5$ Jeep Mirror ATTN: All Jeep owners!

Part of owning a jeep is the fun of taking the doors off in the summer.

So I wanted some cheap mirrors for driving w/out my doors, and not get bothered by the police for not having mirrors. Unfortunately they are all 30$ and up so I thought (as usual) I can make cheaper ones that I won't be upset if I break while driving through the woods.

Step 1: Supplies

All you need is a $2.99 mirror from AutoZone, cheap piece of sheet metal (I had lying around), 2 old push rods I had from an old engine (any piece of durable rod will work) and a 3/8 x 2.5" bolt nut washers etc.

Other options for the rod may be heavy steel brake line cheaply found at most auto parts stores, or some solid steel rod (found at any hardware store).

Step 2: Cut the sheet steel

Cut out a piece of sheet metal just smaller than the mirror. Notice the mirror I got is a curved glass one with 2 adhesive strips on the back made for sticking to large truck side mirrors. This is important because it eliminates the need for an adjustment ball mounting on the back of the mirror.

Step 3: Bending the rod into prefered angle

Bend the rod using the hinge in the Jeep or a hand bender if you're using the brake line. I required no heat because of the material I used but if using heavier solid steel rod you may require it.

Step 4:

Then just weld away. On the passenger side I just placed a 2" spacer under the end bolting into the hinge in order to have it in a more viewable spot the driver side is just flat. (you can make both angled like the passenger)

I tack welded the bolt to the end and the sheet metal to the push rod for support that may not be needed if you are using heavier sheet  metal.

Step 5: Pre-paint test fit

Here is the finnished product before paint, I test fitted it to be sure it came out the way I wanted it and smoothed the surfaces a little with my wire brush and grinder.

Step 6: Finnished product

I painted it black and attached the mirror using the adhesive strips on the back of the mirror that were already there.

The mirror I used works great because it is curved and doesn't need an adjustment piece which means less to break on trees and they can easily be folded inside the jeep if you need them protected from the trees.

Comments

[BtheBike]

have welder ..will travel .

[pgd5000]

this is awesome, i just turned 16 and i'm saving up for a car, my favorite kind of car is a jeep wrangler, this is a great idea

[abadfart]

very nice but im wondering if it would not be more convenient to remove the mirrors on the doors and mount them on the body so that if you take off the door the mirror is still adjusted properly

[mntbkrguy]

That may work, I chose the hinge location because it was easiest with no permenent modification to the body. I relocated the stock mirrors originally but was not able to see as well with them there and with the full door on the jeep it limited how far I could open the passenger side door.

That's not to say it isn't worth going that direction, I just saw mirrors that I thought I could make easilly.

[abadfart]

one more thing to remember you don't need a passenger mirror on your vehicle just one on the drivers side

[abadfart]

now that im thinking of it i did a radio install on a cj7 that the mirrors the windshield hinge.

[l8nite]

really cool idea ! and probably adaptable to other vehicles. How well do they stay in place while driving? Those are some long pushrods!

[mntbkrguy]

I placed a flat and a locking washer in between the hinge and the nut which allows me to tighten them enough to hold them in place but still allows for adjustment. the lockwasher also keeps it from coming loose from vibration.

[atombomb1945]

Nice work and simple too.

[mntbkrguy]

Thank you, they have worked great. I have the doors on now that it is cold but the only thing I had any issue with was getting used to the bubble type mirror. I could see more but your eyes take a second to adjust when you look at it.

If I made another set I probably would have done more of a stitch weld so it would look nicer but with the paint I am the only one that notices.

[abadfart]

i have no problem with adjusting to the bubble mirrors on my bike and they are good enough that on such a small vehicle i have virtually no blind spot unless they are so small they can fit in the space between my back seat and my mirror with out my peripheral vision picking them up