Third (and final) installment:
Wiring sorted, time to move on to the hard mounting.
While others may have reportedly "bolted them on", mine was no install of the sort. Maybe I'm not lucky, maybe my aftermarket mirrors are different, maybe I'm just fussier about fit........who knows.....:rolleyes5:
This is what it took to get them on my truck to my satisfaction, YMMV.....
Let's begin.
remove the mirror and it's "gasketing":
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(give the area a little wash if it's got dirt stuck in there like mine did)
Now we need to position the new mirror on the door. Those long studs are a problem, so you can either pull them out (risk stripping the pot aluminum) or you can make a template. I like templates for everything I fab, so I went that way:
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Position it on the door and mark your holes:
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Now center punch and drill your holes:
(pic didn't come out, but you get the idea)
Give the fresh holes a shot of paint to help stave off the "rusties".
The mirror doesn't sit flush at the base due to the door window felts/trim, so a bit of rotary rasp and file work is called for:
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Next, the wiring bundle exits in the wrong spot on the dodge mirrors. It would be pinched when the mirror is tightened down if routed through the stock GM hole location. Rather than punch another hole in the door sheet metal, some more filing and rotary work fixes that up:
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That's better. Now a bit of "hot snot" to hold it in place:
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(make sure you leave a tiny bit of slack so it's not tight where it comes out of the stock location)
No more pinched wire worries.
A trial fit shows the plastic is no where near good enough for my liking:
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Pinches the window gasket at the top and binds it under the window. The dodge contour is obviously wrong for the GMC as it has a severely curved in section at the top. It also rubs the window glass lower down and compresses the window felt and trim. That won't due. So, lets scribe a line and get to filing:
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Better, but still not good enough:
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We need to create another relief contour for the gasket to sit in:
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That's what we're looking for!
The base also need a little "jog" for the lower window seal where it doubles over the steel window frame when it's up:
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Now we're cooking!
Lets finish prepping the mirror. Install the foam gasket that came with it:
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You need to punch a new hole in the foam for the wiring. I used my hole punch, or you could use an empty cartridge, or just give it a little snip with the scissors.
Peel the old foam "cover strip" off the GM mirror:
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Give it a dab of something like this:
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And glue it on to the new mirror in the same spot as the old:
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You want to install this foam piece or when sitting in the drivers seat you'll be able to see in behind your new mirror to the mounting brackets and plastic backing. You can skip ahead a bit to the pics where you can see it if you can't envision it right now.
Now, we finally get to the bolting and connecting part. Thread the wiring through and pop that sucker on there:
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I fabbed up some spacers to deal with the extra stud length. I used steel tube I had around because I wanted the mounting solid and no wobble. I also wanted to be able to crank it down and get a proper crush on the foam gasket material for weather sealing. GM double skinned the area and braced it well for the stock mirrors, no extra bracketing required. The mirror base is rock solid, I can grab the mount base and rock the truck up and down with no movement what-so-ever.
Connect the wiring connector and slide it in forward of the front bolt to make sure is stays out of the way of the window while moving:
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Cut the factory foam filler so it fits in around the longer studs:
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Don't leave this foam out! This is a high wind noise area and you want it in there, that's why GM installed it. It also will help hold the wiring in place since it's now a bit longer than stock.
Pop the door trim back on and you're done:
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(here you can see why we put that foam strip from the GM mirror on the new one)
I'll just finish off with some pics of the whole thing once done:
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(you can see a little "droop" halfway down the front edge)
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( a little heat at a future date will allow me to reshape it for better fit like so ^)
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Bigger than stock, but not stupidly so:
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(rear visibility is
at least twice as good as the stockers in the "down" position)
Stock mirror is totally outclassed when in towing position:
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(you can see why I need them in the driveway next to the truck)
That's about all I have for now folks. The passenger side is done with the same procedure, just a "mirror image"......lol.
Enjoy....
