Towing a travel trailer is a lot of fun when you can see it. This is why towing mirrors are required on any vehicle capable of pulling weight. Tow mirrors protrude wider outward than conventional truck mirrors, significantly increasing the driver's rearward view.
If you have anything on your trailer, keep it in your peripheral view at all times. This is possible with a good set of towing extension mirrors. The main difficulty with upgrading to trailer towing mirrors is determining which alternatives are most suited for your vehicle, so let's go over some of them so you can make a better-educated selection.
What Exactly Are Manual Towing Mirrors?
Manual tow mirrors are the most basic form and are a simple improvement that you can install in your own driveway. They, like other manual mirrors, lack wiring. This simplifies the already straightforward installation of a mirror. On most trucks (and vehicles), removing the door panel is all that is required to get access to the bolts that hold the tow mirror in place. You can almost probably upgrade to a towing mirror if you can remove a door panel.
What Exactly Are Power Towing Mirrors?
Power towing mirrors are the natural progression from manual towing mirrors. Power mirrors often resemble manual mirrors, but they include electronics and have two or three wires protruding from their bases. These cables link to the truck's door wiring, which is weaved through the door and connected to the power mirror switch. Whether it's a replacement or an upgrade, installing a power tow mirror is typically as simple as installing a manual tow mirror, with very little ingenuity required.
What Is the Difference Between Telescoping, Telescopic, and Extendable Towing Mirrors?
It would be hard to talk about trailer towing mirrors without mentioning telescopic mirrors. Telescoping mirrors, often known as telescopic or extensible mirrors, are a form of tow mirror that may stretch out from the vehicle's sides to improve rearward visibility. Because it is not required on smaller standard-sized side view mirrors, this feature is most typically encountered on towing mirror applications.
Telescoping mirrors may feature all of the same choices as non-telescopic mirrors, such as power, manual, puddle light, turn signal, folding, and so on, but they are larger and provide better visibility. The manual telescopic mirrors must be stretched using human power. The motorized ones, on the other hand, enable you to sit inside your vehicle and click a button to stretch the mirrors outward.
Telescopic mirrors are an excellent addition if a vehicle already has towing mirrors but needs a bit extra visibility for whatever it is pulling. Tow mirror extensions improve the looks of a vehicle by making it seem larger.
How Do I Determine Whether a Towing Mirror Will Fit My Year, Make, and Model?
Once you understand how your mirror works (manual or remote), you can choose an identical replacement that will suit your car. If you have a power mirror, you should be familiar with its features. Your car will be compatible with a tow mirror that has the same settings as the original side view mirror.
Depending on the vehicle and the present mirror type, there are certain upgradeable tow mirrors with higher power choices that may be installed as an upgrade. To provide additional possibilities, the new tow mirror will either come with an update kit or will be plug-and-play.