Wing Mirrors!!!

[ronsrecord]

My JK wing mirror (off-side) is driving me nuts!! Just when you need it most, on the motorway, it tenderly folds itself in to look into the van!

What the hell do you do to stop them moving??!!

[R0B]

this is worth a try.although after market ones are a bit rubbish.imo..

1.spray the nuts with plusgas.
2.take off the nuts.the spring.and the half round piece of metal.
3.give the tapered shaft a good emery clothing.
4.grease the shaft.and re assemble.

failing that an ad in wanted for original vw mirrors is the way to go...

[toomanytoys]

We dont have "wings".......

Whilts apart, rough up the ball and socket with fine emery/wet n dry, but DO NOT grease them... try not to overtighten them..

[ronsrecord]

cheers rob!

will try that - and the other too, i reckon. they are just completely pointless and don't do the job they're supposed to. Nuts!!

I do feel like I've got wings when I'm driving it!! (But that may be the high idle!!)

[CovKid]

They drive a lot of us nuts. The springs can get weak too. I added an extra washer under the nut but as advised above, don't overtighten to compensate, its friction only holding them in place so roughen up the ball and cup as suggested. In an ideal world we'd have ones that popped out when you started the van and stayed put....

[R0B]

i have always greased the tapered shafts on mine.otherwise it rusts therefore not allowing the half round piece of metal to move up the shaft when tightening the nut..

but DO NOT grease them

[R0B]

ahh right.you mean the ball and socket.si...

[ronsrecord]

I'll be greasing my shaft and roughing up my nuts tomorrow then!!

thanks lads

[CovKid]

heh heh

[toomanytoys]

I'll be greasing my shaft and roughing up my nuts tomorrow then!!

thanks lads

enjoy............

[phredd]

I'll be greasing my shaft and roughing up my nuts tomorrow then!!

thanks lads

Sounds painfull

[DevonAid]

Those JK wing mirrors are pants. If I go over 60mpg (even by a few mph) they fold in, even after removing them and tightening the nut. Haven't tried the emery cloth approach yet.

On the plus side I'm lending the van to my neighbour next week so I'll tell him the mirror is an 'overspeed warning system'.

[BALDY3260]

If I go over 60mpg (even by a few mph)
are you showing off

[DevonAid]

Downhill obviously!

Actually we did once achieve the eye-watering speed of 90mph in our standard 1.9 DF......although this was literally downhill in neutral on a steep Spanish motorway. But then I started to smell burning and got scared so had to use the brakes.

[ambivert]

I am now on my 2nd (original) pair and they're much better than the last ones... I found that as the ball joint ages the socket becomes cracked, so it no longer grips the ball properly, and the temptation is to over-tighten it but then you only make the cracks worse! Eventually the ball joint sheared off when I was trying to fold it in by hand, cos I'd over-tightened it, fed up with constantly having to take the bloody things off in order to adjust the nut, it seems like there is less than 1/4 of a turn of the nut between them being so loose as to fold in when driving, and being too tight so as you can't fold them by hand when you're parked up to prevent w*nkers smashing them as they go past. A possible mod might be too use something like an angle grinder to cut a small gap in the bottom edge of the base where it bolts onto the van, then you may be able to adjust the nut with a small thin spanner thru the gap without having to keep removing the mirror. I've got an old smashed up to experiment with, I'll let you know how I get on...