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I need some help with the towing style mirrors, I have a e99 7.3 with the curved style mirrors I am considering switching to the square style, are there ANY advantages the square style provide over the curved oval style?
The advantage is a nice big convex mirror which is very nice when towing or a camper in the bed. Heat and turn signals if you use the later model year mirrors. I love my 08 mirrors.
The '08+ style have better visibility (especially the lower convex mirror) but for me they don't match the styling of the 99-03 truck (plus they are the most expensive).
The late '03-'07 style ones have heat, turn signal, and marker lights and are the middle-priced ones.
The '99-early '03 style ones look like the '03-'07 ones but don't have any of the neat stuff listed above and are the least expensive of the three.
I had the OEM tow mirrors on my '03 and finally ditched those (after some good brush-beating off-road) in favor of the '03-'07 with all the "goodies" on them. I haven't wired up the extra stuff yet since the truck isn't set up for it and I've got to do it myself. The mirrors are the same as far as reflective surface (the casing is a little wider to accommodate the light cover) and I've gotten my custom lower dash from Riffraff (that has my switch for heat), timer relay, and the OEM style pins to put in the connector once I splice the lines for turn and marker lights. This way when I kill another mirror on the trails I can just plug in a new one instead of more cutting and splicing.
Hey Brian42 do You have part #s to go with these? I want to upgrade my mirrors as well. I'd like them to telescope and possibly wire up heat and marker lights as well. Mine is a late 1999.
Hey Brian42 do You have part #s to go with these? I want to upgrade my mirrors as well. I'd like them to telescope and possibly wire up heat and marker lights as well. Mine is a late 1999.
I don't remember what year they swapped over from the round plug to the square (actually rectangle) plug. If you don't want to cut the connector off and solder/splice the wires you can use this:
Looks OEM but definitely not OEM quality (but for less than 1/2 the price I can live with that). They don't vibrate any more than my OEM ones did. I did have one damaged in shipment. Customer service was very helpful and they shipped another one the same day that I called.
I've had them on for 6 months now and have been very happy with them.
Regardless you will have to wire up the heat, turn, and marker lights yourself since our trucks don't have that. I still haven't done that yet. I finally have all the parts (which is the easy part) but haven't found the time to start the project.
If you are interested I am using these pins (thank you to F250RockStar and ligito):
Ford Part#F3TZ18C621B
Is the wiring diagram basically the function of the switch? Meaning is the ten minute timer built into it? Is there more to it than this? Mine is a 1999 XLT with power mirros but not power fold or heat so I would have to run additional wires to get the heat,fold,telescope,and turn signal/marker lights to work?
Her is how I did mine on a 99 truck. The plugs are different and will need to be changed. Although I used 07 style mirrors but should be the same for the 08 unless your doing the auto telescoping. Then you will need additional wiring info.
I have had every mirror possible. I bought the truck with paddles, lasted about 2 weeks. Bought aftermarket 99 tow mirrors w/ heat. These where great. Got a great deal on some OEM 04 white king ranch mirrors w/heat and turn from a fellow fter. Loved these, liked the matching paint and the turnsignals. Not sure why the turn signals so much but really think it's cool. They are the best IMHO on these mirrors. I put a set of OEM 2012 take offs tow mirrors with heat, signals, and such on my dads truck, drove it once and had to have a set. They are so nice for towing. Plus top and bottom mirrors are heated on these. I personally after having both aftermarket and OEM feel it's worth the money for OEM, again that's my opinion. You can pick them up on eBay or craigslist pretty reasonably. Got mine from a wholesale place near me for $275. I have the switch above in the garage waiting to be installed. Now that I have the wiring diagram I will get them itch again to get that working before winter.
