Side View Mirror Advice

[Old Yeller 1970]

My truck was originally equipped with the mirror you see in the first photo. I had nothing but trouble with them because:
1. They wobble so much in the wind above 60MPH they are virtually useless and
2. Because they wobble so much, the mirror eventually rips off from the arm.

For the last few years I've had a set of chrome/plastic AutoZone mirrors attached where the 3 boltholes for the originals where. But they look cheap and now that I'm repainting the truck I want something that looks better.

I wouldn't mind reusing the original mirrors if someone has found a mirror that is more stable and won't break off in the wind. Maybe there is something better than the Wal-Mart mirrors I kept replacing the old ones with.

I've thought about filling in the holes in the door and going with the later model truck mirror in the second photo.

What do you think?

[CoolRide]

I would go with the smaller ones if it were me. I just took off my big ol trailer mirrors and put on some little custom made coffin mirrors. I had to fill over 70 holes anyway so I went to the smaller ones at the same time and they look SO much better I think.


CR

[Longhorn Man]

I have always run the stock arm like you pictured first... never had any problem with vibrating or anything, even with junk tires, and had one truck up towards 115 MPH, and the other two at about 100 - 1005 MPH... nothing fell off either one. (and yes, I held them at those speeds for more than just a couple miles) The photo shows a cheap generic wall mart one that was all plastic, i now have stainless with real glass...still no problems with the added weight.
For the mirror head, i like getting convex mirrors off big trucks. They are small anough on there that they don't look stupid, and I effectivly have 99.9% of the blind spots covered.

[1LoC10]

1005 holly molly...LOL
These are the ones I was thinking of getting
http://www.billetspecialties.com/ite...id=150&pid=796

[Old Yeller 1970]

Well I guess if it won't tear off at 1005 MPH it won't tear off period.

Maybe the round mirrors are more stable than the square ones. I bet that's why yours have done better.

[Longhorn Man]

LOL!!!! ok, make it 115.

[roughedup72]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

LOL!!!! ok, make it 115.

Glad you cleared that up for us at 1005 I think I would fall off. And deffinately be scared as hell to ride with you

[Frizzle Fry]

I think the 71-72 (I believe) sport mirrors that you have pictured second look great. How can you argue with this?

[jimmydean]

I am going with the sport mirrors myself. My stock '69 mirrors go crazy at anything above 40 and it drives me crazy.

[HeavyD]

Stock mirrors on my 70 also vibrate horribly. Sport mirrors look great.

['68OrangeSunshine]

The PO put '73 - '87 type rectangular mirrors on my '71 Jimmy. I didn't like them at first, but now I'm used to them. They're easy to find. The only problem is the gap in the middle of the attaching bracket. The '67-'72 door profile has a concave style about 4 ~ 5 inches below the door top. The '73- '87s are more rounded at the top.

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

I think the 71-72 (I believe) sport mirrors that you have pictured second look great. How can you argue with this?

Well OK, so I can't argue with it. I guess the other question I've had is where to mount them relative to the postion of my old ones. Judging from the pictures they should mount in approximately the same place.

Maybe I only need to fill in two holes, leave the third and then drill one more?

[67ChevyRedneck]

I just sold a brand new set of sport mirrors I just bought becuase I didn't like them I ordered a set of 67 style round mirrors. Do y'alls vibrate because your truck needs alignment/new tires or whatever, or because the mirrors are bad? If the whole body is vibrating, new sport mirrors will vibrate too New cab mounts will help this too.

[Old Yeller 1970]

I think I caught the mirrors you were selling over on the Buy/Sell page last night. lol But you already had a buyer by the time I saw it.

I think mine vibrated mainly because the mirror backing plate that attached to the arm wasn't stiff enough. Plus I was using the bigger square mirrors, which catch a lot more air, instead of the smaller round ones like Longhorn Man's.

Some of the problem was wind resistance on the mirror makes the door flex. That long arm allows the wind to create quite a bit of torque on the door and that lets the whole thing wobble back and forth.

Also, there is a brace inside the door just below the vent window that connects the inner and outer skin of the door. My driver side brace was broken, probably by the force of the mirror which made everything worse. However, the passenger side was still intact. It still wobbled in the wind at high speed but not as bad.

When I put on the cheap AutoZone mirrors there was still vibration at high speeds but it was tolerable. I could at least tell if I was being chased by blue lights or just a blue car.

[Ron]

Go with the smaller "Sport" mirrors. I have these on my 67. My 69 has the other long arm style and are a constant problem, the mirror is mounted securely but at any speed they vibrate and the vision becomes fuzzy.

[bouncytruck]

I put a new (repop) set of stock '69 mirrors with the large square heads on my '69 Blazer. I thought they looked great and they offered much more view area than the smaller sport mirrors. That being said, I think the sport mirrors look much better on a 2wd than the large head '69 mirrors.

[thecatseye66]

I eventually want to swap out the west coast jr mirrors for the old 67-70 long arm mirrors in stainless with square heads, but I can tell that the mounting design isn't very stable. I like the 71-72 sport mirrors--just not on the 67-68 trucks.

Has anyone ever made a larger, more stabilizing backing plate to make the mount more rigid? I though about using a longer strip of thick aluminum angle inside the door instead of the stock one that is only the same size as the mirror's mounting base. I think that might make the doorskin flex less than the stock setup.

[Longhorn Man]

OK, you guys are gonna think I'm full of it now, but I don't even have the backing plates on mine right now, and I have been considering not putting one in there at all.
Mine are just held in with sheet metal screws driven into the door skin.

[Duffy]

Longhorn Man is right on. I have my sport mirrors attached with the screws that came with the kit. I just drilled small pilot holes and ran the screws right into the sheet metal. Its been that way for 3 years now with problems.

Duffy

[Longhorn Man]

that's the thing duffy...I have the old style, not the 71/72 'sport' mirrors. (Who the heck started calling them that anyways? They are simply 71/72 mirrors)

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

OK, you guys are gonna think I'm full of it now, but I don't even have the backing plates on mine right now, and I have been considering not putting one in there at all.
Mine are just held in with sheet metal screws driven into the door skin.

I think your using Voodoo.

[Old Yeller 1970]

I appreciate all the input about which mirrors to use. I think I'd be happier with the 71-72 mirrors.

That leads me to one more question. Do I locate them over the existing holes for the original mirrors or are they positioned differently. I though if someone could pull a tape measure from the leading edge of the door back to the first and second screws in the 71-72 mirrors that would give me a good enough idea of where to put them.

[john]

There is some mounting info and pics here

[Old Yeller 1970]

Perfect, that's just what I needed.

[krue]

Now it's in FAQ.