For those of you who wondered about the SD tow mirrors possibly hitting something in tight quarters. Well....it does happen.
I was driving onto a back road from the main road just where the main road starts to bend to the left. Thus making the back road a straight line from the main road. There was a Mack dumptruck taking up more than his fair share of the little back road at the stop sign, waiting to get on the main road. I couldn't even see the yellow line because he was on top of it.
As I swerved around to avoid him, my pass side mirror hit a speed limit sign. There was a loud thwack and when I looked over, the larger of the mirrors was gone. I checked the truck, no damage. It seems that this was a purposeful design by Ford. To allow the mirror to fold quickly when hit and not cause damage to the mirror or truck. The glass popped out in one piece. So all I have to do is replace one small piece of glass, nothing else.
Oh, and I hit a 25mph sign going @45 - 50.

 

Yup, I lost a couple when I first got my 99. I'm a lot better now!!

 

I found out Federal law requires the offset for street signs to be 6' to the edge of the signage from the pavement in rual areas. Grandfathered signs will be 6' to the post. I had the local county comply with these regulations. Several signs were 1' off the road. They've complied on my local road, which is good since I tow a 10.5" wide boat. And they have continued doing so around the county.

I was told if you strike a sign that is in non-compliance with Federal regulations, the local authority that errected the sign can be held responsible for the damages. Your case is stronger if you have reported the problem in writing before the date of the damage.

Same goes for potholes.

Robert

 

Don't think they will go for it, hitting a 25mph sign at 45, do you?
"Truth" or dare.

 

Gary E K
Where did you get that eagle with a flag on its face?
Love it!
Mike

 

I had a similar experience with mine. I was parked on the street when a truck (not sure make or model) drove by to close and hit my driver side mirror. I heard the impact (quite loud as a matter of fact) when I went to see what happened, there was glass and metal brackets every where. At first I tought it it was my mirror. After looking at the debri I found the large mirror unbroken on the ground and the smaller (Objects Appear Closer) mirror was still intact. All I did was carefully "pop" the mirror back in place.

Don't know if Ford intentionally designed it this way, but I was glad regardless.

Must have been a Chebby or Dodge that hit me.