side mirror removal to replace mirror cap

[Viking42]

I miraculously got it back together, not without breaking half the tabs and what not. Took me 2 hours to figure the damn thing out... the motor housing easily snaps out of the mirror housing. There's a T10 Torx screw in the middle that also holds the motor housing to the mirror housing, and also acts in part to hold the halves of the motor together. After removing the motor entirely, I stared at it for awhile trying to see why it wouldn't go together... it's hard to explain. Basically the half with the actual motors has a notched ring all the way around, and this ring snaps inside of the other half. Not without a ton of prying and pressing force though. I can't believe it came apart, and I REALLY can't believe I got it back together. Was about to throw it across the driveway and go to the dealer this week to hopefully get a new one, but I couldn't find the part online and the numbers on the motor housing didn't lead to anything, so I figured I needed to fix it myself.

This was the 4th mirror I did. The first 3 went smooth as butter. I should have known something was up when this mirror didn't come apart as easily/quickly, yet I kept pulling... probably needed to use more heat, but maybe it was unavoidable. I have used the suction cup tool... wouldn't try it with anything else.

Facing the same now,
its just incredible how those two parts can ever fit together again

 

[AMorse]

I wanted to give a shoot out to those members on this thread that provided great step by step directions how to do this without breaking the mirrors. I did mine last weekend. I was a little nervous as I did not want to have to buy replacement mirrors or the mechanicals, but everything came off smoothly and went on with ease.

Thanks again.


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[Jako]

I purchased a heated passenger mirror assembly off of ebay to practice before attempting the mirrors on my Bighorn L2 Ram.
I followed the procedures as outlined in post #2 which is the manufacturers direction. In addition see post #5 and 11 as the instructions leave out a screw removal. With one big exception - I heated the mirror with a hair dryer prior to removal and also the tabs. I used my fingers (no thumbs) and tried to push my finger tips in as I gradually applied pressure on the mirror backing.
I am not the first to add heat but I would like to reinforce the need for the mirrors to be at an appropriate temperature.
The mirrors sat in 70 degrees prior to heating with the hair dryer and I worked the hair dryer around the perimeter of the glass from 7-10 minutes. I was expecting the tabs to be an easy squeeze but they were not and the hair dryer came back out. The tabs gave me more trouble than the mirror.
Picture #5 is blurry but it shows the location of the bottom tab of the cover which connects to the mirror housing similar to a hinge, no need to pry. I included pictures of the wires as some ended up disconnecting them and was not sure which went where.
I will probably wait for the 90+ sunny days to change covers. I'll take as much help as I can get.

Thanks to the OP and all other posters.

 

[Scott_65]

I purchased a heated passenger mirror assembly off of ebay to practice before attempting the mirrors on my Bighorn L2 Ram.
I followed the procedures as outlined in post #2 which is the manufacturers direction. In addition see post #5 and 11 as the instructions leave out a screw removal. With one big exception - I heated the mirror with a hair dryer prior to removal and also the tabs. I used my fingers (no thumbs) and tried to push my finger tips in as I gradually applied pressure on the mirror backing.
I am not the first to add heat but I would like to reinforce the need for the mirrors to be at an appropriate temperature.
The mirrors sat in 70 degrees prior to heating with the hair dryer and I worked the hair dryer around the perimeter of the glass from 7-10 minutes. I was expecting the tabs to be an easy squeeze but they were not and the hair dryer came back out. The tabs gave me more trouble than the mirror.
Picture #5 is blurry but it shows the location of the bottom tab of the cover which connects to the mirror housing similar to a hinge, no need to pry. I included pictures of the wires as some ended up disconnecting them and was not sure which went where.
I will probably wait for the 90+ sunny days to change covers. I'll take as much help as I can get.

Thanks to the OP and all other posters.

You’re not going to use the suction cup? It seems most had very good success rate including myself. Hope you get it done as it’s a nice change.

 

[Jako]

You’re not going to use the suction cup? It seems most had very good success rate including myself. Hope you get it done as it’s a nice change.

I have the black covers and purchased the billet silver covers from Avondale on ebay. I have to be careful with this forum and mods. At this time I'm OK with the black and not 100% sure of the change. When it comes time I will probably use a suction cup as an additional aid.

I really didn't have that much trouble removing the glass with just my finger tips and gradual pressure. From my experience and reading through the threads the temperature of the mirrors is critical for success. Not too many comments on the mirror cover tabs which seemed to be more of an issue for me. I felt more comfortable applying pressure to the tabs after applying heat with a hair dryer. I don't want to break the tabs when I remove the mirrors from the Ram. I keep my vehicles long term and never know if I would change back or if some damage happens to a cover.

