Towing Mirrors
Can anybody please advise me on suitable towing mirrors for a Yeti Outdoors (2014 model)? My "rubber strap" type cannot cope with the very curved shape of the door mirrors and I have reservations about those that bolt onto the door mirror rim - are they secure, do they damage the door mirror. Any advice would be appreciated.
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I assume this will get moved to parts and accessories, as although it says ask, you should not post in ask the expert, except when invited. However, as to mirrors.
As long as they will fit, and they seem to fit most mirrors, the bolt onto rim Milenco Aero are fine. I have been using them for 10 years, on several cars, with no sign of damage. Miraculously, not even when a police car whacked one, when accessing an accident on a blocked motorway.
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I have a pair of Milneco Grand Areo's and can't fault them. Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for and can buy spare parts if one gets damaged. I seem to recall that their website has/had and application listing for what type fitted what vehicle.
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I have also used the Milenco type on my last 3 tow cars with no problems. My present tow car, I have put the clamping brackets onto the lower edge of the mirror, there is a bit more space in order too get the 2 rigid flat pieces in, then bolt up. Turn the mirrors so that the pointed end is at the top, and it gives me a good rear vision of the road at the back of the van.
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Another owner of Milneco Grand Areo's. Very good and little vibration.
They clamp well on to the car mirror housing (without any damage)
Only thing I would say is try before you buy! I have the standard size arms and have just ordered the longer arms as I feel I would like a better view down the nearside of the caravan, it wasn't that bad but I feel the longer arms will make it better (off side was good with standard arms)
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Many thanks to everybody for their helpful suggestions and advice. The Milenco mirrors seem to be the most popular and I have been in contact with them to confirm their suitability for the Yeti, their reply is "I can advise that our Aero 3 range of mirrors will fit perfectly fine ".
Despite their assurance I will still try them at the dealers before buying, just to be on the safe side.
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I have a pair of Falcon mirrors, very very similar to Millenco.
They fit on my Jeep brilliantly, survived an on coming M class mirror meet without a mark!
Totally recommend.
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Another +1 for Milenco. My Yeti mirrors are fine, but I have had a detached mirror glass due to the tight spacing around the glass. I believe Milenco now do a thinner "foot" to stop this problem.
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A new clamping system has been introduced with the new Aero 3 models which is supposed to be better and I suspect these have the thinner foot you mentioned. When looking at the price of the mirrors I noticed that a few sellers (even some well known caravan dealers) were not specifying which model they were selling but when contacted admitted that they were the older Aero 2 model. I will take note of your advice when trying them.
Many thanks
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After years of Milenco mirrors I gave up on them for a few reasons. I found them a fiddle to attach to the car (arthritic hands don't help) and very awkward to adjust with much shouting back and forth with my wife doing the honours on the near side. I also disliked the vibration.
I then purchased a pair of "Suck it and See" mirrors which are all right but not ideal. The suction mounting causes a loss of vision in the car door mirror and the view from the mirror extension is small on account of the size.
I have just come across Milenco Falcon mirrors and think I might give them a try.
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It looks like I'm the only one that finds the Milenco Areo's a bit of a pain! (I've got the smaller ones) I find the view a bit limited and they are a real pain to adjust to get into the right position. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of going back to my Suck-it-and-see wing mirrors. I know there are pros and cons about fitting them to the glass part of the wing mirrors but one plus is that you can adjust them accurately and minutely by using the electronic car wing mirror adjusting system, in order to get the best possible view.
David
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With regard to pros; I must have been using nothing other than “Suck-it-and–see wing mirrors” for the past 17 years, as you say David “you can adjust them accurately and minutely by using the electronic car wing mirror adjusting system, in order to get the best possible view”. I have not had a single problem with them so far, and have not yet had a vehicle that they would not fit.
What have you found to be the cons David? 0 -
But if you move the car mirror in order to adjust the 'suck it and see' mirror, surely your car mirror will then be out of alignment?
I agree that the Milenco can be a bit of a pain to adjust on the move. I now know exactly which bit of the caravan edge needs to be in the middle of the mirror before I set off, in order to get a good view while driving.
Trouble is, if I start off on a hill (like on our drive) or with the car and caravan not perfectly aligned, it doesn't work.
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The fitting of Suck it and See mirrors covers the main part of the car mirror, therefore when they are adjusted doesn't make any difference. They are good, but the mirror heads are quite small.
