Looking for some advice from the Tin shed draggers...

I have a new Brain James RS6 enclosed transporter which will be towed behind my TDV8, its just over 8 feet wide, so looking for some current advice on the best extension mirrors to buy and the best place to buy them from?

Many Thanks

I tow a boat that is 8.5 feet wide (102"), though clearly a different shape.

I found the mirrors on the FFRR perfectly adequate for the job - but when I took it on a long run I did fit some Milenco mirrors more for the sake of appearance & to be 100% sure to comply with any laws as I drove through Germany & France.

I didn't find the towing mirrors particularly helpful - if anything slightly distracting as they had a small amount of vibration - it was the shaky image that was distracting.

I picked mine up of eBay

Milenco Aero 2. Work fine. I added a 3rd clamp to each one to help with stability. Stay away from the grand aeros as they're bigger than is practical.

Probably where I went wrong - I had Grand Aeros

I've since re-sold them on eBay for what I paid for them - the boat only does very local trips these days

i use the suck it and see type with a convex one on the near side. Never fallen off but have a little safety strap on anyway, advantage is they adjust with the mirrors
I think mirrors are a legal requirement despite the width of the FF Mine was a blue one!

I have the large milenco mirrors for towing my large caravan. I have tried the stick mirrors but they slipped and occasionally fell off.

http://www.milenco.com/products/mirrors/mi...ng-mirror/

Be ware that although you can see behind quite well when towing without mirrors in a Range Rover, it's the law that you have to have mirror extenders.

I use a set of these, I wouldn't tow without them ....



They are Smat Weekender Towing Mirrors, unfortunately they are no long available new as they have stopped making them But you still see them on Ebay.... I got a spare mint set for under £15 delivered last year They are a lot more stable that the clamp on mirrors and they don't place unnecessary strain on the mirror motors

Don't worry if the rubber strap is broken as these can be replaced by a bungee strap, and because I use mine day in and day out I put some static cling vinyl (like the dealer signs in the rear window) under the pads to save the paint

These are the wing mount http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caravan-Towing-M...Swll1W0qXu

And these are just the ticket http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/towing-mirrors-/...SwFqJWs8hV

And this will save the paint http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A4-1mtr-Rolls-Of...CiMLjg1z0g

An A4 chunk will make 4 paint savers  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Buz1500 wrote:

it's the law that you have to have mirror extenders.

Not true

In the UK, the law is complex & vague - you need to have an adequate view behind you - which is generally interpreted as you need to be able to see 20m back & 4m either side - so it's all about the angles & length of the trailer.

You don't explicitly need extended mirrors.

It's probably quite complicated maths, but fairly straight forward to test.

In Europe it may well be different.

miggit wrote:

I use a set of these, I wouldn't tow without them ....

Probably illegal now It's an offence to have anything protruding more than 200mm from the vehicle or trailer - whichever is wider - so with a wide trailer you might be OK

I would guess that you can't buy anything which would typically be more than 200mm wider than the car just to be on the safe side.

250mm for post 2007 cars

All Many Thanks

Miggit,

well done all bought, so will start with them and keep and eye out for some
Milenco Aero 2

They are the best mirrors that I've used..... and they are adjustable in width, Alistair, And every thing that I tow is 8 foot wide, and 10 foot high

They clip on to the window ledge and the door bottom, I'll post some installed pics tomorrow, as they can be a bit of a head scratcher  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Not true!
When did they alter that rule?
Only gave up caravaning 2 years ago. AFAIK it was always law you had extended mirrors, and tbh I wouldn't tow without them.
Greg.

It's never been the law - just an interpretation - probably true for 99% of cars with caravans given the dimensions ,but the law is just that you need adequate visibility.

I've never actually towed a caravan, but did look into it extensively at one point.

This may assist.

https://www.lifesure.co.uk/blog/2013/06/ca...w-the-law/

Still not entirely accurate - it's the width of the mirror, not the rear of the car that matters, but close enough I suppose.

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/towing-equipment

http://www.milenco.com/products/mirrors/

However, it would seem that all 'standard' caravans would require extended mirrors - at least they did the Milenco were caused of misleading advertising which is probably where the confusion stems from

http://www.milenco.com/products/mirrors/news/

Last edited by Alistair on 1st Mar 2016 8:05pm. Edited 1 time in total