jdmartin
Ram Guru
OK, well for those who were following along, a kid in a jacked up truck shattered my driver's mirror with his mirror (both tow, both Rams). After looking around for a bit I couldn't find any Ram tow mirrors that I wouldn't have to wait several months for so I ordered an aftermarket Trail Ridge from A1-auto. Mirror cost me $150 including taxes, shipping was free, so it was about a $200 part saving over the Ram mirror plus I didn't have to wait 2-3 months.
Before the install:
1. Go to Ram and buy some door panel and bezel plastic clips. I'd get 4 or 5 of them for sure.
2. Put the window down. This is easier to do if you can reach through the door.
So the install:
1. Remove the door panel. This requires removing 2 10mm bolts near the door pull and one by the door handle. To get at these you have to pop the plastic covers off. You need a very small flat-head to get these off. The one by the door handle pops pretty easy but the one by the door pull it's hard to get any leverage to pop it because the door pull is in the way. To prevent destroying the little pop tab I pressed it in a little bit and just popped it from the side with my screwdriver. When I got the covers off, all of my bolts were just barely tightened - I didn't even need the ratchet handle to get one of them started. Then pop the power window switch out from the top - it just pries out - and unhook the connector.
2. Start popping the door panel off. Start from the bottom. Even with a panel tool (I have one) you are probably going to break some of the clips. I ended up breaking 2 or 3 on the door panel and one on the bezel that has to come off to install the mirror. There's no good way to get at the top ones so those are the most likely to break. Once you have the door panel completely popped from the clips, pop the door lock out of the white plastic holder and push it through the panel. Then you have to unhook the cable that attaches to the door handle. Grab a needle nose pliers and squeeze the 2 clips on the plastic holder, which will release it from the holder and let you pull the cable out of the handle. See this picture:
Before the install:
1. Go to Ram and buy some door panel and bezel plastic clips. I'd get 4 or 5 of them for sure.
2. Put the window down. This is easier to do if you can reach through the door.
So the install:
1. Remove the door panel. This requires removing 2 10mm bolts near the door pull and one by the door handle. To get at these you have to pop the plastic covers off. You need a very small flat-head to get these off. The one by the door handle pops pretty easy but the one by the door pull it's hard to get any leverage to pop it because the door pull is in the way. To prevent destroying the little pop tab I pressed it in a little bit and just popped it from the side with my screwdriver. When I got the covers off, all of my bolts were just barely tightened - I didn't even need the ratchet handle to get one of them started. Then pop the power window switch out from the top - it just pries out - and unhook the connector.
2. Start popping the door panel off. Start from the bottom. Even with a panel tool (I have one) you are probably going to break some of the clips. I ended up breaking 2 or 3 on the door panel and one on the bezel that has to come off to install the mirror. There's no good way to get at the top ones so those are the most likely to break. Once you have the door panel completely popped from the clips, pop the door lock out of the white plastic holder and push it through the panel. Then you have to unhook the cable that attaches to the door handle. Grab a needle nose pliers and squeeze the 2 clips on the plastic holder, which will release it from the holder and let you pull the cable out of the handle. See this picture:
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. I prefer the old days of a regular screw and a plastic cap to hide it, or just have a nice bolt head and leave it exposed.
