External Mirrors on the tow vehicle?

[Calldon]

Do you use external mirrors on your tow vehicle? Or have you found the size of the trailer to be narrow enough that you don't need external mirrors?

[donniedu]

Huh?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by donniedu

Huh?

Donnie, this is posted in the A Frame Campers sub-forum. Is an A-frame camper narrow enough that one doesn't need additional rear view mirrors? That's my interpretation.

[Calldon]

Like this. They also have them that connect to the fenders for wider loads.

[Calldon]

Mr. Dan, that is what I was wondering.

And how are things in Denison Texas? I'm just down the road in Plano. I will be traveling by myself so, I was really looking at a "Lil Snoozy" fiberglass trailer. But a good setup would be $25,000. That's why I was looking at these a frames. The price is much more manageable and I think they would probably do the job for me. I'm easy to please though and have a great tolerance for inconvenience. That's why the small size of the indoor shower would not bother me at all. In the past 21 years I've lived full time in an '86 Argosy Square stream and a 34 foot fifth wheel. So I'm used to small bathrooms.

[MontyPP]

I use an extension on my driver side mirror but can see fine out of the passenger side.

[SailorSam20500]

My trailer is 8' wide. The OEM trailer tow mirrors on my F-150 when fully extended simply let me see straight down the sides of the trailer. So, if your A-frame is narrower, you should get some vision behind your trailer.

Because of my towing geometry, I depend on a rear facing camera mounted on the trailer.

Safe travels...

[rockfordroo]

I'm not an A-framer, but I did pull a popup for 20 years.

I never used tow mirrors on my Caravans with my popup. I could see over the top of the popup with my inside mirror. However, the newer ones are higher; I would probably not be able to see over it in a Caravan.

I think whether you can see over an A-frame will depend on what you're pulling it with. If it's a pickup, you can probably see over it and therefore may not feel you need towing mirrors.

When I got my Roo, I was pulling it with a Chevy Traverse. I had tow mirrors that strapped to the side of the car ("fender mount" but they actually mounted to the door); no one made custom mirrors for the Traverse as in your pics and I didn't like any of the ones you show.


When I got my Silverado, I got CIPA mirrors that slid over the existing mirrors. They worked very well.

[OYO]

We have an HW and even with the 1/2 ton fwd Chevy I can barley see over the camper in the rearview mirror. I purchased clip on CIPA mirrors from eTrailer and couldn't be happier. Less than 5 minutes to install/de-install, very little vibration, vehicle specific and inexpensive. And if there is something back there I can see it.

[SailorSam20500]

Adding some info following up on the last two posts. Before getting my truck, I did some investigation on add-on mirrors in case I couldn't get a truck with the OEM tow mirrors. Based on searches I did, I was convinced that CIPA was the best available option and I would have bought them. As it turned out, my GREAT sales lady found me a truck with all of the options I wanted including the mirrors - just not the color I preferred... But it WAS the color my DW preferred, so guess what....

[Calldon]

Sometimes it's good to keep DW happy. It makes the day go so much better

[donanddona]

I like to keep an eye on my trailer tires. I don't have a TMPS so I need big mirrors.

[carlsbad]

F150 and A-frame using stock mirrors. No problems at all.

[RitaB]

When I first got my TT I got the ones that clipped on the side view mirrors. The passenger side was almost useless, but my husband did co pilot duty for me. After he passed, I found that I wasn't confident and found Mac Kesh mirrors (those are the big ones that clamped on the door that Rockfordroo showed. They are great and were very steady, very little vibration and I could see all down the road. Although there are people who get too close and become invisible to me.

[Jakieboy]

We use the CIPA side mirror extensions on our Silverado, as well. They allow me to see straight back along the sides of my th wheel, even though it is more than 8' wide. They are essential when I back our trailer into our rear driveway where I have no more than about 8 inches of clearance on each side through the gate.

The mirror extensions are easy to install and remove, so I would recommend you remove them when you take your TV out on shopping or sightseeing expeditions.

[youroo]

If you are Towing in Michigan or Kentucky you must have "Towing Mirrors" or like to talk to the State Troopers! PS Pickup trucks DON'T come Standard with Towing Mirrors! Youroo!!

[bbcutright]

I hated the clip on ones they were hard to clip on and vibrated awful. We bought some from 1aAuto for my chevy suburban
https://www.1aauto.com/mirror-pair-t...5/i/trmrp00005
they were easy to put on and have videos to show you how on youtube. When you need them pull them out when your done push them in.

[kirkwilliams2049]

I pull an 8’ wide TT with an F150 with regular mirrors. They are barely sufficient on the driver’s side. I have not found extenders that won’t damage the paint on mirrors. Happy to hear experiential recommendations.

[rye]

Used the rubber strap on universal kind from eTrailer with my Cherokee. Couldn't see around or above our A122 without them. Now with our Xterra it's not an issue. All depends on your configuration. But they worked great when we needed them.

[marinerjoe]

Originally Posted by kirkwilliams2049

I pull an 8’ wide TT with an F150 with regular mirrors. They are barely sufficient on the driver’s side. I have not found extenders that won’t damage the paint on mirrors. Happy to hear experiential recommendations.

Before I found and got the trailer tow mirrors for my 2016 F150, I used the Cipa clip on mirrors, and they didn’t damage the chrome caps on my mirrors. BTW, they’re now for sale if you know anyone looking.

Joe