didn't have any 2500/3500's with the towing mirrors so I couldn't do a direct comparison, but was looking at one in the K-mart lot afterwards and the base of the mirrors where they meet the mounting plate looked to be approximately the same.



Anyone try this?



Anyone price the towing power/heated mirrors for a 1500? I bet they are not cheap.



-Vic

 

[JHansen]

I'm gonna do it one of these days....

I took a set of the towing mirrors for a 2001 and held them up to a 2002 in the local dealer's showroom (my brother is the parts manager there). As far as I can tell the actual mirror part is identical in shape-just the foot is different. So one of my projects for spring is to get a set of the 2002 mirrors and a set of the 2001's (hopefully with the glass out of them to reduce the cost) and put the 2 together. Can you buy just the mounting foot separate from the mirror? I never asked him-just assumed they'd be sold as an assembly.....



Only other snag I can see is dissimilar electrical connectors-they wouldn't let me pull the mirrors off the 2002 to check (can you figure that? ). I'll have a look in their service manuals one of these days to compare.



Jason

 

[klenger]

If this works, it would be fairly easy for those of us that already have the 2001 towing mirrors. All that we would need would be the 2002 power mirrors and control switch. Let me know when you figure it out.

 

[RobG]

We'd need the control switch AND the AC/Temp panel if we wanted to use the heated mirrors part.



What I'm also wondering is, since these mirrors tilt, the control "joystick" will work oddly when they're in one position but not in another, won't it?



Why the heck couldn't DC give us a slide-out mirror like the ones on the Fords? Now THOSE are nice mirrors.



Rob

 

[JHansen]

Bit the bullet!

Ordered a set of the 2002 power heated mirrors and a take-off set of the 2001's for the mounting feet-they don't service parts separately. Probably next week when they come in-I'll let you all know when I get them how the swap goes. It better go well-they don't give them away I can tell you



Jason

 

[VicR]

So how do they look?

So how do they look? Also curious if the electrical is the same. I forgot to look at the 2002 1500 power switch, so I wonder if its set up the same.



-Vic

 

[JHansen]

They're on backorder right now Vic -leave it to DC to screw up even the simplest of plans! Hoping to have them sometime next week at which time I'll swap the mounting feet and slam 'em on. I'll post a full report when the deed gets done!



Jason

 

[Andy Perreault]

This may or may not help, but on my '97, I replaced the power mirrors with '98 heated power mirrors. Dodge didn't offer heated mirrors in '97. The wire colors were different, and the connectors were different, but with a little soldering and trial and error, I got the up-down-left-right switch to work right. It was just a matter of trying different arrangements of the three wires going to each mirror. As for the heating element, since my truck never came with heated mirrors, I added my own circuit with 10 amp fuse, a toggle switch on my home made switch panel, and an indicator light. The mirrors work great, I've never had a problem with them.

My situation was a little easier than the application you guys are discussing here, because the mirrors were a direct bolt-in. But if the 2002 mirrors will mount to the foot of the 2001's, I think that you guys can get this idea to work, with a little custom wiring. If one of you can come up with a "conversion kit", you might be able to help out other members.

Andy

 

[JHansen]

I'm hoping Andy that since DC has cheapened out on everything else that they were too cheap to come up with a different connector for the 2002's . I was going to wander back into the shop the day I ordered them and pull the 2002 DR and 2001 BR service manuals out and have a look at connector pin-outs in the wiring diagram... . but I got lazy . Worst case scenario that I can see is I'll have to buy the DR mirror connectors from DC and swap my wires into them.



My truck has the heated power 6x9's now so I'm in a lot better position than some of these guys already. I think (scary think in itself ) that the wiring harness exists out to the doors already in the '98+ trucks for at least the power mirror switch-maybe for the mirrors themselves as well. My brother has a '98-he's gonna be the beneficiary of the mirrors that I'm taking off. So I guess we'll find out one way or the other. Best-case scenario here is that they tooled up only 1 wiring harness to save costs-in which case the power/heat wiring would exist already and just require the purchase of the joystick for the driver's door and the heater panel with the mirror switch. Dunno-we'll find this out once I prove that the feet can be swapped across. Jeez I wish they had come by now-oh well patience is a virtue right?