 

[Scott_65]

When it comes time I will probably use a suction cup. I really didn't have that much trouble removing the glass with just my finger tips and gradual pressure. From my experience and reading through the threads the temperature of the mirrors is critical for success. Not too many comments on the mirror cover tabs which seemed to be more of an issue for me. I felt more comfortable applying pressure to the tabs after applying heat with a hair dryer.

I used a heat gun and just went around the perimeter of the actual mirror and then used the suction cup and it popped right out. I used a flat head screwdriver to push the tabs down on the old cover. I was initially very worried that I would break my mirrors and put this on the back burner for months but finally attempted it and it took all of 10 minutes to complete both sides. Good luck when you do it!

 

[Cmurdock]

Got a suction cup ready. Curious how you pull the mirror out. Quick jerk or slowly increase pressure?

 

[Scott_65]

Got a suction cup ready. Curious how you pull the mirror out. Quick jerk or slowly increase pressure?

Just a quick pull but only after thoroughly heating it and it’ll just pop out.

 

[Jako]

Got a suction cup ready. Curious how you pull the mirror out. Quick jerk or slowly increase pressure?

My post 205 explains what I had done. As per my post I think the most important thing is to apply heat.

 

[Cmurdock]

Thanks guys. Got a few beers in me and feeling brave

 

[Cmurdock]

Ok people. It’s a piece of cake to remove the mirrors without breaking them but doing it while keeping the wires attached is more of a challenge. I ripped out some wires from the connectors with my first attempt on the drivers side. I took a good look at the passenger side to see if I got everything back connected but we’ll see once I test the functions and wash it and get some water in there. Here is a tip for anyone trying this at home. Heat the center if the mirror where the attached photo shows the suction cup for 2-3 minutes. I used a hair dryer so it doesn’t need to get that hot. You are only trying to separate the mirror from the motor. Those are really small clips so it’s actually pretty easy with the heat and a suction cup. Have someone help and place their hands over the frame like the picture so you don’t pull out all of the wires.

 

[Cmurdock]

I must have screwed up the wires. Blind spot light doesn’t work on the drivers side and the passenger side is on all the time! I get the drivers side since I damaged the connector but anyone have an idea about the passenger side? All the connections were fine as well as the push connections

 

[Ramwreck2019]

Thanks To all the members who shared their experience and wrote Instructions. I used a suction cup and got mine changed yesterday without any breakage. Really have to pull harder than I would have expected to get those mirrors out.

 

[Cmurdock]

Hey all. I’ve replaced my drivers side mirror and have my original for sale if anyone needs one. I pulled the wires out of the connector for the blind spot warning plug so if you are comfortable soldering, it’ll save you $100 if you break the mirror while removing it. See the attached photos. Thanks.

 

[biglarrtpa]

Changed my chrome mirror caps from chrome to bodycolor today.
Used a different kind of suction cup, the ones they use to lift glass. Works even better than the dent puller suction cup because this one is more solid.
I heated up the mirror for about 5 minutes with the heat gun. I didn't even had to pull that hard.
No broken mirrors and both caps changed witin 30 minutes.
View attachment 45827
View attachment 45826

You just heated the mirror and pulled with the suction cup? No need to try to pop the internal clips off while you were doing it?

 

[Nsm42]

May i request help for a part number? I have a Rebel with power and heated mirrors, nothing else. What would be the correct part number for the passenger side mirror? Thank you very much.

 

[Oldsquishbag]

Thanks for the help! Couldn’t find a suction cup so I ended up using a mini plunger but the end result was the same. Slowly dechroming the Limited.

 

[mastermayhm]

I must have screwed up the wires. Blind spot light doesn’t work on the drivers side and the passenger side is on all the time! I get the drivers side since I damaged the connector but anyone have an idea about the passenger side? All the connections were fine as well as the push connections

i have the same issue you are having with your passenger side mirror.... did you resolve this?

 

[LoLo]

Used the suction cup method and had no issues. Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences on here!

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[Brookelf]

Im in the process of doing this now. I just removed my mirrors today it wasn't hard I just tilted them all the way down and stuck a screwdriver behind the mirror there's 2 clips on the corners that need to be lifted up you will feel the mirror release on the top when these clips are released then you just wiggle the mirror and the bottom clips release. I pick up my covers in the morning from the dealership they are $25.40 each here in Dallas at Dallas Dodge. Try your local dealer you might be able to save $10-$15 dollars compared to the ones the dealership sales on eBay.