Moving the interior Rearview mirror out of the way

Discussion in 'Renegade Write-Ups' started by fred, Oct 20, 2016.

  1. fred

    fred Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2016
    Messages:
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    Location:
    usa
    How to raise (rotate) the mirror to give you a better view of the road.

    After a Sunday drive through a twisty canyon with sharp curves in deep ravines and atop hill crests I notice that the interior mirror blocked about an 1" of window, but that translated into blocking about 10~25 feet of road.

    I decided to rotate the mirror 180 deg so that the mirror was biased towards the roof ... but there's not enough room for that, so the mirror had to come off ... here's how ...

    • The white arrows and lines show wasted space
    • The Red arrows and lines show blocked view of the road
    1-stock.JPG


    2-stock.JPG

    1) To remove trim and housing.
    • Parts must be removed in the order numbered below
    • Use a thin, flat tool in seem between part 1 and 3, pry the corners of part 1 in direction of arrows
    • Once part 1 is removed Lift/Slide part 2 towards roof (straight up)
    • With vinyl trim tool pry part 3 away from window (There are 3 retaining: one at each upper corner and one in the lower center)
    1-removal.JPG

    Below shows where clips are and the tab/slot on parts 1 and 2 ...
    2-removal.JPG

    2) Removing the mirror:
    • Grab the mirror stalk and rotate clockwise approximately 90 degrees along axis shown (Dashed line - like turning a screw. Do Not pry the stalk off)
    • After mirror and stalk are removed, rotate mirror on stalk 180 degrees so that the "long" side of the mirror is now on top.
      • Note: This does put the night/day flipper lever on top but I can adjust to that
    The red arrows show where the retainer clip pins are located. You'll need to line these up with the large housing during reinstallation.
    3-removal.JPG

    3) Reinstallation
    • I didn't take a picture with the stalk off, but what you'll find is that the base of the stalk, that attaches to the window, has three tabs that attach to the hex head on the window (you'll see it, it will be obvious) Hold the stalk at the same 90 degrees when it came off. The trick here is to lightly push the base of the stalk towards the window first and then while at the same time turning the stalk counterclockwise so that the tabs in the base of the stalk grab the flange on the hex head (this can be a bit of a pain). Remember you only have to turn the stalk about 90 degrees counterclockwise.
    • Reinstall the plastic parts in revers order (3, 2, 1) ... the easy part.

    You'll still see the box, but you increase the visibility out of the window

    1-reinstall.JPG

    Also, I reinstalled my blue tinted fisheye mirror, from Pep Boys I think, so I can see out the passenger side windows without taking my eyes off the road. What's cool too is that even with the fisheye mirror the visors still flip all the way down without hitting the mirror.

    2-reinstall.JPG
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2016
  2. Mattsican

    Mattsican Member

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  3. TH4x4

    TH4x4 Member

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    Nice write up. I see you don't have an auto dimming mirror. Not sure this will word with an auto dimming mirror as the light sensor is at the bottom of those mirrors.
     
  4. isthata_compass

    isthata_compass New Member

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    Oct 5, 2016
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    Location:
    Northern Virginia/DC
    That's awesome! I have a Spoon blue wide view mirror in my Honda Fit and love it. I can see all four lanes on the highway. Will be looking into doing this in my Renny, thanks!
     
  5. Wraith55

    Wraith55 New Member

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    Centennial Colorado
    That is awesome, thanks.
     
  6. Kutthroat_King

    Kutthroat_King New Member

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    NW Chicagoland
    I am contemplating putting a switchbox there for lights. Anyone done this?
     
  7. IDoMy0wnRacing

    IDoMy0wnRacing Well-Known Member

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    Pioneer, California
    Good idea, Good write-up.
     

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