Towing with 2016 Express 3500 Extended

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Jan 19, 2021 | 9:57 PM

#11

GatorHawk24

CF Active Member

Joined: Mar 2018

Posts: 121

Likes: 7

From: Alabama

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivekidsandavan

Thanks, I'm probably going to get those cheap ones, I just want to make sure when I change lanes there's no one back there. How did that one break? Can I prevent it by pre-buying metal screws...not over tightening, etc? Also, do you think additional "putty" between the mirrors would reduce shake? I'm thinking either plumbers putty, or "museum putty" like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/DAP-BLUESTI...hesive/3024947

I think the issue with mine was a defect (if you follow that Amazon link, those are my photos in the reviews). They've held together over the last couple years with my epoxy fix. They are probably one of the best "inexpensive" solutions available (they still cost $80, but other resellers might have them for less). I don't trust the plastic bolt/clip that they come with, but several people seem to not have issues with them (if I think of it, I'll try to get a picture of my redneck engineering). The shaking isn't violent, just enough that it causes the image in the mirror to vibrate/blur slightly, but they're good enough to check if the lane is clear. The shaking gets worse as you drive faster, but I think all add-on mirrors will do that... I'm picky and want it to be rock solid. Hope that helps.

Jan 21, 2021 | 12:46 PM

#12

fivekidsandavan

CF Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2021

Posts: 37

Likes: 8

I saw these as a recommendation: not pretty, but lots of good reviews (mixed with some bad ones). twice the price of the cheep ones, but half the price of good ones. At least they are removeable.

Amazon

Jan 21, 2021 | 8:00 PM

#13

GatorHawk24

CF Active Member

Joined: Mar 2018

Posts: 121

Likes: 7

From: Alabama

I looked at those, and they are intriguing, but I hate spending money just to see if something is better than what I already have. I did find a couple other resellers on Amazon that have them for around $130 (no Prime shipping though), and other places online had them for a little less. If you happen to buy them, I'll be interested to hear about your experience.

May 30, 2021 | 8:12 AM

#14

EE32

CF Beginner

Joined: May 2021

Posts: 1

Likes: 0

I have

Quote:

Originally Posted by GatorHawk24

I bought these (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LTXP23C), but I'm not really impressed with them. They do extend far enough to see down the side of the RV, but they are kind of small and shake when driving, which means they are good enough to identify if a car is approaching, but that's about it. Additionally, they attach with a plastic bolt that feels very cheaply made, and one mirror frame broke and nearly fell off during my first use. I glued it back together with epoxy and fabricated a new bolt out of metal and they've stayed in place ever since (I still don't like them very much though) I find myself using the small convex mirror on van's stock mirror assembly to watch my trailer wheels for backing (my TT doesn't have a camera on the back of it... yet).

I've very seriously considered these (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Towing-Mirr...w/372250196465). Their price bounces between around $360 to $500 depending if they are "on sale" or not, but that's a lot of $$ for some mirrors. Even though the primary purpose of my van is to tow our TT, I'm not sure if I want to have the box-truck mirrors on permanently. They look easy enough to swap out, but It's an additional hassle. (I wish they made extendable mirrors like the trucks have, c'mon GM!).

I have thane cheap slide on mirrors. I put a small zip tie around “nub” that sticks out of plastic bolt and use another zip tie through hole to connect to that. I can pull very tight, and if I want to remove I just cut the second zip tie. 15k miles and never lost one.