2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Towing Mirrors....pwr/heated!

[DCreed]

are you kiddin me? All these posts about buying and no one has even put a pair on yet?!? WOW!

 

[tazzen]

mine are in the mail,



i would have them on if i had them

 

[hammersley]

Yep -

let's see who puts a pair on 1st... .....

 

[rowilson]

Cipa mirrors

A friend of mine has a set of Cipas on his truck and hates them. I got in his truck and saw why. The right side one is so low that you only see half of the mirror. And the other problem of course looking like he got them off a Ferd :-laf

Cipa makes xtendable trailer towing mirrors for the 02' with power and heat. I love the ones that I put one my truck they mount right where the stock ones do and they use the OME plugs.

 

[PC12Driver]

A friend of mine has a set of Cipas on his truck and hates them. I got in his truck and saw why. The right side one is so low that you only see half of the mirror. And the other problem of course looking like he got them off a Ferd :-laf

Actually only about 10-15% of the bottom/inside of the mirror is blocked by the door when they're retracted. Even so, there's still significantly more useable glass showing than the factory mirror. And when they're extended all the mirror is visible/useable.



4 1/2 years with my CIPAs, still solid, no problems, excellent coverage.

 

[benhall]

Mine get here on Friday, so they are going on this weekend.

Ben

 

[MVieira]

Mine got here today and I took them out of the box and they look excellent to me, the quality looks like OEM. I set them up against the door next to my existing power/heated mirrors and the mounting surface looks identical and SMoules said he has already plugged his in and the electrical works correctly. I don't have the time to mount them until this weekend, so I'm sorry for those still waiting to see if they work before they order, but at this point I don't see any problems with them. If I get them on first I'll report back.
Regards, Mike.

 

[jerrethomas]

how is the mirror install going guys? I wanna hear how fitment and function of these are.

 

[MVieira]

Well fellas, it isn't a bolt up fit, at least on my 2002. I got the drivers side panel off tonight and the mounting studs on the Kool-Vue mirrors are way too long and there is a plastic dowel that protrudes into the grommet area. The studs aren't threaded all the way down either and I think they are glued into the plastic. I think I will space the mounting distance with some washers and cut the overall length down with my cut-off wheel in the morning, I'm too tired now to mess with it anymore. If anyone else has got them on and figured out how to modify these things to get them on I'd appreciate the help. The studs do line up properly and I plugged in the electrical and everything works, and the mounting pad fits up to the door correctly, so I guess I'll try the things I described above unless someone comes up with something better.
Regards, MIke.

 

[Thomas]

The OEM tow mirrors for the second-generation Rams utilize a reinforcement bracket on the inside of the door. The bracket uses up some of the length of the studs. Do the aftermarket mirrors include the bracket?

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/6629/towmirrorpartszn3.jpg

 

[MVieira]

Thomas, the Kool-Vue mirrors didn't come with any reinforcement brackets and my factory power/heated mirrors didn't have any reinforcement brackets but I can see from your parts picture that could be the reason for the over length studs. I don't know if it is worth waiting to see if I can order them from the dealer Monday or if I should try like I was talking about and spacing out the distance of the non-threaded portion of the over length studs with washers. There are no directions with the mirrors either. Thanks for your help.
Regards, Mike.

 

[MVieira]

Thomas, One other thing is the studs on the Kool-Vue mirrors are M6's which are bigger than my original pwr/heated mirrors and the parts picture also calls out for 6 of the M6 hex flange nuts, so maybe it would be a good idea to order the reinforcing plates. I wish I could look at a truck that had the factory towing mirrors.
Mike

 

[Thomas]

The part numbers for the reinforcement brackets show up near the end of this thread: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/24-valve-engine-transmission-1998-5-2002/179475-tow-mirror-conversion-problem.html

 

[wcoomes]

For those too lazy to click on the link:



Joe,



The part #'s are as follows (you're so lucky I transferred the stickers to the new plates):



55156128AB - BR RH Reinforcement Plate

55156129AB - BR LH Reinforcement Plate



Hope that helps you. Good luck.

 

[MVieira]

Thomas & wcoomes, Thanks for the help, I'll order the reinforcing plates tomorrow and a set of those darn X-mas tree door panel retainers. I guess Kool-Vue figures you are putting these on in place of the OEM manual towing mirrors and your truck already has the plates, I wish they sent some directions with the mirrors to explain this. One question I still have is the mounting bases have a raised plastic dowel that protrudes into the grommet area where the wiring goes through the door, maybe it will sink into the rubber and it won't be a problem.
Regards, Mike.

 

[wcoomes]

So how much are the moirrors and how much are the brackets? How do I check to see if the wiring is already in place on my truck?

 

[MVieira]

wcoomes, The Kool-Vue mirrors were around $176. 00 each and from the previous link the reinforcing brackets look to be about $10 to $12 each. I assume our trucks have the wiring in place with the harness for the power adjust but the only way to be sure is to see if you have an unused 6 pin square connector near the mirror area inside the door panel. Then you'll need the power adjust joy stick switch but from the previous post you'll need an expensive HVAC cluster to get the heated function.
Mike

 

[Thomas]

. . . how much are the brackets? . . .

Those that are "too lazy to click on the link" I posted above, or too lazy to read the link completely may miss the pricing information that the link contains.

 

[Ram4Sam]

So how much are the moirrors and how much are the brackets? How do I check to see if the wiring is already in place on my truck?

My 01. 5 that came with manual tow mirrors has the plugs. You can check fairly easy. On the door panel(either door) up by the mirror, take the screw out and carefully pull the top corner back a bit. Down six or eight inches or so there should be a white square plug(one inch or so) that is open. There are two on the driver door and one on the pass door.



Sam

 

[benhall]

I just installed mine this afternoon with help from Scrappy. In order to make these mirrors work, you need to do some dremel work, or else you will pinch the wiring. If you look at the two bottom studs, there is the aluminum webbing that gives the base it's strength. This webbing next to the front stud needs the clearancing to give the wires some room to get up to the hole in the door. If someone has a pic of that area, I can draw where this needs to be done.

Ben