Quality of towing mirrors

[Turbo]

Am I the only one that finds towing mirrors next to useless?
Other than being able to see down the side of the van the view offered by my present mirrors is so distorted that they cannot be safely used for reversing. I am proposing to buy a truck wide angle mirror to try out on my present mirror arms, they too are E rated and are relatively cheap from a Britax supplier.

 

[chrisbee1]

What sort of mirrors are you currently using? I have Grand Aero with flat glass and get an excellent view including a true idea of distance behind. Are you using convex mirrors? A truck wide angle mirror will also be convex, you'll get a good view to the side but find it difficult to judge distance

 

[Hutch]

Turbo, I have Milencc Grand Aero, they are good but at the Speeds you really need them 50 /60 mph they vibrate. I have a rear view camera on the van which is great and is so stable.. but on another thread we require legaly the mirrors.
We should get the Prof onto the goverment to change the laws / rules.

 

[Turbo]

They are convex but so are all of the mirrors on the wagons that I drive but no distortion. The mirrors on the car are curved too but why do the manufacturers of additional mirrors think that we need a mirror with two different radius/radii on the one piece. Looking for when to start turning during a blind side reverse is a gamble.

 

[ProfJohnL]

They are convex but so are all of the mirrors on the wagons that I drive but no distortion. The mirrors on the car are curved too but why do the manufacturers of additional mirrors think that we need a mirror with two different radius/radii on the one piece. Looking for when to start turning during a blind side reverse is a gamble.

No distortion? By definition anything that changes the shape or size of an image is distorting it. Convex mirrors tend to make the image appear smaller than it really is. The danger here is a vehicle coming alongside may closer than it appears.

Providing the curvature of the mirror is not too great, you can become used to the distortion and make appropriate allowance for it. I'm guessing that most professional drivers will have a better chance of acclimatising to them.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Mirrors? -- Professionals?-- Do they use them? - When?

 

[chrisbee1]

They are convex but so are all of the mirrors on the wagons that I drive

but no distortion. The mirrors on the car are curved too but why do the manufacturers of additional mirrors think that we need a mirror with two different radius/radii on the one piece. Looking for when to start turning during a blind side reverse is a gamble.

I take it by "truck" you are not talking LGV. Every one I've driven has a flat glass mirror with an additional convex "wide angle" mirror. With regard to distortion, it is now part of the MOT that the angle of curvature of the wide angle glass may be measured and if it's not within certain parameters the vehicle will fail it's MOT.

 

[Turbo]

All of the trucks that I drive are top weight. The main mirror is not flat, check it carefully. The only wagons that I have ever seen with flat mirrors are the Yank trucks. When I say that the mirrors are useless its because as you start to push the van around the outer portion of the mirror reflects a distorted image of the van and surrounding objects. You can't decide where one starts and the other begins.
Why have a product reduce in size where it actually has a major job to perform ?

 

[chrisbee1]

All of the trucks that I drive are top weight. The main mirror is not flat, check it carefully. The only wagons that I have ever seen with flat mirrors are the Yank trucks. When I say that the mirrors are useless its because as you start to push the van around the outer portion of the mirror reflects a distorted image of the van and surrounding objects. You can't decide where one starts and the other begins.
Why have a product reduce in size where it actually has a major job to perform ?

I concur that the main mirror is not absolutely flat in all cases, I was comparing it to the wide angle mirror. However, I find the main "flat" mirror only gives a very slight amount of distortion right at the very edge and not enough to stop you getting a true image of what's behind and the distance to it.