towing mirrors how to secure them

tea spoon · Senior Member

towing mirrors how to secure them

Bicyclecamper · Guru

I have beauties from BCF, their like yours but you can tightened so much that they crush your mirror, have never in 5 years had one come off from a truck passing.

RickJ · Senior Member

Some of those mirror kits are very flimsy.

I bit the bullet and bought the Clearview Type mirror.
They are a copy of the real deal but mine seem good, they were cheaper, they remain where they should and give great vision.

rgren2 · Guru

RickJ wrote:
Some of those mirror kits are very flimsy.

I bit the bullet and bought the Clearview Type mirror.
They are a copy of the real deal but mine seem good, they were cheaper, they remain where they should and give great vision.

X2,I tried the strap on type mirrors, I bought Clearview, there were no copies that suited my vehicle then.

Long Weekend · Guru

I started with strap on mirrors secured by rubber straps. Not too bad but apart from not extending far enough out to give a good view to the rear the rubber straps perished quickly.

Next came the ratchet straps type. Those were a vast improvement on the rubber band type and could be extended out to give a good view. Suitable for occasional use, I found removing the mirror arm every time we stopped and drove around town, then refocusing it when starting to tow later on annoying. (A minor problem is that sometimes the webbing strap would vibrate with the slipstream - the first time it happened I stopped and checked all tyres. The solution was to slip a small piece of sponge between the strap and door panel.)

Now, like RickJ I have Clearviews. Pull out to tow, slide in to drive around town, pull out again to tow and the mirrors are still in focus. And pushed in they are better than the standard door mirrors for driving in town and city traffic. And they are electrical adjusted to focus correctly.

By the way, while I haven't heard of anyone being booked for it, but it is actually against the law to drive with the mirrors extended out past a certain distance when not towing. Why take a chance of being the first one and make sure that that mirrors are retracted when driving around town.

Murray

dieseltojo · Senior Member

Yep... remember the wonderful contraptions of the bar across the bonnet with a couple of shaky mirrors on each end?....Dents at the fixing points in the bonnet of the old HQ...?

Pretty hard to not justify the clear-views that don't move and give a great view.

The expense tuns a lot more minimal over time in a vehicle I bought in 2004.... The mirrors are still perfect.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

tea spoon wrote:
i have towing mirrors 2 clips at top 2 at bottom they have a thin elastic string i think to stop them if they fall of due to truck wind..........is there a better way ........i have lost one on a trip it blew off due to truck passing me .....has anyone got a bright idea for this i wonder

G'day Cliff,

I know what you have asked and noticed the answers you received but really, I don't think there is any real good answer to your question. I will add my bit though.

Like others have mentioned, I also have the Clear Views. I had them put on before I even got the Aluminium Tent listed below, in readiness. I would say they are the best thing I have ever purchased. They are so easy to adjust for towing and so easy to go back to not towing. The view is second to none and well, clear.

I would never leave home without them.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

yobarr · Guru

Clearview.

Do it once, Do it well. Cheers

Tones · Veteran Member

When all else fails, gaffer tape is your friend.

Tones

Magnarc · Guru

Dougwe wrote:
tea spoon wrote:
i have towing mirrors 2 clips at top 2 at bottom they have a thin elastic string i think to stop them if they fall of due to truck wind..........is there a better way ........i have lost one on a trip it blew off due to truck passing me .....has anyone got a bright idea for this i wonder

G'day Cliff,
I know what you have asked and noticed the answers you received but really, I don't think there is any real good answer to your question. I will add my bit though.
Like others have mentioned, I also have the Clear Views. I had them put on before I even got the Aluminium Tent listed below, in readiness. I would say they are the best thing I have ever purchased. They are so easy to adjust for towing and so easy to go back to not towing. The view is second to none and well, clear.gie
I would never leave home without them.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Me too Dougie.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

Most are recommending Clearview but they cost quite a bit of money.

I have milenco grand aero and they haven't come off (although I haven't done huge distances driving with them on). They have clamps that go on the plastic surround of the mirrors. Of course, they could come off seeing as they are only clamped on, but I just check that they are firmly attached before I get going and they seem quite secure.

The price is way better than Clearview, they are around $150-ish. If you are touring Australia, spend up on Clearview, but if you are just weekending away, maybe give something less expensive a go first.

rgren2 · Guru

tea spoon wrote:
i have towing mirrors 2 clips at top 2 at bottom they have a thin elastic string i think to stop them if they fall of due to truck wind..........is there a better way ........i have lost one on a trip it blew off due to truck passing me .....has anyone got a bright idea for this i wonder

You could try Velcro style straps, I purchased a big bunch of them off evilbay a while ago, they have an eye at one end that you can use to lengthen them, they are about 200-250mm long and about 15mm wide. They have a myriad of uses.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Long Weekend wrote:
A minor problem is that sometimes the webbing strap would vibrate with the slipstream

When tying anything down with webbing, put half a twist in the webbing to spill the air.

You will see a spiral design on extremely tall building so the air doesn't destroy the building from oscillation.

You will see the sub towers spiralling heights increase as they go around Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

The same principle to spill air in one direction.

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

I'm going to get MSA mirrors when I escape Tasmania! They are a bit cheaper than Clearview but don't look like elephants ears! I know they are made in "C"!

The clip on types - a lot depends on the window rubber profile - the rubbers on the D-Max are the same as the GQ Patrol but different to the GU. I had Aussie Truck mirrors on the GU but they would destroy the D-Max rubbers. So I fitted the English ones that lots of people are using - they are not perfect & I hate to think what a new mirror housing would cost from Isuzu!