BesTop Extendable Towing Mirrors

What’s Behind you Does Matter

by Trent Riddle, photography by Trent Riddle & Courtesy of BesTop

Here you can see the stock mirror, and the BesTop mirror in both inboard and outboard positions.

If you’re a car fanatic and movie junkie like I am, you may remember the scene from the movie Cannon Ball Run where one driver gets into his car at the beginning of the race and rips the mirror off. I’ll try to paraphrase the dialog of the movie during that scene, it was something like — The first rule of auto racing is, what’s behind you doesn’t matter.

Well when towing, what’s behind you does matter, a whole heck of a lot. Not only does the vehicle, trailer or boat you’re towing matter, but also all the other vehicles and obstacles back there. You need to be able to see behind you to safely change lanes, back up, or just to keep from hitting lampposts when making tight corners. Unfortunately, in the quest for sleek styling, less wind drag and lower costs, many manufacturers have reduced the size of their exterior mirrors to the point where they are practically useless, at least for use when towing.

Knowing that bigger mirrors are better for those of us that use our trucks for the tasks they where meant for, BesTop has introduced a line of extendable towing mirrors. These mirrors are offered for most late model trucks with manual or power adjust and even heated versions. Of course, you have to have had the same options on your stock mirrors to use these niceties. In other words, if you had OE power adjust mirrors, you can use BesTop’s power adjust mirrors. However, the extra money to add BesTop’s heated option will be wasted unless you already have, or obtain the other factory parts to make it work.

We do a lot of towing with our 1997 Chevy K1500, and have always disliked the factory mirrors. Trying to see our tow rig, the cars behind us and the adjoining lanes all at one time is virtually impossible. Usually we have worked a compromise of seeing just a small portion of each and guessing at what we couldn’t see. Upgrading to a pair of BesTop Extendable Towing Mirrors was a logical solution to our rear view woes.

Our stock mirrors where a diminutive 6x9 inches in size, providing about 54 square inches of mirror area. The BesTop Extendable Towing Mirrors for our application are a much more satisfying 9.5x10-inches (by our measurements) and supply about 95 square inches of mirror area, a gain of 76-percent. Our rear view from the driver’s seat is vastly improved. We’ve also found that the bi-pillar design is very vibration resistant. In fact, the mirrors only exhibit a slight amount of shake on even the roughest of roads. This is quite a contrast to the stock mirrors that shook all the time. We find this to be extraordinary, especially considering the added mass and leverage the larger size exerts on the inner mirror mounting system. We’ve also found the mirrors are tough and impact resistant. This fact we discovered while getting used to the larger size and wider stance the mirror’s bigger size creates. It took a few low-speed bumps at drive-up ATMs and our curb mounted mailbox before we got the feel for our added width. In fact, a friend told us our truck now looked like it had “Dumbo ears.” However, after driving our rig around the block with a loaded trailer in tow, he now is considering installing a set on his truck. The BesTop mirrors do fold against the doors for those places where maneuvering space is tight.

One more item of note is the extendibility of these mirrors. Our stock mirrors extended out from the door about nine inches. The BesTop mirrors in the closed position extend 12 inches and can be expanded to a full 16 inches. This increased width over stock means better rearward vision, especially when towing large trailers. Some models of the BesTop Extendable Towing Mirrors extend up to 4-1/2 inches.

The install is simple. First remove the trim panels to get at the mirror mounting bolts. Next unbolt and remove the stock mirrors, then install the new BesTop mirrors. It really is that simple. We found a few tricks, not included in the instructions, that make things a little easier. We’ve included these tips in our photo captions. If you tow a lot, you need a set of BesTop Extendable Towing Mirrors.

Click on a picture to see a close up of the step.

1. The first step in our install was the removal of the mirror access trim panel on the door pillar. This panel simply snaps on and off, no tools required.

2. Underneath the trim panel is a piece of foam for sound deadening purposes. You’ll need to remove this foam to get at the mirror mounting bolts. Don’t forget to reinstall it later.

3. Our first tip is to stuff a rag inside the door opening so that you don’t drop the mirror mounting nuts down inside the door. If you skip this step, you’re sure to drop a nut and then you’ll have to remove the door panel to retrieve it from the bottom of the door. Be sure to remove the rag after your new mirrors are bolted in place.

4. BesTop instructions say to use a 10mm deep socket to remove all three nuts that hold the mirror on. We found that the door panel is in the way and it is easier to remove the two rearward nuts using an extension and swivel on the ratchet.

5. Look closely and you’ll see that the door panel is off in this photo. This is why we’re recommending the rag in the hole. Also, the forward nut is easier to loosen if you use an open-end wrench. If you loosen this nut first, you can spin it off with your finger before you loosen the other nuts.

6. With the three nuts removed, the mirror will drop free of the door pillar. If you have power adjust mirrors, they will hang on the wires.

7. If you have power adjust mirrors, you’ll need to unplug the electrical connections to remove the mirrors. We found that a very small, flat blade screwdriver was perfect to lift the catch on the plug connectors so they could be disconnected. We also found that a bent coat hanger wire should be used to keep the door half of the plug from pulling back into the door pillar. Even with the rag in place, it is a good idea to bend a wire and hang the plug to keep it in place.

8. When reinstalling the nuts, the tip is to use the small screwdriver or a piece of wire to assist in getting the nuts onto the mirror mounting bolts. Simply place the nut over the wire and then touch the tip of the wire to the end of the bolt. You can now slid the nut down the wire to the bolt, and with the tip of your finger, start the first few threads. This is much easier than trying to start the nuts with the socket, and also keeps you from cross threading the mirror mounting bolts.

9. Once the BesTop mirrors are bolted into place, remove the rag, install the foam block and trim panel and adjust the mirrors.

10. The BesTop mirrors fold against the truck body in either a forward (seen here) or backward position.

11. Here you see a side-by-side comparison of the stock mirror to the BesTop mirror, shown in both in and out configurations. As you can see, the Bestop mirror is both larger and longer than stock.

12. BesTop mirrors increase your rearward view, giving you a near-panoramic view of the road beside your vehicle and trailer. Once you’ve seen the difference, you’ll never tow a trailer without them again.

13. Here you can see the towing view as seen from the driver’s seat. The stock mirror offers a minimal rearward view. However, the BesTop mirror in its in-board position shows more of the adjoining lane as well as more of your own lane and the trailer. In the outboard position, the BesTop mirror does an even better job of showing what’s behind you.