My Argosy side mirors stink! Replacements?

[ViewRVs]

I had lots of trouble with my side mirrors on this trip. They are tough to adjust and I don't get a good view of the road.

1) Has anyone replaced their mirrors and been happy with the result?
2) Did you do anything to reinforce the support since it seems these screw on to the aluminum side that has some give and causes vibration in the mirrors.

I see this thread about their Airstream siblings.
310 Mirror sizes

[bkahler]

Fred,

I have the same mirror quandary as you. I've decided to go with Velvac mirrors similar to what Keyair is doing. Our 310 mirrors which would be basically the same as what was on the Argosy motorhomes really suck. I feel they are to small and don't provide very good coverage.

I haven't opened up the side panel inside the Argosy yet to see what kind of support is in there for mirror mounting but from what I can tell it doesn't seem to be as substantial as what is found on the 345 and probably the 310 so that will have to be addressed.

To make things even more difficult the rub rail is closer to the window than on the 310/345 models. This means there is less room to mount a mirror base like a Velvac mirror uses. If you compare the two pictures you'll see what I mean.



Since I'm not home at the moment to get specific measurements I'm just guessing but I think in order to use a Velvac mirror I'm going to have to space the mount out about an 1" like Keyair is and then notch the bottom of the mount to sit on top of the rub rail. I don't think this will look to bad and from what I can see it seems to be the only good option.

I originally had planned on fabricating base extensions myself but I don't think I'm going to have the time so I might farm that work out to a guy down the street who has his own machine shop. If you would like when I talk to him I can talk to him about making 6 instead of 4 mounts.

Brad

[shepherd57]

Hi Brad

Here is what is behind the mirrors on my 75 Argosy it should be the same on your 74. Click on the pic to enlarge it

John

[bkahler]

John,

That explains why the Argosy mirrors are so "flexible" compared to the 310/345 models.

The picture below shows the mounting in a 1986 345. It's actually made up of two plates both of which are welded in place to the structural frame work.



I guess Airstream learned something along the way.

Based on your picture of the Argosy mount it's going to be interesting to try and beef that area up enough to support larger mirrors. My first thought is to get an aluminum block and hollow it out so it can straddle the existing mount. Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think I can come up with something.

Thanks for the picture!

Brad

[bkahler]

John,

I've been staring at the picture you posted for a while now and it sure looks like the plate is riveted in place from the outside. If it is riveted that really simplifies things. If the plate does come out by just removing the rivets then a 1/2" thick aluminum plate could easily be put in place that is fastened to the upper and lower structural members.

Gives me something else to do when I get home next week

Thanks!

Brad

[shepherd57]

Brad
You are correct that plate is riveted on. By the way when you get to remove your dash check for screws holding the dash to the alum piece that the heater control is in mine had screws holding the plastic dash cover to it.I have some pics with the dash cover off if you need any.

John

[WineStream]

I bought these: Ramco Class A RV Mirrors - Mirrors - Towing & Automotive. I'll post installation details and pictures when I get home from work tonight.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by shepherd57

Brad
You are correct that plate is riveted on. By the way when you get to remove your dash check for screws holding the dash to the alum piece that the heater control is in mine had screws holding the plastic dash cover to it.I have some pics with the dash cover off if you need any.

John

John, pictures would be great!

It's always nice to know what to expect before you get into something. I'll have to see if I can find the screws you're referring to. From previous glances I don't remember seeing any screws in front. That could mean I have poor eyesight (which I do!) or someone removed them.

Thanks!

Brad

[WineStream]

I found much of the same regarding the backing plates inside the skin as have already been shown here. I removed some rivets and peeled back the interior skin a bit in order to access the plate from the inside. I drilled to two rivets (outside, beneath the mirror bracket) out and the plate inside can be removed. Part of the reason for replacement was because a couple of the exterior screws holding the mirrors on were broken or broke during the removal process. The new Ramco mirrors come with new, black screws and they are a more aggressive thread. They were not going to interface well with the old backing plate. So, I cut two large pieces of hard wood to use as new backing plates. This gave me a "clean slate" for drilling holes. The old hole pattern in the aluminum was not going to work. So, I re-used one hole and drilled three new ones. In the end, I had to fill a couple old ones and to paint some exposed bare metal left over from the old mirrors being removed. I don't have any great close-up shots of the new mirrors, but here's a few shots from afar.

I have no regrets about changing to there mirrors. I removed the "turn signal" from the bottom of them. There is still some vibration transferred to the mirrors, but there's vastly more space to be seen. On the passenger side, the diagonal window frame obstructs a large portion of the standard-view mirror, but the wide-angle mirror is fully viewable.