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Old 02-14-2022, 01:49 PM   #1
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Towing mirrors

This has probably been talked about before, so I did a quick search and couldn't find a recent thread.
I want to mention something that is often overlooked..... towing mirrors.
I bring this up because of something I saw this weekend.

DW and I were coming back from an outing on Saturday, we were on the interstate doing about 57 mph (speed limit is 55mph). A white Jeep (not sure of the model) went by us pulling a Forest River (not sure of the model but it was bigger then my Shasta) and the first thing I noticed....he did not have towing mirrors. He did have a WDH since there was no sway and no sagging, he went by us rather quickly so I couldn't tell which kind of WDH he had.
As he passed us, I noticed his indicator light was on, signaling he was going to change lanes ( to his left, I was on his right, slightly behind him). I told DW that he was going to hit the car beside him because he didn't see the car there....well thank goodness he didn't hit the car but he did run the car off the road, and he kept traveling oblivious to what he just did to the other car.
I was already exiting the interstate but DW looked behind us and said she could see some other cars stopping for the one that was run off the road.

So many times I see tow vehicles have the proper set up for weight/sway but they do not have the proper towing mirrors.
I know that most new trucks have mirrors that extend but SUVs and some older trucks would need the proper mirrors for towing.
Mirrors are as important as WDH...both make towing much safer.

Newbies often overlook towing mirrors, not thinking about how important it is to be able to see down the side of your trailer as you are driving.

I didn't need tow mirrors when I had my pop up and I was one of the "newbies" who didn't think about tow mirrors for my TT until I went to pull my brand new TT off of the dealer lot and I could not see down the side of the TT. I parked and went inside CW and purchased tow mirrors and installed them on my SUV. Simply process, done within minutes.

I couldn't imagine pulling my TT without tow mirrors on my SUV.
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Old 02-15-2022, 08:54 AM   #2
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When I think about towing anything mirrors far exceed the wdh in terms of safety when considering equipment. With that said the proper equipment for a given setup is the best way to go. JMHO
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Old 02-15-2022, 01:33 PM   #3
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While I have tow mirrors on my truck and I make use of them, I'm not sure I agree that they so crucial. If I understood the OP's story they were on a 3 lane highway. The OP in the right/slow lane, the Jeep in the middle and the other car in the left/fast lane.

So first off the Jeep is passing people in the middle lane while towing something big, not a good start. The Jeep had to have seen the person in the left lane as he passed them. If he ran the guy off the road, literally it sounds like, then he didn't even try to give himself enough distance to complete the pass, and must have moved over quickly. Yes people will say that not having the mirrors to see the car on the left was the problem. OK, thats true. But you should be able to reasonably judge when you think you will be pass the car. And then you should ease over so the person next to you can react as needed.

I think the guy in the Jeep should get mirrors, but he also needs to learn how to tow, and properly drive when towing as well.

Jim M.
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Old 02-15-2022, 02:09 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmarako View Post
While I have tow mirrors on my truck and I make use of them, I'm not sure I agree that they so crucial. If I understood the OP's story they were on a 3 lane highway. The OP in the right/slow lane, the Jeep in the middle and the other car in the left/fast lane.

So first off the Jeep is passing people in the middle lane while towing something big, not a good start. The Jeep had to have seen the person in the left lane as he passed them. If he ran the guy off the road, literally it sounds like, then he didn't even try to give himself enough distance to complete the pass, and must have moved over quickly. Yes people will say that not having the mirrors to see the car on the left was the problem. OK, thats true. But you should be able to reasonably judge when you think you will be pass the car. And then you should ease over so the person next to you can react as needed.

I think the guy in the Jeep should get mirrors, but he also needs to learn how to tow, and properly drive when towing as well.

Jim M.
Interpretation is up to the reader.
Yup…..I guess they’re on a 3 lane highway….we’re assuming. Afterall, the OP already mentioned he was exiting…..maybe on an exit ramp?
The OP (in the right lane?) is doing 57 in a 55……hardly what I’d call speeding.
The Jeep passes the OP, but we have no idea how much faster than 57.
How do we know that the Jeep passed someone else in the left lane?

