Dorman Tow Mirrors VS OEM

Vawter · Nov 24, 2016

Anyone have any experience with dorman tow mirrors and their quality? My drivers side mirror has been busted for a long time and I can't take it anymore. Just wandering how they match up to OEM mirrors.

sootie · Nov 24, 2016

I'd do 1a auto long before Dorman. They sponsor the site and are cheap

TyCorr · Nov 24, 2016

My 1a autos have internal issues and the turn signals dintbwork. Id not turn someone away from them but buy a basic model. Maybe power glass but no heat or signal/clearance lights.

Vawter · Nov 24, 2016

Maybe I will just nut up and buy OEM. I could live without the heat working, but I want the signal to work to match the other.

sootie · Nov 24, 2016

TyCorr said:
My 1a autos have internal issues and the turn signals dintbwork. Id not turn someone away from them but buy a basic model. Maybe power glass but no heat or signal/clearance lights.

Hmmm. I wish I knew that. I just ordered some based on Gares recommendation

TyCorr · Nov 24, 2016

Maybe you'll have better luck. Mine were fine but n9w that I use my truck daily they have stopped working.

Vawter · Nov 24, 2016

sootie said:
Hmmm. I wish I knew that. I just ordered some based on Gares recommendation

Let me know what you think of yours sootie. I'm having a hard time coughing up the cash for OEM when I could put that money towards a bigger turbo.

ToMang07 · Nov 25, 2016

TyCorr said:
My 1a autos have internal issues and the turn signals dintbwork. Id not turn someone away from them but buy a basic model. Maybe power glass but no heat or signal/clearance lights.

Same here, except it was my running lights never worked. Heaters DID work but stopped at some point over the summer. They are cheap. I'll probably be replacing them again, soon.

Vawter · Nov 26, 2016

Ended up buying dorman, we will see if it is any good.

Zmann · Nov 26, 2016

1A has a stellar reputation on the Forums
Dorman does not

I have had the 1A 08 full power minus fold/extend ( they didn't have them yet)
on my 06 truck with no issues for over a year
TyCorr and Tom did you contact them about your issue
or do any trouble shooting ?

ToMang07 · Nov 26, 2016

Zmann said:
1A has a stellar reputation on the Forums
Dorman does not

I have had the 1A 08 full power minus fold/extend ( they didn't have them yet)
on my 06 truck with no issues for over a year
TyCorr and Tom did you contact them about your issue
or do any trouble shooting ?

Troubleshooting....yes. Contact.... no, not really worth it. The glass looks like crap, the extensions are rusting, and electronics never were top notch. After shipping them back and forth I'd save what, maybe $50 IF I got a new set?

And regardless of the company's reputation....they sell a lot of cheap parts....including Dorman products. Wasn't reviewing 1A Auto as much as the mirrors I purchased from them.

Zmann · Nov 26, 2016

true I forgot they sell more than one line of Mirrors they just released another line

I was basically referring to the line they have been advertising on here for years

mine were over 200.00 each

Vawter · Nov 26, 2016

Like I said we will see. If they suck I will let everyone know. Didn't seem like they had to bad of a rep on their mirrors, most of what I found was bad rep about their oil cooler which in my opinion is a completely different game. I would never use anything besides OEM for a part that vital. It was cheap and worst come to worst it will at least look better than the half a mirror I have left now.

TyCorr · Nov 27, 2016

Zmann said:
1A has a stellar reputation on the Forums
Dorman does not

I have had the 1A 08 full power minus fold/extend ( they didn't have them yet)
on my 06 truck with no issues for over a year
TyCorr and Tom did you contact them about your issue
or do any trouble shooting ?

Of course i did troubleshooting, or i wouldn't have known that the issue was a bad ground inside the mirror itself. If i put a testlight probe in the socket and then ground it to the edge of the door it starts blinking again. The mirror is ***ked.

Zmann · Nov 27, 2016

maybe your "edge of door" is "***ked "?

;-)
,
,

still seems like an easy fix ..no?

,

TyCorr · Nov 27, 2016

No. Its not like the mirror is disassembly ready. If you wanted to juryrig a ground into the truck and then through the door, throughthe grommet, somehow fish it through the mirror and then splice it into the mirror light socket that'd be the "easy" way. Sounds like a complete nig-rig job too. Ill wait until it bothers me enough to remove them.

I repainted my stockers. Plan B. Ordering an 08+ with power glass only. Plan C.

ToMang07 · Nov 27, 2016

TyCorr said:
No. Its not like the mirror is disassembly ready. If you wanted to juryrig a ground into the truck and then through the door, throughthe grommet, somehow fish it through the mirror and then splice it into the mirror light socket that'd be the "easy" way. Sounds like a complete nig-rig job too. Ill wait until it bothers me enough to remove them.

I repainted my stockers. Plan B. Ordering an 08+ with power glass only. Plan C.

I'm on the 08+ team myself, the larger convex mirror alone makes it worth 2x the price.

TyCorr · Nov 27, 2016

Yea. They are nice. Im so used to them they dont look goofy anymore. But im not going to plunk down for fords. Just to get a working signal. Ill just replace them with basic ones.

ToMang07 · Nov 27, 2016

TyCorr said:
Yea. They are nice. Im so used to them they dont look goofy anymore. But im not going to plunk down for fords. Just to get a working signal. Ill just replace them with basic ones.

Got a set with working signal I'll sell ya! :naughty:

6.0 Tech · Nov 27, 2016

The mirrors do come apart fairly quickly. My buddies and i have all used warranty ones, typically where either power fold or telescope is ***ked. The mirror has to come apart to swap the horizontal mirror wiring due to it being a 3 wire system. The hhorizontal motor is backwards. But it comes apart pretty easily.