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We changed the car and found our Milenco Grand Aeros would not fit safely because of the sharp slope on the edges of the mirror and have had to get strap on ones. My older strap on ones had fairly short rubber straps that would not fit another car, but the new ones have longer straps and work with the larger mirrors so may be the manufacturers are now fitting longer straps.
My feeling is try a dealer and explain your position and see if they will let you try their mirrors on the car to see what works best.
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Many thanks to everybody for their useful information and advice. I bought the Milenco Aero 3 mirrors in preference to the much larger Grand Aero 3 because the standard size are noticeably bigger than my previous type (with rubber straps) and have less area and hence less wind force on them and the door mirror housing than the Grand Aero would have. They have proved to be quite acceptable and very steady, much better than expected and much better than my old strap on mirrors.
The gap between the Yeti door mirror glass and the housing is very small and I was concerned that the Milenco mirror brackets would interfere but the salesperson at the caravan accessories shop assured me that they would fit and fitted them to my Yeti to prove it. When fitted they actually touched the door mirror glass, a very tight fit indeed.
I would endorse the use of the Milenco Aero 3 towing mirrors on the Yeti, but I think it is definitely necessary to try them on your own car to be sure that they will fit correctly. I would not advise trying to adjust the position of the door mirrors themselves once the Milenco mirrors are fitted, make sure they are correctly adjusted beforehand.
Adjusting the Milenco mirrors when fitted is not easy, as with all towing mirrors, so I made a template out of cardboard (which is easily cut) of the shape of the inside of the door mirror housing and made a mark on it of the position of the inner Milenco bracket, after fitting and adjusting correctly. I then used this to make a durable template from wood, which when turned over also fitted the other door mirror. By loosening only the two brackets that clamp onto the door mirror housing it is then possible, using the template, to fit the Milenco mirrors back into the same place and hence require the minimum of adjustment. Hopefully no adjustment will be needed, but in the real world at least it will be minimised.
I hope my experience with the Milenco Aero 3 mirrors proves useful to somebody else, just as other people's experiences have been most valuable to me.
PS. Why does it take so long to say so little?
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I have used the Milenco mirrors for years, from about when they first came out, They have never given a moments concern and on my M class they are quite simply the best.
One big advantage of the Milenco's - not yet mentioned, is the spares situation. When I changed several years ago to an E class Merc I thought that the clearance within the Mirror housing looked a bit tight, so I phoned Milenco for advice. The answer was immediate "We've just introduced new slimmer clamps especially to address that problem" they sent a set of the new clamps to my dealer. Problem solved!
Then when I changed to bigger 4x4's and wanted the "Grand Aero" style mirror heads I found that I could order those separately as well!
To be frank, I cannot visualise any circumstances that would lead me to use any other type of mirrors. Oh! And no, - despite years of use I have never known the mirror clamps damage any of my mirror housings on whatever car I was using.
TF
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Sorry JCB, only just spotted this post from ages ago.
I used Suck-it-and-see for years but changed to the Milenco Aero after reading good reports of them.
The only small problem I had with s-i-a-s was that occasionally they would slip down, especially just after having the car cleaned. The other thing that one or two (not me) have expressed concern about is the weight put directly on the wing mirror glass itself.
As I have said, I am at the point of moving back to the s-i-a-s mirrors has I have found the Milenco mirrors fussy to adjust.
David
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I use the Reich Control towing mirrors. Not cheap but they are battery operated with a remote control handset, meaning I can set my towing mirrors with precision, from the driving seat, even if I am by myself.
They clip onto the mirror's outer frame and are solid as a rock with two clips at the top and one underneath.
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Just did a quick google search and at nearly £300 a pair, I'll stick with my Milenco grand aero's
A bit too expensive for me
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I use Milenco at the moment but it doesn't seem to matter how carefully I fit them on each time I still need to adjust them. I have marks on the car door mirrors to also ensure they are in the same place each time.
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My Milenco Grand areos need readjusting each time but it's no big deal and they most likely move when taken off and are stored.
Whats not been mentioned is with the type that cover / attach to the existing mirror glass, you loose the use of that mirror. With my Grand Areos fitted they give an excellent view down the side and behind me to a degree but the cars mirrors, although the view is restricted, allow me to see the caravan wheels when turning, reversing etc.
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what would be really great is if you could get door mirrors on a car that were capable of being adjusted outwards. You don't then have the problem of fitting additional mirrors with different focal point, having to readjust them regularly, etc. I have seen vehicles (admittedly large SUV's) in other countries with this type of mirror so why not here.
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