mirrors

[markatherton]

I was driving in heavy winds recently and noticed the mirrors move back slightly when driving into the wind. Pretty annoying to constantly have to adjust them. Is there a way to tighten them up.

[Colorider]

Premiers and Concourses came with different model mirrors. Also, I think they may have changed with model years. What year and model is your rig? Maybe a pic could help too. I'm sure someone will be able to help once they see what we're working with.

[markatherton]

Its a 97 concourse. It has the big long white mirrors that collapse

[Blue~Go]

Here is a link to a thread I made on this exact issue/fix. I bet you have the same model mirrors that I do (which they used through very early 99, although the changeover wasn't consistent). If so, they are Velvac 2015 mirrors.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=50&hilit=velvac+2015

[markatherton]

Thanks for the info. Exactly what I needed

[Blue~Go]

Great, glad it helped! It was sooooo annoying when I first got my Chinook and the mirrors would slowly end up facing the side wall of the coach. Grrrrr.

I tightened mine back when I made the thread (2014?) and they haven't budged since (but they are not too tight and I can still fold them in).

[deppstein]

I'm resurrecting an old thread here to describe a Mod I just completed. Our 2004 Premier came with Velvac mirrors (like most of us have--unless, of course, you have already upgraded to power mirrors, or something better looking). Anyway, I found the Velvacs to be fine in terms of vision...and, unlike some others' postings, I have not had any trouble keeping them tight. BUT I have always had a problem with the way in which they stuck out so far--as one of my pictures indicates, it's about 20 1/2 inches from the driver's glass to the outside edge of the mirror that came with our Rig. And that has always made me a bit nervous--especially when passing a biker on a narrow road, or driving in the city along side a row of parked SUV's with their ginormous mirrors protruding into my lane! So, I finally decided to do something about it. I thought about an upgrade to power, or installation of something more sleek, but, in the end, I simply opted to swap my existing set for the exact same mirror, but with a shorter arm--5 inches shorter! In doing some research, I discovered that our mirrors actually come in three different lengths (86", 96", and 102" models with the numbers corresponding to the width along the back bumper). It seems that the stock mirrors on our Premiers and Concourses are the 96" models--Velvac said that was a pretty standard install by Ford since they didn't really know what sort of box was ultimately going onto the chassis.
The actual width across my Premier's back bumper is 88 inches, so I ordered the 86" model. Full disclosure here: This may be the easiest fix, but it ain't cheap! Cost me $600...but the install was easy, and I am already finding my peace of mind while driving in city traffic to be worth the price.
A couple of pics are attached for reference.
David

[chin_k]

I took out someone's side mirror a few years ago when that fellow was too close to my lane and I was trying to make my left turn before the light turn red. I think the overlap was only one inch, so it would not happened if I have the shorter mirror.

[Blue~Go]

I want to make a note here, just for anyone to consider when choosing mirrors.

The longer the mirror, the better you can see behind you. What I mean is, if you take the same width vehicle, and you put a longer mirror on, then you could see a car say, X distance behind you. If you put a shorter mirror on, that distance will go to 2X (rough concept).

deppstien, I started to go into more detail here but don't want to derail another one of your threads. So I'm going to start a new thread but will come back and link it here for anyone who is interested.

[BobW9]

I always just drive with my mirrors pulled back and in, rather than sticking all the way out in the default position. This works fine, about like what you have now (even a bit more) - except, like Blue said, you do have much less visibility of what is directly behind you. My blindspot with the mirrors tucked in is probably 2 full car lengths or more if the road is straight.

Not having that full rearview visibility did nearly bite me once. I turned right, onto a back road, as part of a row of cars, with a county cop a few cars in front. A few hundred yards later, he pulled over for some people to pass. Being always suspicious, after I passed I did watch in my right mirror, only to see him immediately pull in behind me (in front of a car behind me, who was forced to back off from where it had been). After that for a couple of miles I had no visibility of the cop because he was pretty nearly tailgating me. I could catch glimpses only on curves in the road. I went exactly the speed limit, while the cars in front pulled further and further ahead. When the road split two ways I went left and he went right (with the larger flow of cars). I've always wondered if he was checking something suspicious about me out, or if he'd seen me in his rearview when turning and thought the Concourse looked interesting, and just wanted a closer look to see what the name was (and the little Yakima, WA).