Dodge towing mirrors on an OBS

[glovemeister]

Alright gents what you have all been waiting for!






I went around the edge and went slow and tack welded the corners and a few more in between. I didn't up the paint really at all. The mirror overhang covers most of that and then the weatherstrip or windshield sealant I use to seal it up tight will let you see none of that.

Inside view with mirror mounted




Instead of doing it how people do it and weld the entire edge and have to do body work/paint of the plate I did one step further. I traced a cardboard template the exact size of the mirror, painted it black. and then took my grinder until the plate fit slightly inside the mirror base, so I would have a bit of an over hang of the mirror itself. I also took a file carefully to a couple edges of the mirror itself so it fit flush. With my plate size it fits the mirror exactly and I do not need to mess around with painting like those guys do when they have several inches of plate showing. You can not see any portion of my plate.

I then marked my large stud hole (when you get mirrors you will see one of the holes is longer. Once I had that I then marked the other 3 holes, for the mounting bolts from plate to mirror. I put that at the front of the vent window (just gotta kind of eyeball it), and then marked 4 locations for self tapping sheetmetal screws (I used a diamond pattern and they hit solid meat). My location is also in a recess inside the mirror itself so it doesn't effect mounting. I then weld around the outside of the plate with my mig and tacked it on the upper and lower corners and just about anywhere else I felt necessary. I then tacked my screw heads so they wouldn't back out. Pulled the vent window back so I could access my plate, and was able to get 2 bolts into the mirror. Refix vent/door panel.

I am going around the outside of my mirror where you see that .25 gap or so, with black butyl windshield sealant, or weatherstrip to make all that look factory and protect it from rust where I hit with the welds. I plan to touch up the paint a bit, but if you are careful with the mig and keep the heat low you will not mess up your paint too bad.

I would highly recommend that you use a mig, or at the least a wire feed. My two pieces of advice, keep the temp low, and wire feed accordingly. I used the chart on the door, which called for like 90 amp, and 120 wire speed. I ended up using 100 wire speed and like 80 amps. It seemed to do the trick. I wanted to avoid blowouts, and warping the metal, or burning the paint off farther than what my seal would cover.

[351fifty]

how do they perform at highway speed? any wobble or vibration while headed down the highway?, looks good glove

[nine6stroker]

Nice write-up. Are the mounts strong enough to withstand being folded in and out? I'm not talking the mirrors themselves being flipped up or down, but the whole mirror being swung in or out. I just like being able to fold my mirrors in when I go wheeling, the trails can get pretty narrow sometimes.

[CrazyCanadianDad]

When the mirrors are folded down how does the pass post in the door affect it?? If we got power mirrors we should be able to get them to hook in too right??

[glovemeister]

Originally Posted by 351fifty

how do they perform at highway speed? any wobble or vibration while headed down the highway?, looks good glove

Yes there is some vibration. A small bit at idle. I see no real way that I can remedy the vibration aspect as even with my stock mirrors they vibrated the same or perhaps worse, and they had isolators on the mounts. This one has the soft foam between mount and mirror, but still has abit of vibration. I road tested today with really strong winds. I was fearing that they would rip the screws out and bust my tacks, but no. With the wind they vibrated a pretty decent amount, but once the wind was off they were fine.

I also took pics with the mirrors down, and then road tested the way home. The vibration is lessened with the mirrors folded in, and I have to retract my previous statements about flipped down looking like crap. They look pretty damn good but nothing like flipped up.

[glovemeister]

Originally Posted by nine6stroker

Nice write-up. Are the mounts strong enough to withstand being folded in and out? I'm not talking the mirrors themselves being flipped up or down, but the whole mirror being swung in or out. I just like being able to fold my mirrors in when I go wheeling, the trails can get pretty narrow sometimes.

Yep, that was the first thing I tested. My idea wasn't something to work 60% of the time. I needed that ability to flip them in (the actual mount). That works fantastic with no flex to speak of. The mirrors also fold up and down pretty easy too. Again no flex there.

[glovemeister]

Originally Posted by CrazyCanadianDad

When the mirrors are folded down how does the pass post in the door affect it?? If we got power mirrors we should be able to get them to hook in too right??

It doesn't I drove home today with them flipped down and took some pics of them down from inside and outside of the truck, looks pretty damn good.

Power mirrors are outside of my area of expertise. I'd surmise that if you had to you would simply drill a hole the diameter of your power wires and then run them through that hole and then down into your door and go with them wherever you want.

[glovemeister]

Pics of mirrors folded down. I retract my previous statement of them looking like garbage, not as nice as up, but still very nice.

[digicam_obs]

dude those just look sweet! I like them!

[atvrider93]

looks to me like the window post sits right in the middle of the mirror with it flipped down. looks like a pretty good install though!