Loose mirror, ideas?

[Dieselnerd]

I have a '96 with the standard chrome, electrically adjusted mirrors. My right mirror has become very loose and can be moved an inch or so forward or back while still in the detent. Before I tear off the door panel to remove the mirror I would like to know if this is fixable. Is there some kind of fastener inside that works loose and can be tightened up? If not, I'll probably bite the bullet and just order some of the CIPA towing mirrors that Geno has in his new catalog. Anyone had the mirror apart?



Thanks in advance...

 

[Thomas]

What part is flopping?



If it's the mirror itself, this thread will show you what is inside of floppy Mopar towing mirrors.



Good luck.

 

[BK]

Are you saying the mounting to the truck door is loose?



If so from what I understand that was a common problem.

In later models they put a backing plate in the door to reinforce where the mirror is mounted to. The sheetmetal wasn't enough.

 

[Dieselnerd]

BK, the mirror is not loose on the door, the shaft that comes out of the black part that is fastened to the door is loose. It's in a detent that allows the mirror to fold back if you push hard enough (normal) but instead of being firm when it's in the detent, it's loose and can be moved forward or backward with slight finger pressure instead of being locked in the detent. It will actually fold back with a strong wind gust on the highway.



Thomas, these are not towing mirrors, they are the standard electric mirrors that came on the 1996 SLT.



Anyone had one of these apart or had this problem?

 

[gitchesum]

You can fix that too.



There are 3 nuts behind the door panel holding hte mirror on. I've never had to remove the panel itself, I just take that one screw out and kind of hold that corner back. Then just take the mirror out. There should be some type of hold down clamp that you can tighten up.

Pretty easy fix.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Thanks Gitchesum, I thought I had to remove the whole door panel. If I can get to the mirror mount using your method it will make it pretty easy to check out...

 

[Thomas]

I'm well aware that they are not towing mirrors, hence the bold type. I thought an interior view of any mirror might prove helpful.



There is a Rod/Nut/Spring combination inside the mount of the towing mirrors that appears to involve tension on the breakaway feature. Perhaps you'll find something similar on your mirrors when you remove them from your truck.

 

[Deezul1]

My mirror was so loose that 55mph it would fold back by itself. There is a saddle type clamp that goes over the chrome shaft and is held by 4 screws. These screws are prolly put in with air tools as a lot of these trucks have this problem. The screws are about half stripped and finally wont hold the saddle tight against the shaft anymore. Drill and tap the 4 holes to 1/4-20 and use Allen head bolts and it will be real tight. The adjusment for tightness on the clamp is to tighten the 4 bolts to leave a gap the thickness of a penny. I Have pics of this but cant post pics as its too complicated now.

 

[C Schomer]

Dieselnerd, I had that problem but both mirrors were replaced in warranty - DC says there are no servicable parts for the mirrors. I took one mirror off and attempted to fix it but they are built in a way, it looked like I would have had to break something to finish the job. The post is sandwiched between the base and a square steel plate with 4 self tapping screws. After the mirror is off, the chrome cover won't slide over the post far enough to get to the screws that stripped out of the aluminum base - but I could see them. DC said the head won't come off without breaking it, to slide the chrome cover off. I told them they could go right ahead and warranty both mirrors if they can't build them to be repaired! I think I could have drilled 4 holes from the door side of the base in line with the stripped screw holes and gotten bolts thru and put nuts on the inside. Anyway, as soon as I had my new mirrors put on, I went home and shot the right mirror out with a BB gun and got a flat one cut at a glass shop - to heck with that DOTs distorted POS! Craig

 

[Deezul1]

The mirrors have to come off the truck to do the repair outlined above which includes removing the door panel. Its not as hard as it sounds. Get the removal tool to pull the fasteners out and its easy. The tool costs about $6 and looks like a screwdriver handle and shaft with a small V shaped end that looks like its made for pulling small nails.

 

[gitchesum]

Hey John

E-mail me the pics and I'll host them on my site.

-- email address removed --



BTW, your PM box is full. You must be a popular fella

 

[gitchesum]

I thought I would try to see what kind of modifications are needed to put towing mirrors on a pre 1998 truck. Which is next to nothing, it just has longer studs than the regular mirrors. I think they put a backing plate on the towing mirrors.



Anyways, I took a picture of the backside of the electric mirrors on my truck.

The yellow arrows point to the two #15 torx screws that keep the mirror tight. There is a little piece of metal behind that plate that holds tight against the mirror tube.

The white arrows point to the two #15 torx screws that are around the edge of the mirror mount. I didn't notice a difference in the tightness when I loosened them.

At the bottom of each stud, there is a 1/2 inch nut. They also didn't seem to make a difference when they were loosened.

I did have to take the three fasteners on the left side of the door panel loose to make things a little easier.

BTW, I decided to keep the power mirrors, and have the towing mirrors on Ebay now.



#ad

 

[Dieselnerd]

Thanks everyone!

I appreciate all the good information. The picture was especially helpful. After all this, I'm still leaning towards the CIPA extendable towing mirrors from Geno's Garage. I was secretly hoping the mirror was unrepairable to justify the $349 expense to the wife. Lucky for me she doesn't read the TDR website...

 

[jsimpson]

I bought the Lucerix mirrors (also sold as Cipo) from the factory. Geno's deal is better than what I got! But they are the ONLY mirrors to have on your truck!