Jason

 

[Fireman Dave]

Jason, Jason, Jason

Originally posted by JHansen

I was going to wander back into the shop the day I ordered them and pull the 2002 DR and 2001 BR service manuals out and have a look at connector pin-outs in the wiring diagram... . but I got lazy .

Jason

Well, if you'd get off the darn chatroom at a decent hour, you'd have a little more energy in the morning!



I hope this works. I have my power, heated mirrors in a box. I did the flip-up swap last year. I'd like to convert them to power at least.



Dave

 

[JHansen]

Nothing wrong with the hours I keep Dave, it's just that the company actually expects me to accomplish something at work! Don't they realize that I could be a much more productive member of society if I was allowed to use some of that work time for other projects?



Hopefully the new ones will come in next week-the actual foot swap won't take any time at all I'm thinking. Weather is supposed to turn significantly colder here next week so unless Environment Canada has screwed up again I'll have to try to get into one of my buddies' shops for the actual install. I'll post here when I actually get them on.



Jason

the Mad Chatter!

 

[yogibear]

I have the powered & heated flip up mirrors. Don't ask how I got them, was just in the right place at the right time. They are really nice. I had the X-Mount mirrors when I got these. They are nice, but I think the flip up is a little better, they are more solid, but the X-Mounts are a larger mirror. They plugged right in to my 00, no problems. If I can help in any way, let me know. I don't know if they changed the plug on the 02's, but the different control should not matter.

Larry

 

[Fireman Dave]

Larry, you're messing with our heads, man!

Originally posted by yogibear

I have the powered & heated flip up mirrors. Don't ask how I got them, was just in the right place at the right time. Larry

Larry! You're pushing our buttons to be saying something like that! How are we supposed to not ask you!? OK, well how about letting us know if it's possible to get more? Or maybe you can help Jason out with the conversion if he runs into snags. Get working on those schematics!



Dave

 

[yogibear]

Dave, I'd be glad to help all I can. I will also inquire about getting more of these for the older Rams.



Larry

 

[Fireman Dave]

Thanks, Larry!

 

[JHansen]

Haven't forgotten about this... . still waiting for DC to get off their butts and get the 2002 mirrors out to my favorite local dealer #@$%! .....



As soon as they show I'll be making the base swap and doing the install-at which time I'll post some pics (probably crappy ones but pics nonetheless ) and directions!



Jason

The Hopefully Soon-To-Be Power Heated Trailer Tow Mirror Guru!

(no offense to you yogibear!)

 

[yogibear]

Hey I'm no guru for anything, except maybe bsing, I hope you guys get this done, I'm scared to death something will happen to mine, and I'm SOL. Everyone should have a pr. of these, they are real nice. I tried to get some more, but no luck. Good luck to you, and if I can help, just let me know.

Larry

 

[JHansen]

Oh I'm gonna make 'er work man... . once DC gets some of the DR mirrors into the parts system. I realize there's probably not a huge market for them for the DR's seeing as you can get them from the factory... . but why release the part # in the accessories catalog if you can't get the bricken-bracking mirrors? I'm just hyped up to get them I guess and go to work-I know a lot of guys are interested in them so the sooner I can get a set and make the swap the happier everyone's gonna be... .



Thanks for the offer of help... I may just take you up on that if I get in over my head!



Jason

Mr. Franken-Mirror

 

[dieselgirlanddan]

Originally posted by yogibear

Dave, I'd be glad to help all I can. I will also inquire about getting more of these for the older Rams.



Larry

That would be cool for an older model Larry!Oo.

 

[yogibear]

Dieselgirl, I tried, but its not gonna happen. Sorry

Larry