Towing mirrors for a VX with cameras in the side mirrors - solutions?

[Craigous Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Craigous]

Hello,

Just wondering what people are choosing to use for towing mirrors where they have cameras in their side mirrors as part of the 360 degree camera setup on their Prado

Cheers.

[Timj Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Timj]

Hi, I use a pair of Milenco towing mirrors, takes less than a minute to whack on or off. Unless your after something like Clear view style.

Cheers

Tim.

[ptommo59 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ptommo59]

I bit the bullet and put the Clearview Next Gens on....very expensive but work a treat and have a version with all the original VX/Kakadu mirror features e.g. Heated, Camera, Power-Fold, BSM, Indicators, Electric Adjust (The installer does have to transfer your cameras from the old mirrors to the new ones).

Model number in black CVNG-TP-150S-HVFSIEB currently $1585 RRP according to Clearview website plus fitting cost.

If doing DIY there are video's on transferring the cameras and fitting the mirrors.

[GeeWhizz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeeWhizz]

I bit the bullet and put the Clearview Next Gens on....very expensive but work a treat and have a version with all the original VX/Kakadu mirror features e.g. Heated, Camera, Power-Fold, BSM, Indicators, Electric Adjust (The installer does have to transfer your cameras from the old mirrors to the new ones).

If doing DIY there are video's on transferring the cameras and fitting the mirrors.

I also bought Clearview Next Gens when we bought a new caravan last year. The mirror part is excellent. However, at night in wet weather, the integrated indicator lights are downright dangerous. The indicators are visible to the driver and, with wet side windows, all of the water droplets light up obscuring the mirrors - you have no visibility when changing lanes. To overcome the problem, I made some 'blinkers' to block the lights from the driver's eyes but this is not an easy thing for the average owner to make.

[stevemac Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close stevemac]

GeeWhizz

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GeeWhizz - how did you make the blinkers? About to commit to some Clearview mirrors and am often towing the van in the rain.

thanks,

Steve

[GeeWhizz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeeWhizz]

First, the indicator lights are only a problem when driving in the wet at night. The brightness contrast is not a problem in daylight. I have an offroad/offgrid caravan myself and know that it's pretty unusual for me to tow at night - we camp at night! Having said that, for me, driving at night in the wet was a problem on multi-lane roads before I added the 'blinkers'.

The blinkers were fabricated from PVC Angle from Bunnings. Brutus 25 x 25 x 2.5mm x 2.4m Angle Building Moulding - Bunnings Australia They can be made with a bit of patience and the use of fairly common tools. I used a fine blade in a hacksaw and a craft knife for cutting. A 150mm fine file or fine sand paper for smoothing curves and edges. Heat gun for moulding curves and bends and PVC cement with small clamps for gluing. For finishing I used plastic pimer because I had some from a past bumper repair and flat black (both were spray cans). Secured with 4G stainless steel screws.

Here are a couple more images. I cut the angle to make two flat pieces for each mirror, glued together to make a ~50mm strip - you can see the join in the finished image below. The unpainted one was a concept prototype just pushed into the gap to confirm that the idea was going to work.

[Leethal Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leethal]

Clearview advised the reason for the indicator location is so vehicles with a GVM upgrade can have compliant side indicators.
That is a side indicator needs to be visible from the rear, have a look at a truck and you will see they have a side indicator most likely well below the drivers eyeline.
I am surprised they prioritized GVM upgraded vehicles over standard vehicles, I believe you need to option in a Cat 6 indicator instead of the standard Cat 5 indicator anyway to be compliant.

Lee

[GeeWhizz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeeWhizz]

I guess that manufacturing costs were mounting up. Due to the Prado's OEM mirrors having indicator lights, any replacement needs to maintain full ADR functionality.

Regardless, I took the legal requirement seriously when designing my 'blinkers', otherwise I could have just disconnected the indicator wire on each mirror. I've attached an along-the-body-from-behind photo with the indicator flashing - I'm sure it complies.

[Leethal Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leethal]

Unless one has had a GVM upgrade over 3500 kg there is no ADR requirement to for side indicators to be visible along the side of the vehicle from the rear.
One only has to look at the standard mirror mounted indicators which face forward.
Lee