My 2001 mirrors were replaced at some point I think because there is a pigtail to convert the round wire harness to rectangular style.

Current mirrors the power does not adjust correctly and thes are loose, I am looking to replace both prices start about 120 and go up, I would like to keep the price below 150 shipped for the pair.

Anyone have a vendor, EBAY seller or retailer they could recommended or ones to stay clear of?

Thanks

 

I went to replace my mirrors because the driver's side was loose after having been "hit and run" on the mirror only by the garbage truck, but with no externally visible damage.

I removed the mirror, and thought... I should at least save the foam gasket for the mirror before I get rid of it, so I removed the gasket. What I found BEHIND the foam gasket that I didn't realize before is that there is a hidden nut in the center of the mirror assembly. I noticed this nut was applying pressure to two levers inside that had grease on them.

The grease gave me the clue that the two opposing levers were intended to move under the pressure of the torqued nut. Yet the nut had lost it's torque. I could almost spin it by hand. Acting on a hunch, I tightened this nut with a deep socket wrench, and then reinstalled the gasket which entirely hid this nut, and then reinstalled the same old mirror.

Voila! FIXED! The old mirror no longer wiggled around out of adjustment after driving like it used to. It holds it's position tight and true to the last setting I left it at, even over railroad tracks and bumpy expansion joints... tests the previously untightened mirror always failed.

So, if cost is an issue, I'd try first removing your old mirror, then removing the gasket (removal of the gasket is key) finding that center positioned nut, and tightening it a bit with a wrench. Make sure there is grease on the parts that put tension on the levers, which will be self evident. I think you will find that will fix the looseness issue.

Sure, I'd love to have the 2011 up Power Scope mirrors like my friend retrofitted to his 2002, but in the meantime, just having mirrors that work again is a blessing to be enjoyed, for no money spent at all. My next upgrade will be to install his old mirrors, which swing both ways. My mirrors only swing one way. They are probably older than yours. I need the round to square harness adapter to install the mirrors that swing both ways, so my old mirrors will do for now, especially now that I've learned how to repair them with such a simple fix.

 

1999 Ford F250 Super Duty Truck Power Heated Signal & Clearance Light Towing Telescoping Upgrade Mirror Pair at 1A Auto.com

Put your year truck in here and check for your needs.

 

I have these on the way for only $239:

That comes out to $120 each, when the cost to replace just the broken cover on one side was going to be $109.

Make sure you very carefully check that your replacements list the same options you have in your truck (heat, power, signals, etc).

 

I read that one of the Chinese knock off aftermarket towing mirror brands are made of all plastic structure inside (under the foam gasket), but I don't remember which brand it was.

Recently, I had a chance to see what the factory towing mirrors look like under the plastic cover and foam gasket, and the 1999-2000 (that swing to the rear), the 2001-2002 (that swing both ways), and the 2003 through 2007 (LED signal/running light, but still rounded design) all have a cast metal substructure.

I wonder if all that metal construction is a contributing factor (besides obscene dealer parts profits) in the cost of the factory mirrors versus the Chinese copies? What is the substructure of the 1A Auto mirrors? All plastic? Or cast metal?

 

I expect the ones I have coming from Amazon to be of lesser quality, yet they should look a lot better than my 11 year old damaged factory mirrors.

I'll post back my impressions in comparison to the factory build once they are installed.

 

Pictures would be nice...

 

Yes, pictures, of the guts of the mirror underneath the foam gasket. We all know what the mirrors look like from the outside.

 

Sure thing.
And yes, we can find plenty of outside pix alraedy.

They should arrive in the next day or two, I think I'll pull them apart before installing. I have to pop off the marker lenses to install the cheap LEDs I ordered anyway.

 

They arrived too late today to mess with them, yet I am impressed at the very secure packing they came in. At a glance they seem to be solidly built and they weigh in at over 10 pounds each. I will tear into them over the next few days as I install them and provide more info and pix.

 

Under the foam gasket pix.

There appears to be two different types of cast alloy, silver and black. It feels quite solid, and the plastic housing seems to be of comparable quality to my old stock mirrors. Time in the Florida sun will tell if the UV protection is good enough. Not bad for only $120 each vs $185 @ 1A Auto - $130 less for the pair.



vs Ford Mirror Pair - 1AMRP00611 at 1A Auto.com

Hopefully I'll be able to mount them up late today.

 

Oh, and the molded foam gasket as you see is quite substantial (up to 1" thick in places) compared to the relatively thin stick-on sheet that 1A Auto shows in their installation video

 

Does it have the square, or round pins in the connectors?
Can you post pictures of the connectors?
How many pins?

 

It has a 22-pin rectangular connector with just 7 wires, (not the same as the truck harness) so I am in the process right now of tracing out the wires for each one.

I am cutting off the connectors and splicing the new wires to the old connector. Once I am sure I have all the wires correct, I will post which colors do what.

 

OK, here are the colors to connect if you cut off both connectors and splice the original (2005) gray connector instead of the orange connector on the new mirror I got from Amazon (photos on page 2 of this thread):

OLD wire color (driver side)> NEW mirror wire color = Function:

Black > Black = Ground
Black/White > Grey = Heat
Brown > Blue = Marker lamp
Mint green > White = Signal lamp
Red > Red = Mirror motors
Blue > Yellow = Mirror motors
Yellow (x2) > Green = Mirror motors

Edit: above colors are for driver's/left side.
On the passenger/right side, Mint> white, Red>green, Blue>purple



I also changed out the amber bulbs with cheap amber LEDs I got from ebay for only $6.99:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261880279253?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
If you get them, note that they are polarity sensitive so you may have to reverse them.