Towing Mirrors

[HAL9001]

New here and need some advice. I'm configuring a build for a 2021 Laramie but I'm hung up with which mirrors to order, the standard or the towing mirrors.

In 2020, the towing mirrors didn't include some of the advanced features of the Laramie's standard mirrors, such as power folding, but for 2021 they fixed that. The towing mirrors now have all of the same advanced features as the Laramie's standard mirrors, with the possible exception of auto-dimming.

Two questions:
Does anyone know for certain if the 2021 towing mirrors include auto-dimming or not?

Do the towing mirrors offer a significant advantage over the standard mirrors for towing? The standard mirrors look big enough and have convex additions. It looks to me like they would work well enough for towing, but it's hard to tell.

I'd appreciate any insight on this. Thanks.

 

[Arth]

New here and need some advice. I'm configuring a build for a 2021 Laramie but I'm hung up with which mirrors to order, the standard or the towing mirrors.

In 2020, the towing mirrors didn't include some of the advanced features of the Laramie's standard mirrors, such as power folding, but for 2021 they fixed that. The towing mirrors now have all of the same advanced features as the Laramie's standard mirrors, with the possible exception of auto-dimming.

Two questions:
Does anyone know for certain if the 2021 towing mirrors include auto-dimming or not?

Do the towing mirrors offer a significant advantage over the standard mirrors for towing? The standard mirrors look big enough and have convex additions. It looks to me like they would work well enough for towing, but it's hard to tell.

I'd appreciate any insight on this. Thanks.

It really depends on what you are going to tow. Most of the year I just move around a jet ski so the regular mirrors are fine. However when I tow my 20 foot enclosed trailed the tow mirrors really help see around it when they are flipped up.

It's personal preference I think. As far as auto dimming no they still don't from reading a few build sheets.

 

[runamuck]

same as above. I have the tow mirrors but I only turn em up when towing my travel trailer and they help to see all the way down the trailer. I leave em in the normal position for daily driving and pulling my utility trailer. my truck garage has 9' wide door and the truck barely fits thru there with mirrors in the normal position..a cpl. inches to spare on each side.

 

[canadiankodiak700]

same as above. I have the tow mirrors but I only turn em up when towing my travel trailer and they help to see all the way down the trailer. I leave em in the normal position for daily driving and pulling my utility trailer. my truck garage has 9' wide door and the truck barely fits thru there with mirrors in the normal position..a cpl. inches to spare on each side.

What do you mean you turn them down? Really? They turn down? All I ever see are the ********* driving around with the moose antlers up and a ghost trailer. Lol

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[NH RAM]

The towing mirrors are good while towing a larger trailer and also provide a good view of the rear wheels while backing up in the normal position. I like the towing mirrors better than the non-towing. On the 2500 I haven't had a need for the auto-dimming feature (I don't currently have it), but it was very helpful to have on my 2016 1500.

 

[runamuck]

What do you mean you turn them down? Really? They turn down? All I ever see are the ********* driving around with the moose antlers up and a ghost trailer. Lol

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they turn up to vertical and when you do that, they also are a little farther out. they do make the truck look mooselike..especially without a trailer hooked on

 

[canadiankodiak700]

they turn up to vertical and when you do that, they also are a little farther out

You missed the sarcasm buddy...lol

I know they do.... But apparently most guys that own them don't turn them back to normal like you when not towing

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[JoeCo]

You missed the sarcasm buddy...lol

I know they do.... But apparently most guys that own them don't turn them back to normal like you when not towing

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I see lots of people around here driving with ghost trailers, or maybe looking for trucker love? I understand if you're actually towing something sizeable, but otherwise it looks ridiculous to me as well.

Back on topic, I've had 2 rams with towing mirrors and one without. Now that the tow mirrors have all the features that the non tows do, I see no reason not to go with them.

 

[dhay13]

You missed the sarcasm buddy...lol

I know they do.... But apparently most guys that own them don't turn them back to normal like you when not towing

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Most guys that drive around with them flipped up all the time have probably never towed a trailer in their life

 

[runamuck]

You missed the sarcasm buddy...lol

I know they do.... But apparently most guys that own them don't turn them back to normal like you when not towing

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ya..senior moment probably.

 

[clayinfla]

I tow an RV, and use my tow mirrors. The mirrors are really good when up, but TERRIBLE when down. Huge blind spots and distorted optics. I often leave them up after parking my trailer because the safety is so much greater and view so much superior. Feel free to laugh at me, I can handle it.