YMMV
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Old 02-15-2022, 02:20 PM   #5
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As a newbie to towing, I couldn't imagine doing it without my towing mirrors. Wow. No way. Having said that, part of learning to tow was to understand how much room there was around me. Towing mirrors wouldn't have helped if I hadn't taken the time to understand how long my trailer was and how much room I needed before moving over. And that took time. So mirrors, yes, absolutely crucial. Driver intelligence, however, is also crucial, and possibly in shorter supply.
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Old 02-15-2022, 02:24 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by AKC View Post
Driver intelligence, however, is also crucial, and possibly in shorter supply.
Shorter supply?
I would even say it’s completely out of stock lately.
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Old 02-15-2022, 02:45 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by kenandterry View Post
Interpretation is up to the reader.
Yup…..I guess they’re on a 3 lane highway….we’re assuming. Afterall, the OP already mentioned he was exiting…..maybe on an exit ramp?
The OP (in the right lane?) is doing 57 in a 55……hardly what I’d call speeding.
The Jeep passes the OP, but we have no idea how much faster than 57.
How do we know that the Jeep passed someone else in the left lane?

YMMV
I can't tell if your being sarcastic, or actually have an issue with the "assumptions" I might have made. The OP may have been in the slow lane, or the exit lane I'll give you that one. They said the Jeep had it left blinker on and did not see the car next to it. Call me crazy, would that Jeep be moving to the left? The Jeep "went by rather quickly" so who knows, but 58-60 would not get you pass anyone "quickly". Yes, I assumed the Jeep passed the person on the left. I guess its possible the person on the left was running down the fast lane and did not notice the Jeep/trailer with its blinker on.

No matter what, the Jeep needs to have better situational awareness and make any moves cautiously. If the guy on the left was flying down the fast lane they he too needs to pay attention to what is going on.

Jim M.
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Old 02-16-2022, 10:54 AM   #8
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I apologize for not adding the details. Let me see if I can clear up some assumptions and confusion.

Details:
I-4 in Tampa Florida heading West Bound just before Exit 3 (this would be the exit I was going to use)
GPS Coordinates: 27°58'21.6"N 82°23'45.3"W (this is approximately the place the incident took place.)
Use satellite view, Google Maps.

Exit 3 is a long exit, you don't have to slow down on the interstate to make the exit. You can safely exit at 55mph and then start slowing.

I was traveling approx 57 mph in the right lane (slightly slowing to exit, my original speed was 60mph) and the Jeep/TT was traveling approx 60+ mph in the center lane. Not sure if you can consider it "flying" but he was moving faster then me and faster then the cars in the left lane.

The car (grey, 4 door. don't know make or model) traveling in the left lane (fast lane aka passing lane) had been traveling in that lane along with a few others cars behind them.
They were doing nothing wrong.
There was a car in the center lane that moved over in front of me to also exit, so the cars in the left lane (passing lane) were passing the car that was previously in the center lane.

I don't believe the grey car could see the TT blinker as the TT had not completely passed the grey car before coming over into the grey car lane. And yes, the Jeep/TT changed lanes quickly.
Had the grey car not went off the road I honestly believe the TT would have hit the right side of the grey car. And, if the grey car would have slammed on brakes to avoid the collision (instead of going off the road), it might have caused a wreak with the other cars that were traveling behind the grey car.

As I mentioned, I have seen SUVs towing TT that really could've benefited from using towing mirrors but I never really gave it a second thought.
I guess what happen Saturday made me think twice about how other people tow because I had my 2 grandchildren with me and I wondered to myself "what would I have done if the Jeep/TT came over on me like that....".

So I hope this clears up confusions, assumptions and misinterpretations.

I was simply stating that I believe proper towing mirrors are important.
If my statement can get someone to re-think their towing set up or a newbie take the statement as a bit of advice, then I've succeeded in passing along important information.
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Old 02-16-2022, 12:32 PM   #9
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LivingToCamp, thanks for the clarifications. I'll be honest, I was being a little bit cranky, long day, so I'm sorry for any grief I caused anyone.

I guess my thought was while I fully agree that tow mirrors are a good thing to have, if people are going to be "bad drivers" then not sure how much it can help. The Jeep seems like he was being impatient and didn't even try/think about giving the proper time to pass the grey car on the left. I hope the grey car was all right after this.

I got add on tow mirrors after about 6 months of camping. I have a full size truck, so if I squirm around the seat I can get a fairy good view of road with the stock mirrors. The add ons just make it easier. I also have the trailer mounted back camera which might actually be more useful than the mirrors is certain cases. I'd recommend both to everyone.

Jim M.
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Old 02-17-2022, 05:15 AM   #10
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An observation camera on the back of the camper is a huge help when changing lanes on the highway. Let's you see the a-hole thinking they're in a Nascar race drafting right on your bumper.
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Old 02-17-2022, 06:36 AM   #11
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A Mirror is Num1 for importance when towing. When i'm riding my bike and come up on a truck/car towing something that is wider than itself, i'm do i feel lucky to pass or what. And if i don't see the person's mirror's, it gets even more of a scary situation.
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