1957 - 1960 F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Box Style Ford Trucks

Mirror Upgrade

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 11-17-2018, 05:46 PM
moonley's Avatar
moonley
moonley is offline
Senior User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 425
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Mirror Upgrade

After almost running over a motorcycle riding in my blind spot I decided something better had to be done for my mirrors. I searched a lot on the forums here and didn’t find any good solutions so wanted to post mine for anyone else looking.

Before:



After replacing with a couple Grote 12073-5 mirror heads:




The Grote mirror heads have a 1-4” - 20 thread, so to adapt them I bought a couple threaded standoffs from McMaster-Carr and ground a flat spot to make them a “D” shape to fit in the existing mirror arms.




Rear viewing is vastly improved; from a 4-1/2” circle to a 5-1/2” x 7-1/2” rectangle (250% viewing area!). Extremely glad I made the change and easily reversible for the purists.

Edit: please note my mirror assemblies are from Dennis Carpenter; I would assume the mirror arms are the same as OE but you may want to verify the 1/2” internal dimension.
 
  #2  
Old 11-18-2018, 08:45 AM
Doug O's Avatar
Doug O
Doug O is offline
Mountain Pass
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: South Central PA
Posts: 121
Received 20 Likes on 18 Posts
I like that idea. I am trying to get my truck back to original and was wondering if my mirrors are original or a cannibalized version. Mine are 6" vice your 4 1/2. I do think the rectangle gives better viewing and are original if with the telescoping arms.

Doug
 
  #3  
Old 11-18-2018, 02:24 PM
Bri Heather's Avatar
Bri Heather
Bri Heather is offline
Freshman User
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Have rectangular mirrors and wouldn't change.
 
  #4  
Old 11-18-2018, 09:56 PM
F100 '64's Avatar
F100 '64
F100 '64 is offline
Tuned
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: N.W. Indiana
Posts: 370
Likes: 0
Received 16 Likes on 11 Posts
Thanks for sharing this tip. Looks good and provides a better view. I will be doing this when it's time to install my mirrors. Pat
 
  #5  
Old 11-24-2018, 09:46 AM
HyePo57's Avatar
HyePo57
HyePo57 is offline
Tuned
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central California USA
Posts: 307
Received 33 Likes on 22 Posts
I love to see improvements like this that when its all said and done, it looks like it should have been there in the year inwhich the truck was born.... great job Moonley. Will likely do something very similar to give my boy a better and safer viewing area. Thanks for the idea.
 
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
palmrose2
1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
6
03-01-2018 07:04 AM
bauerb
1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
1
09-14-2017 01:22 AM
robert_l_ross
Excursion - King of SUVs
3
07-29-2016 10:11 AM
bigdaddyII
2009 - 2014 F150
2
02-02-2013 08:32 PM
randallc
Appearance & Dress-Up
29
03-20-2003 07:10 PM



Quick Reply: Mirror Upgrade



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:29 AM.