Kit Kamper Projects, Project #11, Mirror Extensions

[RedneckExpress]

NOTE: All Pictures in any of the Kit Kamper Projects are thumbnailed. Simply click on the image you wish to see bigger and a full size copy will be loaded.

-------

Now, this topic has come up more than once over the years on this forum (Truck Camper Forum on RV.net). Most folks either opt for power extension mirrors, or the more common slip on varieties.

These all work great if you're using a stock mirror setup, or your truck has a set of electric extendable mirrors available for it.

Now, what does one do when your truck no longer has its stock mirrors and instead has a big old honking set of dump-truck mirrors?

Easy, you add on!



These mirror extension brackets are another design that my buddy Terry and I dreamnt up after I got to complaining about the fact that I couldn't see all the way back to the rear of my truck or who the h-e-double-L was getting ready to play Johnny Rocket and shoot out from behind me to do a California passing maneuver.




Rather than drill a whole heap of new holes in the existing mirror brackets, the design opted for reusing the existing mounting stucture and only drilling a single hole in the top cross member to give the mirrors lateral stability. All other holes were matched and the only changes made were the addition of longer bolts to accomodate the extra thickness of the extension brackets.

The extensions are removable, though they require a socket and a wrench to do the job instead of simply undoing some straps or pushing your mirrors back in.

The advantage I like about the design is the two seperate mirrors on each bracket in addition to the stock mirror and the convex mirror attached to it.



The Upper mirrors are perfect for showing me whose hanging around behind me and what's coming up behind me and along side me up to two lanes over.

The lower mirror allows me to watch the back corners of the camper as I clear corners and tight clearances, as well as watching trailers to make certain that I do not jackknife them when backing up, or cut a corner too close and catch the trailers axle in a curb, pothole, or someone elses car.

With this setup, I can now see just about everything behind me from all different angles, with sufficient overlap to eliminate any blind spots I had in the past.

This is, perhaps, one of the better project investments I've made in my time as a Camper owner. Compared to the slide-on mirror extensions my parent's use with their Toyhauler, my field of rear vision is almost four times that.

[RedneckExpress]

NOTE: All Pictures in any of the Kit Kamper Projects are thumbnailed. Simply click on the image you wish to see bigger and a full size copy will be loaded.

-------

Now, this topic has come up more than once over the years on this forum (Truck Camper Forum on RV.net). Most folks either opt for power extension mirrors, or the more common slip on varieties.

These all work great if you're using a stock mirror setup, or your truck has a set of electric extendable mirrors available for it.

Now, what does one do when your truck no longer has its stock mirrors and instead has a big old honking set of dump-truck mirrors?

Easy, you add on!



These mirror extension brackets are another design that my buddy Terry and I dreamnt up after I got to complaining about the fact that I couldn't see all the way back to the rear of my truck or who the h-e-double-L was getting ready to play Johnny Rocket and shoot out from behind me to do a California passing maneuver.




Rather than drill a whole heap of new holes in the existing mirror brackets, the design opted for reusing the existing mounting stucture and only drilling a single hole in the top cross member to give the mirrors lateral stability. All other holes were matched and the only changes made were the addition of longer bolts to accomodate the extra thickness of the extension brackets.

The extensions are removable, though they require a socket and a wrench to do the job instead of simply undoing some straps or pushing your mirrors back in.

The advantage I like about the design is the two seperate mirrors on each bracket in addition to the stock mirror and the convex mirror attached to it.



The Upper mirrors are perfect for showing me whose hanging around behind me and what's coming up behind me and along side me up to two lanes over.

The lower mirror allows me to watch the back corners of the camper as I clear corners and tight clearances, as well as watching trailers to make certain that I do not jackknife them when backing up, or cut a corner too close and catch the trailers axle in a curb, pothole, or someone elses car.

With this setup, I can now see just about everything behind me from all different angles, with sufficient overlap to eliminate any blind spots I had in the past.

This is, perhaps, one of the better project investments I've made in my time as a Camper owner. Compared to the slide-on mirror extensions my parent's use with their Toyhauler, my field of rear vision is almost four times that.