Hindsight may be 20/20

But sometimes you need a bigger picture.

One of my few peeves about the Jeep Cherokee is that the door mounted rear view mirrors are rather dinky.

I can cover that mirror with my mobile phone.

Also, because I am a XXL sized monkey-man, I have to sit all the way back on the seat rails and slightly leaned rearwards in order to get enough leg and head room. This causes the pillar between the roll-down window and the fake wing-window to cover an inch of the far end of the mirror. Together, these serve to give me a blind spot you can fit a mid-sized sedan into easily. Luckily, I always do my head checks anyway.

The other day I was driving home and spotted a mid-to-late-80’s Cherokee with completely different style mirrors. Models in these years had an available tow package that included a beefed up rear axle with a better gear ratio and a factory hitch receiver. After doing some research when I got home, I learned they also came with factory “extended” mirrors.

They’re nothing special. In fact, they’re the same ones Ford put on their Ranger trucks and Chevy put on their S-10’s of the same era. You can buy them at the hardware store.

So I did.

I even found them in black.

A drill, pilot drill bit, 9/64 drill bit, Phillips screwdriver, flat tip screwdriver, door panel plug puller, tube of RTV Black, paint pen, #27 Torx socket & socket wrench.

The hardest part of the install was removing and replacing the door panels to be able to remove the old mirrors. I loathe interior work, but I have all the tools. When I get back to class, I’m going to fab up a couple of triangles I can use to cover up the spot where the old mirrors used to be.

Oddly enough, I discovered that the passenger side mirror had a motor in it. The wire loom went from the door into the cabin and under the dash, but wasn’t wired up to anything. From the factory. My Cherokee is an ultra base model. My driver side mirror didn’t even get one of those sticks with the little knob on the end to adjust the mirror from the inside. It was thumb-adjustable only.

I took the Jeep out to drop off a couple more resumes and it is remarkable how much easier it is to get around when you can see the people moving behind you. My truck has mirrors the size of Vermont, and I like that I can now see as much in my Jeep.

They’re made by a company called CIPA, which I think stands for “Hencho en Mexico”, but I’m really enjoying the upgrade.

Now to get some ARFCOM bolt head stickers to put on the front of them. Only posers use biohazard stickers these days.