I know some of you have done this mod, and I just finished mine using Bill Boroskey's (the DieselStop) instructions for the basics. I thought some you might appreciate a couple of extra tid-bits.

My truck is an early '03 model shipped with the older mirrors, and once I got into it, I found the factory quick connects in the doors were the new flat style so I didn't need the adapter harness. However, the existing harness only had the three wires for the mirror electrics, so I had to pull some more.

I followed the factory colouring and used 16ga. wire to run power to the lights and heat as follows:

Black = ground
Brown = clearance lights
White = right turn signal
Green = left turn signal
Black/White tracer = heat

Using the factory colour scheme makes this job a lot easier, however, black 16ga. wire with a white tracer was not available through any of the local sources, so I used black Marine grade wire that has "marine grade: insulated for boat use" stamped all along its length in white. This wire is also pre-tinned, so it's silver in colour as opposed to the normal copper colour.

After removing the door panels and dropping the glove box, garbage bag holder and fuse block, I made two 12' harnesses of the appropriate coloured wire and started from the quick connects working back toward the fuse block.

The hardest part of this swap is running the wire harness through the door jamb and post. After fighting with this for quite a while, I pulled both ends of the rubber sheath from the jamb/post and taped the harness to a wooden chopstick. I was able to push the chopstick (blunt pointed end first) through the rubber sheath in seconds.

Remove the fuse block cover and there's lots of access to the appropriate connections.

I used the factory ground connections to the right of this opening to connect my two black ground wires. Make sure everything's grounded before proceeding, or it won't work when you test it.

There is a small taped harness coming from the top of the steering column that gives access to the two signal wires: White/Blue tracer and Green/White tracer. These are the turn signal wires. Use a test light here to be certain you've got the correct wires. I connected my White wire to the White/Blue and my Green to the Green/White.

Pop the headlight switch control panel and connect the Brown (clearance lights) wire to the Brown factory wire.

On the Drivers side rear of the fuse block you'll find a large taped harness that will provide a 14ga. Light Blue/Black tracer wire that supplies power to the drivers window switch when the ignition is on. I spliced a Red 14ga. wire onto this one and ran it to a 30A Bosch relay. To save the time and effort of trying to solder under the dash, I used 14-16ga. wire taps for all the connections under the dash. I also used a five-wire plug for the back of the relay.

Pull the wires from the relay plug, and exchange them for your new power feed (Red) and the two Black/White tracer heat wires.

Mount the relay using the right hand screw that secures the computer connection under the dash and above the throttle. There's a recess in the plastic dash and the relay fits in here perfectly. I then mounted a lighted switch to trigger the relay for the heat using the black and white wires on the relay plug.

I didn't want to cut and solder the connections in the doors, so to install the wires running through the doors and into the factory quick connect harness, I picked up the O.E.M. "male" pins required from Pico (P/N PK150 $6 for a package of ten), crimped them onto the wires and plugged 'em in.

The entire job took about 4.5 hours from removing the old mirrors to the finished product, and I tested and taped each connection as I went along.

Hope this helps anyone considering this in the future. It's a mod well worth the time and effort.

Many thanks to all of you who supplied ideas, and especially to Bill Boroskey for the original post.

Rick

 

WoW good write up, and sounds like you took the time to do it right.

 

I have a 2003 F250 that was purchased in November of 02 I want to install heated telescoping mirrors with the turn signals on them, is this what you had to do to make them work or did you not have power mirrors to begin with? The accesory catalog and two Ford dealerships couldn't give me a straight answer on if the wiring is there or not, so I came here looking for answers when I found this post ...please help me out here

 

Eddie;

My '03 F350 was built in October of '02 and came with the optional black electric TT mirrors (No heat or sig's). I successfully argued with my dealer that a '03 truck should have come with '03 mirrors on it, especially after I paid extra for them. After some serious "haggling", they supplied the parts and I installed the newer heated versions.

I'm assuming your F250 has the same "electric" mirrors on it now, and given the November '02 date, I would assume you've got the same "flat - seven pin" harness I found as opposed to the older round four pin one.

The only way to determine this is to pull a door panel. I used the passenger side as it has less in the way of switches and wiring.

