Looking for a pair of swing away mirrors

[BKunic]

I'm looking for a pair of swing away style door mirrors, both sides, chrome, like new. Anyone have any leads for finding such a critter?



Also, does anyone know of any brush guards/after market front bumper and grille guad combinations available that will fit the 1st gen trucks? It seems as though the aftermarket crowd has given up on us.



Bryan

 

[Philip]

Most aftermarket builders gave up on the 1st gen's in 1994. New body style means better profit margin. Pack the old production lines up and move on.



Time to learn how to weld if you don't know allready. Look a Bushwakers pic's of his truck. He has a nice front bumper/ grille guard setup he built. To bad he lives so far away. It would look better on my truck.

 

[tugboatphil]

Bryan,



Are you talking about replacements for the factory swing away mirrors?

 

[dpuckett]

BKunic-

You can go to an RV place and get a set of mirrors for about $40 apiece. I have a set I've had for 2 years on 2 trucks, and have had no trouble with them. OR... ... . You can go to a junkyard, and get some. I had a set that came off a Ford, sold them to my sperm donor.



Cant help you on the grille guards. I came across one a few years ago, and swiped it for $100. It is still on Mom's pickup. I can weld, but aint too swift in the paint/ chrome department.



Daniel

 

[BKunic]

TugboatPhil,



I'm looking for the factory style swingsway mirrors, like those shown on your readers rigs photos. I'm getting ready to restore the old girl, and want to replace the generic tripod style mirrors with the swingaway style.



I've tried the wrecking yards around here, but so far no luck. GM had a very similar mirror, but I'm hesitant to use them as I'm guessing that the GM door has a different contour to it. Maybe it wouldn't matter, does anyone know?



Bryan

 

[cguthrie]

Buckstop make some aftermarket bumpers for 1st gens. They are expensive but there very nice. Just do a search on the internet for buckstop bumpers and you should find them. They also make aftermarket rear bumpers too.



Chris

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

All you need to make a good bushguard/bumper is the basic Warn bumper with winch pocket.

After that, get some 1/4" plate or checkerplate and some standard steel handrail.

From there, your imagination is the only limits...

Mine cost me some snivelling at my brother (who is a master welder) and a case of wobbly pop for the shop foreman on a Saturday... . done deal. .



Now if your looking for some "hindsight" I'd go with aluminum as much as possible next time... I honestly think that honkin big cow basher contributed to my front end sag (hence the name "Blunt Force Trauma")... course the darn winch weighs about 100 lbs all by itself.

Oh ya, and make sure that you plan around the idea of getting the winch out without having to remove the entire bumper... course in my case, it just means no one can steal the thing without airtools and some serious hammering and banging...



pastor bob... .

 

[Greenleaf]

Yes, I know..........

... ... ... the answer to you'r mirror question.

My truck had the factory towing mirrors. Big? No. They were like HUGE!! I mean the darn things covered the entire door.



So I picked up a set of new stainless GM swing away side mirrors fom NAPA.



The contour is dang close. I am very picky and these things are difficult to tell they are for a GM.



You may try to locate a set at a salvage yard. GM or Dodge.



Now I got to get the holes in my door patched where the little screw holes are I installed screws in the holes but they still bother me. Least I don't have the Titanic mirrors/air brake.



-S

 

[BKunic]

Greenleaf,



How good a fit do you get with those GM mirrors? Is there much of a gap between the door and mirror base? Are they nice and stable when mounted? If so, I might go that route as JCWhitney has them in their catalog. I was holding off on getting them as I was concerned that they may not match the contour of the Dodge door.



Later,



Bryan

 

[Greenleaf]

Our door has just a whisker more contour to it tan the mirror cover. The mounting plate, which you don't see, was not a problem. It mounted right up and fit tight. You have to drill three holes into your door and install these plastic anchors in which you thread the mounting plate screws into. DO NOT drill the holes too big. The nut won't grab and just set there and spin.



The stainless cover that encloses the mounting plate will not have the exact contour of our door. There will be a very slight gap between the mounting plate and this cover. I filled it with a small bead of black silicone. Then smoothed it over with my finger.



You'll never know it's for a GM. The guys at the truck show had no clue I had grafted GM mirrors to my rig.





I was thinking that the Dodge factory side mirrors have this telescoping feature and the arm is therefore a wee bit longer.



-S

 

[BKunic]

Greenleaf,



You da man! That's what I'm going to do, go with the GM mirrors. Just so that I get the right ones, are these the mirrors that are for the GM body style that was out from the early 70s through the late 80s, or is it a newer body style?



Thanks for the info,



Bryan

 

[Greenleaf]

Yeah. Up through the late 80's

-S