:help:
I am hoping that someone can tell me whether or not Foretravel used some sort of Molex connector or equivalent inside the mirror arm. I can't see any... I could cut the wires and add my own connectors, but would rather not if Foretravel left a way to completely remove the mirror without cutting the wires. I can trace the wires back about 2 feet inside the coach behind the relay panel, and there are no connectors up to that point, so not a good place to pull it apart. The hole where the wires feed through is not that large, so possibly Foretravel basically hardwired the mirrors.
Don
Our Ramco mirrors were wired without any connectors. We had to cut wires, and there is not really much room for a connector in the arm through the rectangular bottom access hole.
Don,
There were no connectors between the mirror motors and the mirror control switches on the 1998 and there are none on the 2002.
The RAMCO pigtails supplied to Foretravel are long enough to reach the (side) dash mirror controls where crimp ons are added OEM.
If you specify factory length pigtails for new/replacement mirrors, RAMCO will do that for a fee. I didn't know that when I replaced my unplated with chrome plated mirrors and therefore I spliced old and new, about a foot or so inside the front cap entry points. The wire color coding did not change so it is an easy task if you have the proper crimper tools.
Neal
Thanks for the reply Barry and Neal. Neal, I did come up with the thread that had a write up by you on that. I had already come to the conclusion that no connector with that many connections in it would fit through that hole and once I removed the turn signals, I could see that there would be no connector in the arm either, so I snipped them. The reason I am taking the passenger side mirror off is because I found a new old stock mirror on ebay that hat the configuration I have been looking for. A large full face glass in the bottom housing and a convex top hat. Unfortunately, I found out the convex top hat was a manual version with no heat. I have seldom needed the heat feature, but with the original mirrors, I used the motorized convex quite often. I am going to use this one anyway, because I am pretty sure I will find the large full face glass (especially on the passenger side) to be a big improvement in safely seeing what I need to see. I was pleased to read that you found that configuration to be a substantial improvement over the OEM. Like you, I really couldn't see much benefit from adding a top hat convex mirror to the original set up. I think the larger field of view with the full face flat will make it much faster to assess the lane change window, whereas an extra top hat convex would just add visual confusion.
Maybe I will be able to change out the manual convex for for a heated and motorized one down the road. As it happens, the mirror base and arm I bought on eBay (originally spec'd for a firetruck), was listed as the driver's side but actually matches the passenger's side. I was just going to use the old arm and mount the new head on it, but it turns out that the mount, arm length, and rise of the eBay one all fit perfectly. The rise is about an inch higher, but that should be fine. I plan to enlarge the hole for wire pass through and add a molex connector inside the coach to make for easy R&R. Now I just need a drivers side to match. Since I doubt that find a whole mirror with the longer arm so that it can be puled around to be viewed through the side window like the current arm set up, I will keep looking for head that has a full face mirror on the bottom and a convex on top to change out the driver's side.
Don
This discussion about the Ramco mirrors reminds me that I want to change my configuration. When I purchased my Foretravel, it was configured with the passenger side mirror up front, and the driver side mirror beside me. I have frequently *felt* that the mirror gave me a blind spot when making a left turn.
I want to change my driver mirror from beside me, to in front of me. I am not sure if this would be an improvement in visibility, but I hope so. I can make it look similar to the passenger side and then find a satisfactory position through repetitive trial and error tests. But since this is my first ever RV, I would appreciate some guidance.
Has anyone changed their driver mirror from the side to the front? Did you like and keep the change, or revert back to what you had become used to? Any suggestions for angles and locations for a starting point when making the change?
As always, I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions as we get ready for first our month away from home.
Thank you,
Trent
Moving the mirror out front adds to the turning radius. There have been many times I have just squeaked by and would not have made the turn without getting out and unhooking the car so I could back up. I need every inch with a turning radius this wide..
Trent
I have had my mirror out front and on the side as it is now. I do have the manual top hat convex mirror on both sides to enhance the wide view.
There are pluses and minuses to both configurations. I liked having the drivers mirror up front as it eliminated that small blind spot on the drivers side ( with the top hat convex positioned right of course). It was also easy to move my eyes to see rather than looking out the side ( not really an issue, just perception).
I changed my drivers mirror back to the side because I found up front it caused a big blind spot when looking left in close left turns.
Sharp switchbacks especially in the mountains, close turns in campgrounds , etc. That up front left corner view was blocked and after some close encounters, I switched back to the side. I also noticed that I have a better, more detailed view for backing on the side.
Bottom line- find the spot that works best for you and that you are most comfortable with. Nothing is perfect.
Check out where the mirrors are positioned on the big buses- most are on the drivers side view.
Ted
Early on we moved our out front driver's Ramco mirror to the side window. It took a new longer arm and a new base because the base had to be shifted out and the radius is different on the corner of the cap. We did find that the new position of the mirror face got in the way of the driver's side window awning arm, so later the base was moved again shifting it about an inch forward.
When we painted at Xtreme, we wanted the mirrors painted, but the chrome mirrors could have been a problematic paint job. We decided to get new paintable Ramco mirrors and bases. We bought mirrors with 3 heated and motorized glass surfaces within each mirror housing, which is now heavy plastic. We then had to add a third control switch inside. We did all the wiring which was completely different than original as now each switch controls either top, middle or bottom glass in both mirrors. Originally each switch controlled one mirror.
We did our wiring connection on the inside of the front cap.
Ditto what Ted said. For me, with the driver side mirror out front, there was a blind spot. Think you need to try both positions and see what's best for you
I would add that in heavy rain, when the mirror is out front, there is so much water being pushed to the side of the windshield that you can't see the mirror. Not so when the mirror is positioned to the side.
Trent,
Each driver needs to find their own comfort zone.
Out of curiosity, I've considered and tried both ways. From a safety standpoint, I don't see any contest.
For me;
- As Bob has said, poor visibility occurs often when there is any kind of rain, precipitation or fogging of the windshield. And we all know how those conditions can occur without much warning or ability to avoid.
- As Ted has said, putting the blind spot out front creates a safety impact more often due to the mirror always passing through the "normal" left turn sight lines.
- As Barry has said, positioned out front, the turning margins are decreased.
- There is also a distortion factor due to the curvature of the windshield that is significantly aggravated by vehicle lights following at night.
But, without getting into the incident and reflected light rays/physics of it,
perhaps the most important, (and as Ted has indicated), with a mirror out front, the field of view is
greatly reduced. Simply put, the smaller and further away a mirror is from your eyes, the less you see behind you (without moving your head). Hold a small mirror a foot from your face and then hold it at arm's length to see how the width of view is reduced as the mirror is held further away from your eyes.
Thus, most "Professional" truck/bus drivers position a large, flat-plane mirror as close to their left side as they can practically get it.
YMMV, but the physics doesn't.
Neal
Longer arm. Bracket relocated, mirror next to driver was how the original owners setup up ours.
Knew what they were doing it seems
Thanks to everyone for their responses.
It looks like I can cross this item off my "To Do" list.
One of the beauties of The ForeForums!
Trent