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Friday, April 20, 2012

Round Wing Mirrors

The new wing mirros arrived from LRDirect in the UK today, made by Allmakes (and thanks go to Lars, in Sweden, for recommending these). What an improvement over the former rectangular ones! The mounting clamps are painted black, which is nice, and once on and tightened nothing is going to shift them.

The mirror angles have to be adjusted when the mirrors are being installed, as once the clamps are tightened they don't move any more. The bodies are plastic, but a shiny black that looks a great deal like black paint. The hardware and overall look is miles better than the rectangular mirrors.

The convex mirror is really nice - gives good views to rear and sides - no "suicide mirrors" there. Being convex, however, "objects are closer than they appear", obviously, but you do get a very useful field of view for larger objects behind and to the side of the vehicle.

The former rectangular mirrors, although they were larger, being flat, really weren't that useful even when they were at the correct angle.


My only small complaint is that the body on one is slightly 'collapsed', as if it had been compressed when the plastic was still warm. Not really visible unless you look for it. (EDIT: Lars informs me one of his was the same - must be a build quality issue. And so, if you purchase these, stipulate non-collapsed units!) And the bolt threads are a tad long - I think they could use 1/2" acorn nuts on the ends just for aesthetic reasons and also to stop anyone snagging something on them.

Of course, the true test will be when next driving....
 
 
Below: Proper size and shape for the 1960 Land Rover.


An overall view from the driving position, taken while sitting in the driver's seat (left-hand drive).

And just two closeups to better show the field of view.