I posted a thread last week about some "Bob Drake " Rear view hinge mount mirrors I purchased not fitting over the fat (rear) part of the hinge so the pin holes line up (Mirror clearance too shallow). I called Bob Drake and they said they had never heard of such a problem.
Well I checked out "Dennis Carpenter's Catalouge" (he has been after marketing since 1968) and it says in his catalouge that in order to use these type mirrors ,you need to grind some metal off the face of the hinge. The reason is the hinge "bows" out.
This is all and great if you have not painted your cab and doors yet (I have).
I think I will put my Bob Drake mirrors and arms (very good quality) on Ebay and just mount some "Peep Mirrors" that mount on the edge of the door with set screws.
Both my project PU and my parts PU measure the same. I don't understand why more people don't run into this problem. John

 

Man what a drag, I rememember seeing that disclaimer years ago but havent heard of anyone actualy running into the problem. The only thing I can think of is to carfully do the grind on the bottom of the hinge, and then touch it up useing an airbrush afterward (if you still have some of the paint). A no walk drill bit the same size as the hinge area might shave it down pretty cleanly without much heat, I dont know only a thought. I wish you luck with it.

 

ya i had to grind the snot outta mine and after paint they still didn't line up right. i had to drill out the bottom hole then the pins were smaller then the mock up ones so the doors are a little sloppy. if i had it to do all over i would just go with the peeps.

 

Thanks for the replies. All the after market manufacturer's have to do is design the mounting tabs a little longer (.125" +-)so they will clear. Grinding on a curved shaped hinge that is basically not removable from the door is not my cup of tea. I was going to use the hinges off my parts truck untill I examined how the are mounted to the door. I would understand if one manufacturer screwed up but not all the suppliers. ?

 

It's understandable if all suppliers get their parts from the same manufacturer. Please don't quote me on this, but doesn't DC pretty much make all of those? I'm sure when those were being reproduced, they just picked out a truck and got their measurements. Specs could have easily varied from factory to factory. It wouldn't take very much at all to grind the outside of that hinge down such a minute amount. An air grinder and a few minutes would probably do the job. Plus the "modified" area would be hidden by the mirror anyway after touch up.

 

Peep mirrors don't work so well on these trucks since the cab gets wider towards the back. Unless you extend them or find some that stick out far you might not be so happy with them either. Also, where you mount them you might crack the paint when you tighten them down enough even with the rubber pads. They do a lot of vibrating and you have to keep tightening them a little more and a little more. I had some on my 50 Ford sedan years ago and eventually caused a rusty spot where I cracked the paint. I would do the grinding and use the hinge pin mirrors. I will have to do a little grinding on mine too.

 

Been there, done this.

Here's what the modification (grinding) of the hinge barrel looked like on mine after I got done. Removed material from barrel's outside radius mostly. I really like the mirrors but I too assumed they would just fit on the stock barrel -- after new paint was on I found out different

 

I understand your reluctance to grind new paint. And the mirror arm mount brackets are cast so there is no give without breaking. But with your new paint I would be more concerned about going into "hinge pin hell ". On the other hand if you do have to pull the hinge to remove the hinge pin it would be easier to grind and re-paint while it is off. The effort is worth it in my opinion as they do look good and they work fine.

 

Like topmoo said, peeps give poor rear visibility on our trucks due to the shape of the cab. I didn't want to grind my hinges so I ground the mirror instead. Actually, I filed until it was a snug fit, then with the set screw tightend it doesn't move.