Well, it was bound to happen - another truck's mirror hit my mirror!

[jdmartin]

I had kind of thought it was only a matter of time before my truck, with the tow mirrors, and another truck with the tow mirrors, hit each other driving down the road - I live in a mountainous area and a lot of roads aren't terribly wide. Well, yesterday it happened. It was the other guy's fault - turned out to be a kid about 20 with a big jacked-up Ram, also with tow mirrors, and he was riding the line. I kind of saw it coming but had nowhere to go. Sounded like a shotgun blast, mirror folded in from the impact and shattered pieces went everywhere. He stopped, I stopped, turned around and went back. He apol ogized for riding too close to the line. Could have called the cops but then would have had to rely on him admitting he was too close to the line to the cops - otherwise it was just each of our words and mirror to mirror contact, so I let him roll. Dealership quoted me $490 to replace it, which is less than my deductible so it looks like I'm doing this one myself.

Thought about swapping to the smaller mirrors but I think I'm just going to replace my tow mirror. I didn't realize the tow mirrors are a lot rarer than the regular mirrors - I'm having a hell of a time finding a new one; my dealer said 45 to 60 days before it would come in.

 

[jdmartin]

Well, I couldn't find a factory mirror anywhere without buying the passenger one too, so I bought a Trail Ridge one for now for $135 that looks (at least in the pictures) identical to mine. I did some searches on the Trail Ridge and most people said they were good quality and identical to the OEM mirrors, so I will post a review once I get it in. I'll likely get a factory mirror again once they start making parts unless this thing is really as good as an OEM. Most aftermarket mirrors are not as good as factory.

 

[jdmartin]

So today my replacement Trail Ridge mirror arrived. I haven't pulled the old one off and put them side by side yet - we have 7 days of nice dry weather coming so I plan on doing it this weekend - but at first glance the quality appears excellent. The mirrors didn't look funky looking into them, the plastic appears to have a color and texture that's identical to the OEM mirrors, the blinker light cover and puddle lamp appear to match the OEM ones exactly. So when I get the old one pulled off I'll put them side by side, take a couple of pictures and post it up here.

 

[Willwork4truck]

I had kind of thought it was only a matter of time before my truck, with the tow mirrors, and another truck with the tow mirrors, hit each other driving down the road - I live in a mountainous area and a lot of roads aren't terribly wide. Well, yesterday it happened. It was the other guy's fault - turned out to be a kid about 20 with a big jacked-up Ram, also with tow mirrors, and he was riding the line. I kind of saw it coming but had nowhere to go. Sounded like a shotgun blast, mirror folded in from the impact and shattered pieces went everywhere. He stopped, I stopped, turned around and went back. He apol ogized for riding too close to the line. Could have called the cops but then would have had to rely on him admitting he was too close to the line to the cops - otherwise it was just each of our words and mirror to mirror contact, so I let him roll. Dealership quoted me $490 to replace it, which is less than my deductible so it looks like I'm doing this one myself.

Thought about swapping to the smaller mirrors but I think I'm just going to replace my tow mirror. I didn't realize the tow mirrors are a lot rarer than the regular mirrors - I'm having a hell of a time finding a new one; my dealer said 45 to 60 days before it would come in.

Well that sucks! I have cringed a couple times seeing those elephant ears coming at me and I don’t even have tow mirrors!

 

[Willwork4truck]

So today my replacement Trail Ridge mirror arrived. I haven't pulled the old one off and put them side by side yet - we have 7 days of nice dry weather coming so I plan on doing it this weekend - but at first glance the quality appears excellent. The mirrors didn't look funky looking into them, the plastic appears to have a color and texture that's identical to the OEM mirrors, the blinker light cover and puddle lamp appear to match the OEM ones exactly. So when I get the old one pulled off I'll put them side by side, take a couple of pictures and post it up here.

Thanks for the details.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

You're way more casual about it then I would have been! Kudos to your attitude, wish more people were as easy going.

This is one of the reasons I have dashcams in my cars. If the kid had been a jerk, and you decided to call the cops, it wouldn't have been a him-vs-you, it'd been him-vs-video evidence.

 

[saylor]

if the housing is OK you can get a replacement glass for cheap or junkyard a tow mirror

 

[jdmartin]

You're way more casual about it then I would have been! Kudos to your attitude, wish more people were as easy going.

This is one of the reasons I have dashcams in my cars. If the kid had been a jerk, and you decided to call the cops, it wouldn't have been a him-vs-you, it'd been him-vs-video evidence.

Thanks. I wasn't thrilled about it but the kid was technically in his lane; I think he just didn't realize how far over his mirrors were hanging. In any case I file it under the heading "**** happens" - I'd like to hang around on the planet for a little while longer and I'm already too high strung so I don't want to induce any heart attack . Around here in the mountains (even though this was in town) the roads are narrow and it's not hard for this stuff to happen.

I like the idea of the dashcam, though. Maybe one day I'll get around to installing something like that. But who knows, maybe the dash cam would have showed that my eyesight was bad and I was the one hanging my mirror over the line

 

[jdmartin]

if the housing is OK you can get a replacement glass for cheap or junkyard a tow mirror

No, I wish - the housing was totally trashed. The blinker still works; it's just tucked down into what's left of the housing. The big mirror stayed on and still works but is busted in a bunch of spots. The little mirror flung off somewhere into the Twilight Zone. I walked the area where he hit me but didn't see it anywhere, and I looked on both sides of the road, in the yards, in the ditch, in the road. It must have flown so far I wouldn't see it.

 

[Yangster]

Thanks. I wasn't thrilled about it but the kid was technically in his lane; I think he just didn't realize how far over his mirrors were hanging. In any case I file it under the heading "**** happens" - I'd like to hang around on the planet for a little while longer and I'm already too high strung so I don't want to induce any heart attack . Around here in the mountains (even though this was in town) the roads are narrow and it's not hard for this stuff to happen.

I like the idea of the dashcam, though. Maybe one day I'll get around to installing something like that. But who knows, maybe the dash cam would have showed that my eyesight was bad and I was the one hanging my mirror over the line

I have a dashcam just for that purpose and for proving I didn't run a red light! I'll reinstall it on the Longhorn when it comes it. It is really small and inconspicuous. It's a Blackvue 750, costs a little more, but the size makes it worth it.

 

[HemiDude]

That sucks! I was going under a small old tunnel style bridge years ago and hit mirros with a moving van - wow that gets your attention! Glad you didn't damage your door or driver's window

 

[jdmartin]

Well, I got my new mirror installed today. For posterity's sake, I'm going to create a new thread for it with pictures and will link back here.

 

[Zig10]

It sucks that it took so much damage. I've gone mirror-to-mirror with other vehicles with some of my past trucks on tight roads and never had much more than a scuff because the mirror folded in on impact. Guess the speed and the size of the tow mirrors did you in on that one.
Nice to know the aftermarket unit matches so well...and nice to turn it into a positive by making a DIY thread out of it!