I wasn't really trying that
hard to figure out how to relocate my mirrors for when I drove without doors. I had
looked at a few solutions and didn't like them very much. They were too expensive
for the cheap mirrors that you got, or they were made out of metal that would rust easily.
Added to that, the ones that require you
to relocate your factory mirrors could be a pain because it could mean having to move the
mirrors every time you took your doors off. Then there was the small matter that my
Garvin Roof rack brackets interfered with my door hinges and so prevented "easy"
door removal.
Every once and a while I surf eBay to see
what I can see. Whether it is a quest for a cheap winch (no such thing, at least if
you want something with a guarantee) or maybe some half doors. Or a black sail cloth
top. You get the idea... Anyway, up pops these billet mirror adapters.
Normally I would have said "Hmmm, that's nice" and kept on moving. But
recently my friend Dave gave me his old factory mirrors when he replaced them with
wide-angle mirrors. They're in perfect shape. I was going to use one of the
mounting plates to replace one of mine which has blistered and peeled.
Then it hit me - I could buy the
adapters, mount the spare mirrors on them and still replace my peeled plate! Hey!
So I got lucky and was able to buy them for substantially less than the retail
price on the manufacturer web site. They arrived in short order complete with the
original box and instructions, looking hardly used.
Installation is dead easy - just take
apart your old mirror from the bracket, put it back together on the adapter, then when you
want to use them, thread them onto your top door hinge (door removed of course).
Great! Now I admit, if you don't
have a spare set of mirrors, this isn't so great because it takes some time to do the
swap.
But if you do have spare mirrors, or
don't mind the swap time, these are great! They are beefy, put the mirror in almost
the same spot as when they are on a full door, and the mirror doesn't vibrate. It
even stays where you set it, at least as well as the stock ones anyway.
If you have $90 that you don't know what
to do with, and you want to drive with your doors off, this is the solution.
