Mirrors for Tow vehicle. Any suggestions?

He and I and a cat named Sly · Member

Mirrors for Tow vehicle. Any suggestions?

Cupie · Guru

Hi ...

I strongly suggest that you avoid any of the clip on types & look at ones like Aussie Truck mirrors. Sure they have contact with the door panel but I have not heard of any resulting damage to paint work.

The important factor is that you are able to see the rear corners of your van. If you can't then the mirror is not much good.

I use one of those magnifying stick ons on the kerbside mirror so that I can monitor how the van wheels are going WRT the road/lane edge or any 'inside' overtaking vehicles. Its too far away for my eyes to easily pick up stuff with the normal mirror. As long as you take into account the distance distortion factor you will have no trouble with these. If they are not too large then you can still use the normal towing mirror as well.

I adjust the Patrol mirrors to focus on the leading parts of the van as well.

Hopes this helps.

-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 23rd of July 2010 07:16:32 PM

justcruisin01 · Guru

Cuppie is on the money with this one, If your car mirrors are the folding type then a clip on type will cause them to fold back & down with the extra weight & wind drag.
I use the aussie truck type, had them for years with no probs.

goinsoon · Guru

Cupie wrote:

Hi ...

I strongly suggest that you avoid any of the clip on types & look at ones like Aussie Truck mirrors. Sure they have contact with the door panel but I have not heard of any resulting damage to paint work.

The important factor is that you are able to see the rear corners of your van. If you can't then the mirror is not much good.

I use one of those magnifying stick ons on the kerbside mirror so that I can monitor how the van wheels are going WRT the road/lane edge or any 'inside' overtaking vehicles. Its too far away for my eyes to easily pick up stuff with the normal mirror. As long as you take into account the distance distortion factor you will have no trouble with these. If they are not too large then you can still use the normal towing mirror as well.

I adjust the Patrol mirrors to focus on the leading parts of the van as well.

Hopes this helps.

-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 23rd of July 2010 07:16:32 PM

I have the Camec equivelant to the Aussie Truck, fantastic and no damage

Ma · Guru

We have those ones too and no damage. Also have the little stick on ones on the main tug mirror as well. All work well.

Sandra K · Senior Member

We have the Aussie Truck mirrors, have not had any damage to the duco of our vehicle.

Delta18 · Guru

We also have a Triton 2010 and I use the 'clip-on' mirrors quite successfully. There is a Allen Screw adjustment under your mirror if you have an issue with fold back but I never have needed to adjust it.

I do also have a camera mounted on the rear of the van which, being slightly 'fish-eye' shows the rear corners of the van.

I like these mirrors as I can whip them off in seconds when going off without the van in towns.

Cheers Neil

jandas fun · Guru

We also use the "clip on" mirrors,and have had them blow back on the drivers window, maybe 3 or 4 times over 25,000k. certainly wakes you up. otherwise no problems.

This site has some info. www.lets-getaway.com/towing-mirrors.htm

Johnw

petengail · Guru

i have a set of clip on mirrors and yes the one on the driver side blew off - it wont hold tension on the strap - and yes it scratched the door of the new ute...

Cruising Granny · Guru

I have strap on mirrors with the long rod, attached to the existing mirrors.
They only blew in once, and a few well-placed cable ties secured the mirror and it's not moved since.
The most important thing about these towing mirrors is to make sure you can see the rear corners of the van.
I use the tug's mirrors to watch wheels, and the tow mirrors to see wider, beyond that.

Apparently it now pays to watch where your wheels are in Qld.
I've recently heard it's against the law to drive ON the fog line. The fine is quite hefty and you lose points.
Nobody knows why it's against the law. It just is.
Although in Qld I have a suspicion it's to protect the crusty black top edges from being broken off. Better to fine the driver than to fix the roads.

Hylda&Jon · Guru

We use the clip on mirrors that ,Jandas Fun' had the link to. It's so easy to remove the mirrors when unhitching the van at towns, I just loosen 2 wingnuts & slide the bars out leaving the clamps still attached to the mirrors. They've worked fine for us for the past 10 months of travel & there cheap too.

Cheers
Jon

-- Edited by Hylda&Jon on Saturday 24th of July 2010 08:01:39 PM

Zoomtopz · Guru

Granny & Others .
I believe the "fog" line is the same as an Un-broken centre line . Because it is
Un-broken you are Not to cross it . Did you know , If , I were to pull over and
let you pass where there are double lines & fog line , you still have to o/take
over th double lines . No common sense in that . Found that out from NSW
Hi-Way patrol after I pulled over to let a half a doz cars past , I backed off ,
pulled over let them past , pulled back on , he saw it . Did not book me .
Just let me know . As for me , I paid $650 , 15y ago to put decent truck
mirrors on my old Inter , had to have new brackets made , inside support
as well , all added up .

He and I and a cat named Sly · Member

Thanks heaps everyone. Certainly gives us something to think about (there really is sooo much to think about) but we're getting there. May go for the Aussie truck ones. Again, thanks, and look forward to seeing you on the road.

Zoomtopz · Guru

I look at it this way Gav . it is like it says on the back of some semi's -"if you can't see
my mirrors , I can't see you" . We can see everything in front of us . I reckon , what's
behind us is equally as important as well , especially backing into tight spots , or
having to turn around in a tight spot , it's not like getting out & bouncing th box
trailer over a bit .

He and I and a cat named Sly · Member

Very good comment Zoomtop. Better safe than sorry.
Gav smile

flasher · Member

i have got a set of ozzie truck mirrors with wide angle lenses on the outerside of the mirror head and are really good and can see just about everything around me .cost about $120 at caravan show but well worth it

discodriva · Member

Whether clip on mirrors work or not is probably dependent on the strength of your tug's mirrors. We have been using the same pair of clip ons (by ORA) for almost 5 years on our Disco 2. They are steady, have never come loose, come off or blown back. We find that they are easy and quick to fit and remove, and once adjusted and marked for left and right, very rarely need to be adjusted. We are currently at Tibooburra after lots of rough country roads and station tracks and they still work fine.

My son bought a set of Aussie Truck mirrors for his new Pajero, but changed to clip ons because of the paint and rubber damage they were causing, with no hassles to date.

But I wouldn't use them on my Falcon!

Going gone · Veteran Member

Hi Guys,
Cupie is right! We have been using the clip-on types and although I have tightened the straps and they can't come off, I have found they fold back with the wind gusts created by the larger trucks and road trains - a real nuisance! Each time this happens I have to let my window down (albeit electronically) and push them back in place. The stronger door types are my choice for future travels - just have to do some research to find the best ones...
All the best and hope this helps.
Going gone

Ma · Guru

We had that problem too GG with the original ones we had (like yours) but now have the ones that strap to the bottom of the door etc. Have found them to be really good and haven't caused any damage whatsoever to the doors or the duco.

He and I and a cat named Sly · Member

Thanks again everyone. A friend has just suggested we go with a camera at the rear of the van instead, that mirrors aren't really good enough. It seems quite expensive. Whilst we do want to be safe on the road, just where do you draw the line re all these additional things. Any thoughts??

Popeye · Senior Member

Well He and I and a cat named Sly it is very illegal not to have mirrors on your vehicle. You can have a camera on your van as a helper.