Stabilizing passenger side mirror / Other mirror woes

[Spektyr]

Two problems, one solved, one unsolved. The unsolved first.

I'm not sure if this is even practical/possible, but I'd like to investigate what it would take to stabilize the passenger side side view mirror on my 1982 Accord.

As it is right now the faster I go the more it shakes or wobbles in the wind. It only really becomes a problem over 55mph, which of course the car wasn't really intended for since the speed limit when it was built was 55. But it holds together and performs very well at speeds up to about 75mph with the exception of that shaking mirror (minor thing, really).

In fact, the only thing holding me back from going faster (besides common sense) is a slight shimmy that I believe comes mainly from a tiny imbalance in one or more of the wheels. I'll have that fixed when I get new tires, so if I lose my mind and decide to visit the stupid side of 80mph I probably could.


I don't really see much point in going that fast myself, but it's nice to know it's there if I need to. The mirror, though, makes the car seem flimsy.


There's two screws that mount the assembly to the side of the door. These are plenty tight. There's one screw on the underside of the mirror near the balljoint. Likewise, this screw is plenty tight. So my guess is that there's some wear in the parts that's creating too much play in the assembly.

Any ideas?

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Older model rear-view mirror and tall Americans.

Not being familiar with the evolution of Honda's rear-view mirror design I can't speak with any authority about you guys with your new Accords, but the old ones were equipped with a rear-view mirror that cannot be moved up or down. It will tilt up and down, but it won't actually move up or down.

Furthermore, it mounts to the ceiling of the car via two screws and hangs precisely the distance from the ceiling necessary to make it completely obscure vehicles on the road if you are a little over 6 feet tall.

(there's a picture of the design on this webpage: http://www.arion.net/archives/2003/12/honda_memorial.php I just found the picture, it's not my site or anything.)

At first I was envisioning hacking off the stem and using epoxy or something to cement the mirror back to the mount. That just seemed like it would be fraught with problems, so I kept thinking.

Instead I picked up a $12 replacement rear-view mirror (common garden variety like you'll find on practically every American car) and a $2 package of the glue to cement the tab to the window. Did all the cleaning and such, then pasted the metal tab to the window (just far enough from the top to allow the mirror to slide down - this is important. If you don't leave a gap you won't get able to get the mirror onto the tab.) Once the glue cured (it said 15 minutes - this was long enough but some mechanic buddies of mine insist that you're supposed to wait a full day. I didn't, and it was fine.) I mounted the mirror and adjusted it.

Benefits:
1. I can see cars that are ahead of me in the direction of my mirror.
2. After removing the mounting hardware of the original mirror there is little to give away that this is not a stock configuration (a couple small holes and a slight indentation in the headliner remains).

Drawbacks:
1. There is still the previously-mentioned marks on the headliner. I'm thinking of trying to come up with something that I can mount there that will cover it up.
2. You can't simply flip the visors down without hitting the mirror. Instead, you have to pull them towards the back of the car along the roof, then turn them down once they're clear of the mirror and slide them back. (This is because the mirror is so close to the roof now.)

I'll be posting some pics of this when I get the car washed in case anyone is interested.

[Peniole]

I've dealt with those kind of mirrors, it's almost always the ball joint. If you can take it apart at the joint, or if you have enough clearance a little sillicone helps (not enough to completely freeze it, but enough to have a dampening effect). It's a fine line and it won't completely eliminate the shake.

EDIT: one more idea, if it's the round type mirror, flip it upside down. The wear is where the screw contacts the ball. Newer screw, slightly longer might help too.

[mnkyman]

could just be the housing? and the actual mirror....maybe one of them is loose from the...try taking apart and see if there's something that can be 3m taped together


ya we had a 1989 accord and someone broke the mirror off the window, we ended up just getting 2 new bolts at home depot, bolting it on, and then using soem double sided tape on the cover that covers the screws (it normally clips

[Spektyr]

I'll have a closer look at it as soon as the sky stops spitting snow at me.

I just checked the screws real quick at a gas station on the drive out here to make sure it wasn't something that simple, but once the weather clears up and it's not obnoxiously cold I'll check it more closely. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just not built to handle the wind speeds you get that far over 55mph - the designers wouldn't have had any reason to really worry about that problem. If someone pointed out that the mirror shook at 65 or 70mph they might have just looked at the problem, determined it would raise costs to build the mirror more robustly, and replied "Well they shouldn't be driving that fast anyway - speed limit is 55mph."


This snow has really got to quit soon. I need to start primping my Accord so she's ready for some pictures.

