Tow mirrors vs. Standard mirrors

[ManBro]

I have the tow mirrors on my 06 and I'm thinking of changing them out for the standard mirrors. I had standard mirrors in my last van and thought they were perfectly fine.

I have 2 main gripes with the towing mirrors:
1. They are too wide to fit in my garage without folding in one side.
2. The view out of the passenger side is a joke. It does not have the convex glass "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" that 99% of modern vehicles have. It makes for a very narrow field of view out of the main mirror, with a huge blind-spot.
3. (okay, I know I said 2 gripes) I cracked the black plastic fairing that mounts the mirror to the passenger door, so I need to replace something anyhow.

Here is my actual question:
Are the 2010+ mirrors any better than the earlier mirrors? The later mirrors have the spot mirror in the upper right corner, whereas the earlier mirrors have the full width bottom convex secondary mirror.
Thanks for any help and real world input!

Later mirror:


or Early mirror:

[N147JK]

There is also the older horizontal-style mirror. No blind spot mirror, but you can add your own, ie, pick the style you like the most and put it where you want.

[shenrie]

Our van came with the second version you posted (first pic isn’t working for me). Not great visibility, but they seemed ok. However we started carrying a moto so I needed something better for when we had stuff on the back. Before we even loaded anything on the back I was just happy at how much better I could see overall that I could never go back to those mirrors.

Maybe go to the local pick and pull or car lots selling vans and sit in them to see if you like the other style of mirrors. Most econolines don’t come with the tow mirrors, so it should be easy to find the various options. If mine weren’t tossed in the trash I’d just send them to you to try out.

[BrianW]

I don’t think he’s saying those (pictured) are tow mirrors. He’s asking which “regular” mirror version is better.

[JWA]

Strictly my opinion based upon my own E-Series exterior mirror experimentations.........

Extendable dual element versions are mostly "worthless" for my needs/desires because the size of the upper mirror doesn't afford any bigger image than the fixed style shown in the first images---they simply move the mirror head out further in the hopes they capture a trailers's image further behind what the usual mirrors already show the driver. Most annoying and very much unusable version are those with the dual element type---images just don't work well for anything I wanted to see.

I've had different OEM mirrors including the extendable type but until I discovered Ford had offered a single element mirror glass for the 2003 type I wasn't at all content with stock offerings. Beginning about 2007 the mirror glass changed once again this time to something I found useful and use to this day. Being in the auto/truck glass business it was easy to buy parts and went about modifying stock 2003 dual element with 2007-like parts needed to achieve what I still run today, a few rather poor example photos but hopefully the give an idea what I now see:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

I can post more recent iterations of my rather simple and cheap modifications if wanted or desired.

HTH

[86Scotty]

I much prefer the mirrors int he first pic (later mirror) to the ones with bigger adjustable bottom section, or do what JWA did and add your own to a one piece mirror.

The adjustable bottom section is worthless IMO. It doesn't adjust enough to do the job.

This is the same problem I have with the bigger twin-post F series style towing mirrors that many of us have. The bottom mirror is almost worthless.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by JWA

Beginning about 2007 the mirror glass changed once again this time to something I found useful and use to this day.

JWA - it looks like you recommend the later single-piece mirror with a large blind spot mirror added on to the bottom. Is that the setup you have?

[mikracer]

I actually like the extendable tow mirrors. I primarily use the bottom convex mirror when I'm using them, and I find that they show everything well. I don't even turn my head anymore when changing lanes because I can see everything.

[JWA]

Originally Posted by N147JK

JWA - it looks like you recommend the later single-piece mirror with a large blind spot mirror added on to the bottom. Is that the setup you have?

Yes it is and it works perfectly for me. The stick-on blind spot mirror is an NAPA #7048D part. It's size and ability to place it to my preference makes it far superior to those dinky factory pieces.

FWIW adding the blind spot mirror to my particular modification requires being careful as the lower portion of the mirror itself is unsupported and highly suspectible to breaking if too much pressure is applied trying to set the two-sided adhesive backing.

Another FWIW since the images here I've added another NAPA blind spot mirror to the passengers side, replaced the driver's side with one that's no longer available it would seem. That one attaches to the OEM exterior mirror shell below the stock mirror element and affords me a huge left side view that's fixed in position (manually adjustable if needed) and allows movement of the stock mirror element via the power control switches.

[ManBro]

Thanks for the replies. I’m actually using the same stick on convex mirror on the passenger side of the extendable tow mirrors. This (unfortunately) gives me 3 different fields of view so I really have to give my mind a moment to figure out what’s happening next to me when changing lanes.
I appreciate the intended use case for tow mirrors, but I’m not a truck driver and ,frankly, the lower convex portion is too small to be useful. I only tow a few times a year and it’s an open car hauler so I don’t have a problem seeing past my trailer with standard mirrors.

I’ll likely either go with the early style (like I had on my last van) or copy JWA.
Thanks for the help and ideas!