towing mirrors

Got my McKesh mirrors today and plan on installing them tonight or tomorrow.

McKesh mirrors

First drive with our new McKesh mirrors installed. Great results. No vibration shimmy, slight wind noise, no strap slap, recommend the convex mirrors - provided great coverage; the quality of the mirror glass is super - great imaging and coverage of highway. Satisfied with the cost vs actual item quality. You do get what you pay for. Will attach follow-up after next trip.

Frank

TrulyOregon said:

First drive with our new McKesh mirrors installed. Great results. No vibration shimmy, slight wind noise, no strap slap, recommend the convex mirrors - provided great coverage; the quality of the mirror glass is super - great imaging and coverage of highway. Satisfied with the cost vs actual item quality. You do get what you pay for. Will attach follow-up after next trip.

Frank

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Glad to hear about the mirrors. We will let all know how they work on our trip a week from tomorrow. We are going to J & R trailer in Butler Ohio. I think it's about a 550 mile trip one way from our house. We are going up there on the 29th. Gonna be a short trip compared to our next one to the west Coast, that we are leaving for on April 12th

Well, we got on the road with the trailer and hit highway speed. At 40+ MPH, the driver side strap hit its vibration peak and drove me crazy until DW broke out the iPad and found a quick cure: twist the strap between the window & door pad. But interestingly, the passenger side didn't vibrate, because, IMHO, the strap was cranked closer to the door, I.e. Over the top from the window. While The vibration was driving me nuts, I looked at the bracket where the crank is and realized that the crank comes apart and can be relocated on the other side of the bracket, thereby bringing the driver side strap closer to the door. Phew! Got that? So, between twisting the strap and relocating the crank, no vibration at any speed. I'll take pictures when we return home if all this doesn't make sense.
Frank

TrulyOregon said:

First drive with our new McKesh mirrors installed. Great results. No vibration shimmy, slight wind noise, no strap slap, recommend the convex mirrors - provided great coverage; the quality of the mirror glass is super - great imaging and coverage of highway. Satisfied with the cost vs actual item quality. You do get what you pay for. Will attach follow-up after next trip.

Frank

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By the way. How did they work as far as where they attach to the top of your door? You know. Where the angled piece slides down between the glass and door over the rubber window scraper. It flattens that down. Any suggestions?

Tom,

I haven't found any temporary mirrors in the US that I am interested in purchasing at this time. With that said, I am looking forward to seeing your McKesh mirrors when we meet up in April.

I am actually thinking about permanently installing Dodge Truck convertible towing mirrors on my Tacoma. I will say that there has been quite a bit of discussion about this at home. Something along the lines of "You want to do WHAT?".

I will have the trailer put back together in April, but I suspect the mirror issue will get resolved later in the summer.

It flattened the seal a bit but it returned to original shape with mirrors removed. It does require care when you have to roll up a window. I really enjoyed the great field of view, the convex mirrors, and the clear, shake-free vision of all traffic behind and next to me.

I posted comments for the trip we're on now. We had major strap vibrations but received a helpful tip: remove strap from crank, twist the strap between the window and door pad, reinstall strap to crank. Vibration cured. Also, the cranks can be relocated to the other side of the plate making it easier to tighten the straps. This places the crank away from the trucks mirror. I'll post pics when we return.
Frank

Question....

I think it is semi silly everyone is so worried about the extended mirror might wiggle a bit at highway speeds?

I think you all are going to find, that Even if you permanently mounting your own wider stance mirrors, like I have done many years ago (when the term west coast mirrors meant "Blind Spot" out the front corners if you know what I mean) yet I could see around the camper... they wiggle, hell even on the 66 f250, with thick sheetmetal doors of the day, they wiggle a bit.

Anything we do today, they'll wiggle a bit at highway speeds. I've driven semi's, grain trucks, motorhomes, trucks and cars of all kinds... they might wiggle a little.

I even spent the $70 or 80 bucks for those custom add on from Cipa I use now on the dakota as well as the 3/4 ton diesel. IMHO, they wiggle a little too. I have used cheapie the jcwhitney strap on models, they are better than nothing, they will wiggle in less wind & I have lost one somewhere in Oklahoma, before I got the customs though, but they are cheap...

My pop likes thes cipa 11960's that clip on and twist a knob to tighten. again they may not be rock solid like MOST truck's tucked in little mirrors?

I'm just sayin'

that much sticking out in the wind, that far, is not going to sit perfectly still. when you are driving, you dont need to see the guys face clearly, your not trying to read his tag... lol. All you are trying to determine is someone is back of you and or overtaking you etc.

My $0.02 anyhow.

I received my new McKesh mirrors today assembled and adjusted them to fit my 2008 Frontier's doors. I opted for the convex wide angle optional mirrors for each side ... if I cant see everything I want in the mirrors now I'll have to stick my head out the window and take a look! For some reason I couldn't rotate the images so you will have to rotate your head for the proper perspective.

Do they vibrate? Well I can't say as of yet but they are certainly constructed much better than the old plastic ones I bought at Kragen, which coincidently one of the attachment straps has all-ready broken after only four trips. If they do vibrate I can't imagine that they will be nearly as bad as the old ones!

And take Jack's advice and put a little vinyl tape under the pad points to prevent scratching.

I agree with your pop, Sting. The Cipa thumb knob slip-ons are great! But, I think they are only made for Ford, Dodge and Chevy. Mine hardly wiggle at all.

Also, the kind like TrulyOregon has are like the ones I had for my Nissan Frontier. They didn't wiggle much either (but I had them cranked "really tight").

Edit: John, and anyone else using the strap on kind of mirror - I mentioned this once before, but I'm going to repeat it. Put some plastic tape (I used clear plastic tape) under the area on the door where that "pad" sits. If you don't, dirt will get under it and there will be tiny movement of the pad, which will damage your paint. I just left the plastic tape in place when I wasn't towing. It was hardly visible.

- Jack

Don't forget to make a little extra space at toll booths, drive thru windows, and ATMs. I guess you shouldn't be towing through ATMs or windows.

RichR said:

Don't forget to make a little extra space at toll booths, drive thru windows, and ATMs. I guess you shouldn't be towing through ATMs or windows.

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Very good point. Well, picked up the Hi-Lo this morning, with snow on the ground here,from it's winter hibernation at the storage yard. Was planning on working a little on the inside tomorrow, getting ready for our West Coast trip. Now, we are scheduled to have 4 more inches of snow tomorrow.