Jim Koepke
09-25-2019, 1:38 AM
The side mirrors on many of the GM/Chevy Trucks and SUVs have been the same for many years. They also often fall prey to the same weak link. The mirror box swivels on a hollow cylinder. It is held in place by a compression ring. If the mirror is hit by tree limbs, brush or even a mail box it can eventually pop the ring. There are a few videos on line showing the problem and how to fix it.
The videos did not mention that it helps to position the mirror so the driver sees the ground before removal. This makes taking the mirror out of the assembly easier later. Though it isn’t all that difficult to push it by hand, my dislike of forcing mechanical things makes me want to place things in position under their own power.
Another thing that was not seen in the videos is when reassembling the mirror surround (mirror box), doing so in reverse of taking it apart may not be the easiest way. Videos show front trim being removed first in disassembly. It seems to go together easier with the front put in place first, followed by the back of the housing.
416810
What the videos also did not tell is how difficult it is to push the compression ring down against the stiff spring working against it. My solution was to make a tool for the job:
416811
This was made from a piece of 1” pipe and a coupling that served many years ago to make a tool for a different job. This has been in the back of my plumbing tool drawer for well over a decade. The notch in the coupling was smaller from being used to chase threads on a piece of pipe. The other end of the pipe had only a half circle of threads as they were also cut off to use to chase some pipe threads during a plumbing job in my old house.
A piece of large dowel was tapered on one end in the lathe to fit into the cut off pipe end. The notch in the coupling was enlarged to allow room for the wiring harness. The area under the hollow cylinder was supported by a piece of 1X4 fir. A few light taps with my small mallet drove the ring home.
Sometimes keeping old junk around pays off.
jtk
The videos did not mention that it helps to position the mirror so the driver sees the ground before removal. This makes taking the mirror out of the assembly easier later. Though it isn’t all that difficult to push it by hand, my dislike of forcing mechanical things makes me want to place things in position under their own power.
Another thing that was not seen in the videos is when reassembling the mirror surround (mirror box), doing so in reverse of taking it apart may not be the easiest way. Videos show front trim being removed first in disassembly. It seems to go together easier with the front put in place first, followed by the back of the housing.
416810
What the videos also did not tell is how difficult it is to push the compression ring down against the stiff spring working against it. My solution was to make a tool for the job:
416811
This was made from a piece of 1” pipe and a coupling that served many years ago to make a tool for a different job. This has been in the back of my plumbing tool drawer for well over a decade. The notch in the coupling was smaller from being used to chase threads on a piece of pipe. The other end of the pipe had only a half circle of threads as they were also cut off to use to chase some pipe threads during a plumbing job in my old house.
A piece of large dowel was tapered on one end in the lathe to fit into the cut off pipe end. The notch in the coupling was enlarged to allow room for the wiring harness. The area under the hollow cylinder was supported by a piece of 1X4 fir. A few light taps with my small mallet drove the ring home.
Sometimes keeping old junk around pays off.
jtk