[mnkyman]

well, if you end up not being able to solve the problem, you can always retrofit a newer mirror on

[Spektyr]

well, if you end up not being able to solve the problem, you can always retrofit a newer mirror on

It's not that big a deal, in my opinion. I don't really rely on my passenger-side mirror when I'm tooling down the highway (I'm generally in the right lane anyway and it's not that big a chore to turn back and look).

I'd rather retain the stock appearance and have a shaky mirror on the rare occasions when I'm driving really fast. That mirror doesn't really give me any info I can't get from the rear-view or a head twist (and strictly speaking you shouldn't rely on mirrors alone for a lane change at highway speeds anyway.) I'm going to turn to check the blind spot anyway, so the mirror is just a added benefit.

[Spektyr]

Okay, I've just completed my first attempt at a stabilization repair of the passenger side mirror. I'm pretty sure this is going to work perfectly, but I haven't had a chance to test it out yet.

I've got the step-by-step for anyone who has a similar design and problem:

First, pull the mirror off the car by removing the two mounting screws that attach it to the door. (You can see the holes these screws mount through indicated in blue in the first picture.)

Now take the whole mirror to a convenient work area (such as the wife's kitchen table). On the side that was mounted to the car, and therefore previously invisible, you'll find two screws which you'll need to remove. (Marked in red below.) BEFORE you remove them, make a note (or a mark) of what angle the ends are in relation to the middle (blue part to red part). They're adjustable and you'll probably want to put it back the way it was.

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS2.JPG

As you can see, I had already removed the screws by the time I took that picture. Doing so allows you to remove the middle section (you can see it sitting atop the mirror below.) This removed middle section and the main arm of the mirror mount "sandwiches" in the smaller end pieces which screw onto the door skin, so when you remove the middle section one or both of them may fall out. No biggie, they're easy to put back later.

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS3.JPG

Below you can see one of the mounting ends by itself. Notice the arrows pointing at the toothy bits. That's probably what worked loose on the mirror (it was loose on mine). We need to reduce the play between those teeth and the teeth inside the main bracket. Enter teflon tape or something similar (like you use to seal the threads on plumbing pipes).

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS4.JPG

Wrap the tape tightly around the teeth as you see below, stretching it so you get a snug fit. You shouldn't need to put more than one or two wraps on, just make sure it'll stay in place long enough to get it all reassembled. (The tape I used wasn't actual teflon tape - I think it was some kind of white electrical tape, so it's a little bit too thick.)

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS5.JPG

Here you can see the ends put back onto the main bracket with the tape in place (arrows pointing at the tape). Replace the middle section you removed earlier and tighten the screws down. Don't half-strip one of them like I almost did.

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS6.JPG

Here's the unit fully reassembled below. Note the gap on the lower side (upper side in the picture, as the mirror is upside down). This is because of the extra thickness of the tape. If you use a more appropriate thickness of tape than I did, you'll have a smaller gap. Ultimately it shouldn't matter a lot as this is on the underside of the mirror and won't be visible to any but the smallest dwarves. Besides, there's nothing that seals those two pieces together under the best of conditions, so it's clearly not meant to keep water out in the first place.

http://members.cox.net/spektyr/SMS7.JPG

Reattach the mirror to the door and you're done. Note that the small screw next to the ball joint (seen above) tightens that ball joint. You can torque it down pretty tight if you want to, but the more you do so the harder it will be to adjust the mirror. Once the mirror is mounted and set where you like it, tighten that as needed to keep it stable.

In some of the pictures above you can see part of my front turn signal lens. I've got it off because it's cracked, there's model airplane glue specially formulated for clear plastic parts also visible in some pictures - that's to fix it and prevent further cracking. I haven't really looked yet, but I imagine those lenses can't be cheap to replace (25 year old discontinued part from a Honda made before there were US plants...)

[thesteve151]

let us know how it works. :thmsup: good job

[Spektyr]

So far so good. I had her up to 55 earlier and had just a slight vibration.

[Spektyr]

Okay, had the opportunity to observe her in some higher speed testing (up to 75mph - it'll go faster but I don't drive that fast so it really doesn't matter.)

The mirror still shakes a bit, but nothing like it used to. I don't believe it would be possible to stabilize it to the point where it wouldn't vibrate at all while maintaining the ability to adjust it whatsoever. (As it is my wife can't move the mirror, I have to make any adjustments I need.)

I think it's pretty clear this mirror simply wasn't designed with speeds over 55mph in mind, but this modification does solidify it nicely.