hi guys will be towing my caravan soon for weekends away and a holiday been looking at mirror extensions for my discovery 4 MY2010 just wondering what people would recommend
thanks again
I've got a pair of Ring branded ones for when I'm towing my boat. They fit reasonably well on the P38 mirrors but not sure if they will fit on yours.
will have a look been looking at the ones that just clamp on the mirror glass casing
was looking at the melenco ones
When I was towing a caravan with my P38 I had cheap pair of Ring branded mirrors from Halfords. In fact the P38 door mirrors give you plenty of visibility of a van at the rear & you don't really need the extension mirrors but I put them on anyway just to comply with the law.
friend of mine has lent me his spare melenco ones so will obviously use them and see what they are like
Used the Ring ones this morning while towing the boat to get new tyres fitted to the trailer (commercial tyres due to the weight and ones dated 2003 with cracked sidewalls aren't a good idea). They fit on OK but are absolutely crap. Flat lenses not convex so while they do allow me to see things directly behind me marginally better, I can still see more with the original mirrors.
yeah ive found that with mine so just got a cheap set off carboot sale to pop on
was talking to a mate who's a copper and said I can see more out the original mirror more than I can the extention ones
his reply was as long as you have them one you wont get pulled over even if you dont see much out of them
as it the law to have them on
The purpose is to see better right behind the car, even if just marginally. That's all they are there for.
th.
I was under the impression that the mirrors needed to be far enough out that you would be able to see directly behind the trailer. However, a bit of research has come up with this
So I can see that if you are towing a caravan or box trailer that is wider than the cars existing mirrors, you need the extension mirrors. Despite the fact that the field of view of the Ring mirrors I bought is so narrow that I doubt they meet the rules. In my case, the boat has a maximum width of 2032mm (80 inches) so 143mm wider than the width of the car. But, as it is a boat, it tapers downwards so is narrower on the part of it that is at the height of the mirrors but at ground level I can see what the diagram says I should be able to.
Exactly.
In a vague defense of my inaccuracy, in saying 'behind the car', instead of 'alongside' or something like that, i blame my knowledge (or lack of) english, being not my first language...
th.
Gilbertd wrote:
I was under the impression that the mirrors needed to be far enough out that you would be able to see directly behind the trailer. However, a bit of research has come up with this
So I can see that if you are towing a caravan or box trailer that is wider than the cars existing mirrors, you need the extension mirrors. Despite the fact that the field of view of the Ring mirrors I bought is so narrow that I doubt they meet the rules. In my case, the boat has a maximum width of 2032mm (80 inches) so 143mm wider than the width of the car. But, as it is a boat, it tapers downwards so is narrower on the part of it that is at the height of the mirrors but at ground level I can see what the diagram says I should be able to.
your spot on Richard with that if the trailer is wider than the vehicle you need extention mirrors on so you can see down the side of the trailer/caravan as far as the back corners on both sides and a little behind
my cheap extentions does just that so not to bad but like you said the mirrors on the P38 are loads better than the extentions
Since it's only the 'illegal blind area' (marked in orange) the extension mirrors can really be almost total crap, and still be legal and do what they're supposed to do.
But of course, properly stable, convex mirrors are of much more help.
Some years ago I bought a decent set of extension mirrors since I was starting to pull our folding caravan (Esterel) with my Olds (after drowning my P38) , but since I replaced the Olds with Buick Rendezvous I didn't need them (the mirrors on the Buick where really great). Then we sold both the Buick and the Estetel, got me a P38 and normal caravan, and since it is very wide I needed the extensions. And they sre simply great. (no idea what brand though).
th.