 

[HAL9001]

I tow an RV, and use my tow mirrors. The mirrors are really good when up, but TERRIBLE when down. Huge blind spots and distorted optics. I often leave them up after parking my trailer because the safety is so much greater and view so much superior. Feel free to laugh at me, I can handle it.

This post has me concerned enough not to order the tow mirrors. So, are the standard mirrors good enough for towing a 7' wide, 22' long travel trailer?

 

[runamuck]

they might be fine for that width..I think you get more features with the standard mirrors and you can buy some pretty nice clip-on extensions to use just when towing if need be. I had a set for my '17 sierra and my trailer is 8' wide and they did help quite a bit. when clipped over the oem mirrors, they looked like standard equipment. even tho the moose mirrors work pretty well when turned up, I wish they werent split screen.

 

[HDGoose]

On my 2013 2500 I used the clip on mirrors and they vibrated alot. To by the more expensive clip-ons were half the cost of tow mirrors. So I bought tow mirrors.MMy 3500 had them stock.

I leave mine up because on my Tradesman the smaller mirror I manually adjusted. I don't want the bother to readjust every other week as it is a pin to do so by myself.

I like the same view in the mirrors all the time. Dealing with all the inattentive drives I need all the advantage I can get.

 

[dhay13]

Give it a try with the stock mirrors. I think you will be comfortable with a 7' wide trailer as long as the trailer isn't too long

 

[CKayaks]

What do you mean you turn them down? Really? They turn down? All I ever see are the ********* driving around with the moose antlers up and a ghost trailer. Lol

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Embarrassed to say it, but the opposite here. Have had my 2018 2500 for 18 months now. Just realized the mirrors flip UP after reading this thread! Major 'duh!' moment. Never had these kind of mirrors on prior trucks and was just happy they folded in so I could get through the garage door.

Rarely tow anything now that needs the "moose antlers" but it would have been handy last year when I was pulling enclosed equipment trailers back and forth between MT and NorCal.

 

[SOLER]

My first Dodge Ram, a 2000 2500, had the regular mirrors. I hated them. I put the clip-ons for towing, and they shook so bad that they were useless. I was looking in my owner's manual, and came across the flip-out feature of towing mirrors. I was mad that I didn't have them. Got rid of that truck, because it was an auto and it was a terrible tow vehicle. I got a 2001, and made sure it had tow mirrors. I've had 4 duallies and 2 1500s since then, and they all had the tow mirrors. Even had a GMC 1500 in the mix in there, and I installed OEM tow mirrors on that truck.

Friend of mine had a 2006 2500 with regular mirrors, and always struggled with the clip ons. I tried to convince him to swap out for the tow mirrors. He finally did, and wondered why he didn't do it sooner.

If you want, go to the dealer lot and look at each. Test drive with and without the tow mirrors. If you still aren't sure, order with the regular mirrors. If you don't like them, swap the tow mirrors on later. They aren't cheap, but worth it IMO.

The skinny convex part isn't that great, and I still put 2" round convex on lower outside corner (when down) and I have ZERO blind spots on either side.

 

[RaptorHD]

Auto dimming,,nifty feature to be sure but then who would need them if all those A-holes wouldn't drive around with their brights on!

 

[AlexC2350]

I tow an RV, and use my tow mirrors. The mirrors are really good when up, but TERRIBLE when down. Huge blind spots and distorted optics. I often leave them up after parking my trailer because the safety is so much greater and view so much superior. Feel free to laugh at me, I can handle it.

I’m with youI wish there wasn’t so much hate for having them up. Ford and Chevy mirrors are up all the time they just slide in and out. The tow mirrors down are really terrible. So to OP if you don’t plan on towing an enclosed trailer or TT don’t bother with tow mirrors they suck. You can’t see anything out of the passenger side with it down.

 

[Dalton]

New here and need some advice. I'm configuring a build for a 2021 Laramie but I'm hung up with which mirrors to order, the standard or the towing mirrors.

In 2020, the towing mirrors didn't include some of the advanced features of the Laramie's standard mirrors, such as power folding, but for 2021 they fixed that. The towing mirrors now have all of the same advanced features as the Laramie's standard mirrors, with the possible exception of auto-dimming.

Two questions:
Does anyone know for certain if the 2021 towing mirrors include auto-dimming or not?

Do the towing mirrors offer a significant advantage over the standard mirrors for towing? The standard mirrors look big enough and have convex additions. It looks to me like they would work well enough for towing, but it's hard to tell.

I'd appreciate any insight on this. Thanks.

The standard mirrors are fine for a motorcycle or open car hauler. However if you get a full 102" wide enclosed trailer you cannot see the sides or tires without trailer mirrors.