'08-current Super Duty truck mirror conversion for E-Series
- Thread starter mgmetalworks
- Start date
mgmetalworks
Explorer
I've cut down the truck mirror plastic shroud to rough out the design for the van. I'm about as far as I can go on my busted-up wrecking yard door because it is pretty mangled in some important areas and I can't build an accurate model off of a crushed door. I need to pull my van into the shop, mount up the mirror and start filling in the voids and shaping some plastic.
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If I had a CAD model of the door this would be super easy and I'd just build a shroud in Solidworks. Anyone out there have a CAD model of the door? They're available to members of SAE and various aftermarket manufacturers and conversion companies probably have them as well.
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If I had a CAD model of the door this would be super easy and I'd just build a shroud in Solidworks. Anyone out there have a CAD model of the door? They're available to members of SAE and various aftermarket manufacturers and conversion companies probably have them as well.
http://www.1aauto.com/1A/Mirrors/Ford/F250-Truck/1AMRP00611/546554/2005
Check here they probably already offer it pre done like they do for the super duty trucks
Check here they probably already offer it pre done like they do for the super duty trucks
mgmetalworks
Explorer
It's been a loooooong time since the last update on these hasn't it? There's good news and bad news about this project and I've been waiting to post an update until I reached a certain point.
First, the good news...
I have both the driver's side and passenger side mounts completed. They sit perfectly on the van, all of the angles work out awesome, the view out of the mirrors is incredible and the truck mirrors just look hot on the new body style van IMHO.
I still have a little work to do on finishing the plastics but both sides are roughed out and fit very well. Just a few hours of filling/sanding and painting left and I'll be ready for final assembly.
Now the bad news...
After dozens and dozens of hours of work trying to get things right with my mounting design, I scrapped it and basically just modified the truck mirror base. While I do think the design and all of the parts I made would work fine for mounting these mirrors to the van, it would require a great deal more effort to design and build the plastic to fit those parts. I put quite a few calories into figuring out how to manufacture all of the parts inexpensively enough to make a conversion "kit" but I kept butting up against this plastic shroud and how there is really only one way to do it right....and that method requires a ton of $$ up front. That one snag makes manufacturing these pieces cost prohibitive (unless of course you were to make thousands of them at once). I won't be pursuing this design any further though because I just don't see a good enough return to justify it.
Modifying the truck mirror base isn't without it's challenges either... You first need to start with the die-cast base (which only comes on the full power mirrors) and cut/drill/machine some features then mount it to a fabricated adapter to fit the van door. Then there's marrying the plastic from the truck mirror with part of the van mirror plastic...Not difficult in and of itself but notice that you're cannibalizing a set of van mirrors in the process of modifying the truck mirrors. Then there is the sanding, filling, sanding, texturing, painting of the plastics...hours of work in just those pieces. I forgot to mention that the initial tear down of the truck mirrors takes extreme care and it is not only difficult as hell to do, it is also fairly risky because the parts are not individually available for purchase and many of them are not really designed to be "disassembled". There is a very good chance that parts will break before you even get anywhere.
So to make a long story short... This project has turned into more of a one-off proof of concept than a pre-production prototype. I won't say that it can't be done because it most certainly can. It is just very labor intensive to do one set at a time. The right way to make these for others is to mass-produce parts but I'm just not in a position to take that risk.
Sorry guys...I tried.
First, the good news...
I have both the driver's side and passenger side mounts completed. They sit perfectly on the van, all of the angles work out awesome, the view out of the mirrors is incredible and the truck mirrors just look hot on the new body style van IMHO.
I still have a little work to do on finishing the plastics but both sides are roughed out and fit very well. Just a few hours of filling/sanding and painting left and I'll be ready for final assembly.
Now the bad news...
After dozens and dozens of hours of work trying to get things right with my mounting design, I scrapped it and basically just modified the truck mirror base. While I do think the design and all of the parts I made would work fine for mounting these mirrors to the van, it would require a great deal more effort to design and build the plastic to fit those parts. I put quite a few calories into figuring out how to manufacture all of the parts inexpensively enough to make a conversion "kit" but I kept butting up against this plastic shroud and how there is really only one way to do it right....and that method requires a ton of $$ up front. That one snag makes manufacturing these pieces cost prohibitive (unless of course you were to make thousands of them at once). I won't be pursuing this design any further though because I just don't see a good enough return to justify it.
Modifying the truck mirror base isn't without it's challenges either... You first need to start with the die-cast base (which only comes on the full power mirrors) and cut/drill/machine some features then mount it to a fabricated adapter to fit the van door. Then there's marrying the plastic from the truck mirror with part of the van mirror plastic...Not difficult in and of itself but notice that you're cannibalizing a set of van mirrors in the process of modifying the truck mirrors. Then there is the sanding, filling, sanding, texturing, painting of the plastics...hours of work in just those pieces. I forgot to mention that the initial tear down of the truck mirrors takes extreme care and it is not only difficult as hell to do, it is also fairly risky because the parts are not individually available for purchase and many of them are not really designed to be "disassembled". There is a very good chance that parts will break before you even get anywhere.
So to make a long story short... This project has turned into more of a one-off proof of concept than a pre-production prototype. I won't say that it can't be done because it most certainly can. It is just very labor intensive to do one set at a time. The right way to make these for others is to mass-produce parts but I'm just not in a position to take that risk.
Sorry guys...I tried.
mgmetalworks
Explorer
I got the Super Duty switches fit to the van's door panel tonight. Looks right at home. The switch panel is cut down about 2" from what it is in the trucks and shaped to the door panel. I still have to find a home for the mirror heat switch but I think I've narrowed down my options to just a couple locations on the dash.
flightcancled
Explorer
Jasper Jones
Observer
Its really bittersweet for me. I'm sad that I probably wont have these mirrors, but kind of relieved that I wont spend more money on something I don't really need, haha. Looks awesome, though!
mgmetalworks
Explorer
Thanks guys!
:beer:
:beer:
mgmetalworks
Explorer
Sooooooo.... this happened...
The plastics turned out pretty good for a first attempt (after an exhausting multi-step process for finishing, texturing and painting). I don't have all of the functions wired up to the switches yet but I did check that the motors were working and they fold/extend like they should.
The real pay off of this project is that visibility out of these mirrors is INSANE!!! The old mirrors just don't compare. Shame on Ford for not updating the design for the vans.
The plastics turned out pretty good for a first attempt (after an exhausting multi-step process for finishing, texturing and painting). I don't have all of the functions wired up to the switches yet but I did check that the motors were working and they fold/extend like they should.
The real pay off of this project is that visibility out of these mirrors is INSANE!!! The old mirrors just don't compare. Shame on Ford for not updating the design for the vans.
dcguillory
Adventurer
Jealous
mgmetalworks
Explorer
Rather than clutter the SEMA build thread with mirror questions, I'll post here in a more appropriate place to discuss this conversion....
The truck mirror base looks like this:
The van mirror base looks like this:
Not only are they shaped differently, they also sit on the door at different angles. Seating position between the van and the truck is way different so getting the mirror in the right spot for viewing and also having enough adjustability in the mirror glass is a trick. As is getting the mirror to sit level when viewed from the front or back.
The truck mirror base looks like this:
The van mirror base looks like this:
Not only are they shaped differently, they also sit on the door at different angles. Seating position between the van and the truck is way different so getting the mirror in the right spot for viewing and also having enough adjustability in the mirror glass is a trick. As is getting the mirror to sit level when viewed from the front or back.
silvrzuki77
explorer
Thanks, sorry about the clutter!
