Dang Trailer Towing Mirrors

[eddyturn]

I have the manual big trailer towing mirrors on my '09 E350 and they appear to be in the out position. According to the owner's manual, all you have to do is push on them and they should slide back in. I have tried and had a friend with a different mirror setup on his van try it too. Not successful. No locking lever or feature is mentioned. I'd bet they have been this way since SMB did the build and never moved back in. Maybe they are just melded into the out position or something.

I need to get them in and a narrower profile. Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?

[BrianW]

Have you tried pulling them out further? They kind of look “out” even when they are in the fully “in” position. See if you can pull them out further, they can be hard to pull out if you haven’t done it occasionally.

[boywonder]

They also fold in...


I fold mine in while the van sits in the driveway..and deploy them when leaving for an adventure.

[86Scotty]

They're just stuck. Push harder.

[BrianW]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

They're just stuck. Push harder.

I don’t know about that. When I got my 2011 van with the tow mirrors I was convinced they were extended because they stuck out so much further than the standard mirrors on my 1998. Tried for a few minutes to push them in but then figured out they were already all the way in! [emoji2357]

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by BrianW

I don’t know about that. When I got my 2011 van with the tow mirrors I was convinced they were extended because they stuck out so much further than the standard mirrors on my 1998. Tried for a few minutes to push them in but then figured out they were already all the way in! [emoji2357]

That is a good point. Perhaps OP could show us a picture? They do stick out a good bit even when they're in.

[eddyturn]

Jeebus... I feel like an idiot. I thought they were out but with the expert advice from the posters above, turns out they were in the whole time. Dang... when pulled out - they are way out. Moot because I drove into our new garage for the first time with mirrors in position and did not hit anything. Plenty of room. Now I know about the mirrors.

[BrianW]

Literally one minute after buying our 2011 van with the bigger mirrors I hit mirrors with a Post Office van on a small back road. I was over as far as I could go without being in the ditch and the Postal driver wasn’t really paying attention. They definitely stick out much more than the regular small “sail type” mirrors. I measured the width of my 98 van vs. the 2011 and it was over a foot wider with the tow mirrors.

[BrianW]

For future reference, here is what the tow mirrors look like not extended (pushed as far in as they will go).

[eddyturn]

Yep Brian. That's what made me think they were already extended.