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I tried a search but it did not get me anywhere. Im looking for a pair of original truck mirrors that came off a flatbed or one of the larger 1956 Ford trucks. I have a flatbed project that is going to need the extended mirrors and I would like to consider extended stock mirrors before I purchase west coast junior mirrors or something similar.
I remember some old threads that talked about them, but I cant find it. I have heard they come up on ebay now and again, but not often. I will keep my eyes peeled for the heads. Can you post a picture of what the arms and heads look like so I will know if I find the correct ones?
Good luck and If I find any heads I will let you know. If you find anything, let me know too!
I have not committed to this style yet, but I like the mounting arms they have better than the after market. I actually like the west coast juniors better, but really dont like the sheet metal screw mounts in the door skin.
I am in the process of doing a cab rebuild and need to know soon so I can weld up the stock mirror holes if I go with the west coast or similar mirrors.
Very active forum member, Bob Jones has a very nice article on his most excellent, site RE mirrors. The '56 original style could be similar, although much simpler without the hinge mount. Old style truck mirror bracket
Here are some pics of what you are looking for. The green truck is mine and I won't sell the mirrors. The Top pic is a head I had before I painted it black. The mint in box one is an NOS one I saw on ebay once and it was out of my price range!
Good luck. I would suggest you look in the dry south west. The mirror arms survive longer than the heads. Even my truck when I bought it from Grandpa in 1977 had aftermarket heads on the original arms.
Now, remember you don't have to cover that hole in the door if you decide not to go with stock mirrors. Ford made a rubber plug that covered the hole very nicely. These are reproduced. You will find Mid-fifty sells them.
Here is a factory promotion photo of a 54 Tandem with the stock mirrors. They sure couldn't see much out of these mirrors on the big trucks could they?
It looks like he had the brace that secured the telescoping arm also. I have a pair of NOS mounted on Albatross. They have the braces too. I added convex spot mirrors because I couldn't see enough to satisfy my craving for backing into mailboxes. Long story..
I know it's 'off year', but my 58 f600 fire truck has the most beautiful set of west coast mirrors ever. I have researched it and find that a set of 'Grote 61000-5 mirrors are pretty much an exact match. They have a ribbed back, are painted white and have radiused corners. Totally old school and I mean when I back up the f600, it's like a back-up camera.....
My flatbed is a mini. Its an F-250 long box that hauled grain in Great Falls, MT. Im going for the big truck look but with a smaller truck. I think the full size west coast might dwarf the truck so I was looking at the west coast juniors or stock. I will check out the Grote and maybe look for smaller options if available.
I have two 56 Ford F-100's but I got a good deal on the 250 and I kind of got interested in doing the flatbed just for the experience before I do the F-100's. Both the F-100 are short boxes and many years ago I made the first one into a flatbed, which is going back to a stock bed with fenders.
So, with the flatbed, I converted the rear axel to duallies and dual wheel adaptors on the front. Now I want the big mirrors and smoke stacks to go with the duallies. Slowly but surely I will get there.
08-22-2014, 11:43 AM
