Tow Mirrors

[OldAFVet]

The website deleted all my photos because they were .jpgs. Can someone tell me what photo format is required so i can edit them back in? Thanks

[155]

Oldafvet , I thought the signals would work regardless if you had them before or not? Did you have them before? Do you now? All the wiring should be there? Thx for the write up!

[OldAFVet]

The stock mirrors did not have turn sigals. The tow mirrors had turn signals in them. I did not expect them to work because the plug on the wiring harness on the truck had one less active connection than the plug on the mirrors. I assume this missing conection was for the turn signals. I don't think the effort and expense of trying to connect up the turn signal function would be worth it. I never had turn signals in my mirrors and never missed them. If I was towing a trailer all the time it would be a safety enhancement I would try to activate, but I only tow occassionally. Unless I see somthing about an easy fix I don't think I will pursue it.

[155]

hmm was hoping the turn signals would work although I dont have signals now. I do have power and heat, did you have both of those? thx

[Chris]

The stock mirrors did not have turn sigals. The tow mirrors had turn signals in them. I did not expect them to work because the plug on the wiring harness on the truck had one less active connection than the plug on the mirrors. I assume this missing conection was for the turn signals. I don't think the effort and expense of trying to connect up the turn signal function would be worth it. I never had turn signals in my mirrors and never missed them. If I was towing a trailer all the time it would be a safety enhancement I would try to activate, but I only tow occassionally. Unless I see somthing about an easy fix I don't think I will pursue it.

 

In the past 2 generations, they worked. When I added my signals worked. I had no signals prior. But that was past generations. I havent had the opportunity to dive into the wiring of a 2014

[OldAFVet]

hmm was hoping the turn signals would work although I dont have signals now. I do have power and heat, did you have both of those? thx

I was hoping they would work also. I have power and heat, but for now it looks like no turn signals. I need to find the pin out for the plugs and a schematic for the wiring harness to determine if anything can be done.

[OldAFVet]

In the past 2 generations, they worked. When I added my signals worked. I had no signals prior. But that was past generations. I havent had the opportunity to dive into the wiring of a 2014

Logic would indicate what you found in the past generations should be the case now. I can't see how it could be cost effective to tool up to make two different wiring harnesses for the same vehicle. But then again, I couldn't understand tooling up to make two different doors, one for mirrors and one not for mirrors. The door thing seems really off the wall when I think about the possibility for litigation. What happens when someone gets T-boned driving a truck with the weaker door, without the extra reinforcement and some ambulance chasing lawyer decides to make a case that had the stronger door been used a casualty woud not have occurred or been less severe. Sounds far fetched until I look at my cup of coffee from McD's and see the warning that the hot coffee is hot.

[Chris]

If the door is "strengthened" it will be up at the mirror. Im sorry, but the tow mirrors are the same design on my truck and tons of 07-2013 trucks with the, the fact that GM found the door too "weak" to support it tells me they went to far to make the truck lighter

[OldAFVet]

If the door is "strengthened" it will be up at the mirror. Im sorry, but the tow mirrors are the same design on my truck and tons of 07-2013 trucks with the, the fact that GM found the door too "weak" to support it tells me they went to far to make the truck lighter

I agree that the only reasonable conclusion is as they "improved" the truck to make it lighter they compromised the structural integrity. Since cosmetically it seems the doors look alike (with the exception of the 4th hole), my only guess for the reinforcement would be an extra sheet metal stamping somewhere between the three stampings spot welded together in the standard door. This would explain why an aftermarket fix is not possible. Any thoughts on other possibilities? I guess we will not know for sure until GM relleases the detailed specifications.

[Kennedy81]

I agree that the only reasonable conclusion is as they "improved" the truck to make it lighter they compromised the structural integrity. Since cosmetically it seems the doors look alike (with the exception of the 4th hole), my only guess for the reinforcement would be an extra sheet metal stamping somewhere between the three stampings spot welded together in the standard door. This would explain why an aftermarket fix is not possible. Any thoughts on other possibilities? I guess we will not know for sure until GM relleases the detailed specifications.

 

I thought I saw somewhere (either earlier in this thread, or another thread), that the doors for each mirror style had the same part number. Therefore; the only difference was a hole that had to be drilled/punched out.

[Jon A]

Yes, we don't know if GM "found" anything was needed at all. The evidence right now is pointing to the doors being the same except for the hole. For all we know GM keeps the hole undrilled on non-tow mirror doors simply to prevent giving water another leakage path into the door.

 

Comparing these doors to the prior gen doors, the structure there is significantly more substantial, so it's a big improvement already. The likelyhood they decided that wasn't enough of an improvement and added some further reinforcement that seems to be invisible is starting to sound far fetched to me.

[wandern]

My dealer consulted with GM tech services and was told activating the mirrors wasn't configurable in the BCM and in fact the mirrors could not be wired to work at all. They're supposed to follow up with a plan for getting the signals to work. It's inconceivably lame and cheap of GM to purposely break something like turn signal mirrors.

[nomadicdogg]

if your mirrors had signals before, they will work. if they didnt have signals before, might not be plug and play but run some wire and tap in and be done. simple.

[JoshC]

As we assumed, they fit on a 2015 HD. Same mounting and needing to drill the same hole out. I did not have blinkers before and they do not work not either. On a side note, look at that quality paint job behind the trim. All of my door jams look just like that.

 

And I have no idea why the image is rotated, sorry.

[TxTruckMan]

Ok, who's going to be the first person to put the new High Country HD tow mirrors on a 1500? Those babies look sweet!