To remove the door panel, pull the black "sail" panel from the leading edge of the door/window area. It comes straight back towards the interior of the cab. Gently pry the switch control panel up from the forward edge and disconnect the window and lock switches.

Under the control panel, you'll find an 8mm screw that needs to be removed. There's another behind the red lens at the bottom rear of the door panel. Gently lift the panel straight up and disconnect the light from the bottom rear.

Peel back the upper edge of the plastic moisture barrier and the gray plastic quick connect will be right in front of you. You'll probably see two yellow wires and a purple one going into the quick connnect that supply the mirror adjustment power. There should be a number of "blank" holes in the connector. These will mate up with your new mirrors and only need the proper wires installed.

To remove your old mirrors, pull the two large black rubber plugs out of the door frame and remove the four 11mm nuts. I was worried about loosing a nut down into the door frame, so I filled the socket with grease to help hold onto the nut. Extra caution here as the mirrors are heavy and a bit awkward to handle alone.

When you install the new mirrors, use more grease in the socket and DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN the nuts or you'll break the mirror cover. They don't need to be torqued right down, just a 1/4 turn past "snug".

I didn't like the way the lighted covers fit on the new mirrors, there didn't seem to be any way to actually "lock" the cover inplace, and I was worried about some boner trying to steal them.

I used a marine product called "Sikaflex" and "glued" the top and side edges down. Sikaflex is available in Black, White or Clear, and is a very sticky silicone type sealer. Sticks to anything, but can be worked with Paint Thinner and paper towels when wet. So you can "machine" it a bit and remove any excess without worry. Do not use laquer thinner as it won't affect the Sikaflex, and it will damage the plastic.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my digital camera with me when I did all this, but I'll get you a link to Bill's original post and a link to remove your door panels.

If you have problems, or need more info, send me an email.

Rick

Edit: Here's your link:

http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/doorremove.htm

Good luck on this. If you follow the instructions, you shouldn't have any trouble. Just test each connection as you go

 

Karic

See my new thread about the TT mirrors and buzzard, maybe you can help ?

 

Waxy;

Check your email.

Rick

 

I got it, I'll talk to him tonight.

 

I have a 2003 f350 and some idiot hit it when it was parked, and didn't stop. And I have a broken yellow lense on the mirror. I had to buy the whole cover ($76).
But I need help, I can't get the mirror cover off. Can anyone help?

 

Don't feel bad, same thing happened to me. There are three tab's on the cover, two tab's, one on the upper, one on the lower vehicle side, and one tab on the upper outside. These slide into slot's in the mirror head, and lock in place, To release them push the mirror to one side, and you'll be able to see the slot's, you can use a long thin screwdriver to release them, disconnect the four pin electrical connector. Try not to remove the mirror ( like i did ), it's a pain to get back on. Good luck, have patience.

 

Thank you, thank you, Thank you! I may never had gotten it, I may never have looked back there. Even knowing that it was still a trick.

 

I just picked up my 04 supercab 4x4 xlt fx4 sport, (wow thats a mouthfull) last week. The truck came with power mirrors, but not the tow mirrors! I was wondering if anyone knows if my truck is prewired for the towing mirrors?

I plan on upgradding my mirrors soon, and would like to know how I stand. If I got to do wiring, Ill live with the little mirrors till spring...

Thanks guys...

 

Your Super-duty did not come with manual telescoping tow mirrors? I thought all Super-dutys had them.

 

Yes it is a direct swap for the towing mirrors, I'm not sure if you are after the signals in the mirrors or not but that may be your only problem. I think you should be okay there too since you have an 04, maybe somebody else knows for sure. The mirrors are more pricey with signals if you buy new from Ford.
I had an 03 and the electric mirrors were a direct swap from the small power mirrors to power towing mirrors but 03's didn't come with the signals in the mirrors.

 

This just happen to me for the second time, do you remember the part# for the cover? Funny that I told you how to remove cover in the first place, I had to read this post to refresh my memory (DAH).

 

I have a 2001 F250 with the regular power mirrors. Can I swap/replace with the ones with the two mirrors, the regular and the one on the bottom that is convex?