I have often wondered why the big Greyhound buses and the large diesel motorhomes had front mounted diesel mirrors instead of the ones most gas powered rigs have on the side, next to the driver’s and co-pilots windows.
I had trouble getting a good answer, but assumed that since the “big boys” used them, they must be better.
When we were taking one of our several tours of the Rexhall plant, we saw a special diesel motorhome being completed for a famous race car driver, and I asked our tour guide why couldn’t one get diesel mirrors on a gas motorhome.
“Oh, you can, all you have to do is order them and we would be glad to do it.”
We had been saving up our “items” for our new Aerbus for several years, so I right then and there I added diesel mirrors to the list. And when we ordered, we asked for them. And we got them.
Now some might wish to order them so they could be mistaken for a diesel RV. That’s one reason to do it. As you might guess, I have found a number of other reason, some of which I knew ahead of time, and some I discovered through use.
You don’t have to move your head. While looking straight ahead at the road, you can move only your eyes and see out both mirrors. With only a little cheating, I could see out my old side mirror without moving my head, but I could never see out the co-pilot’s mirror without moving my head.
The blind spot is eliminated. When a small car moves past the RV, it is visible out the drivers window before is disappears from the convex mirror. This is because of the forward placement of the diesel mirrors. This of course true when passing another vehicle too. With the diesel mirrors being mounted further forward, the blind spot is virtually non-existent.
Fog is no problem. In humid or cool weather, the front windshield is kept clear of fog by the defroster, but both my side windows always fog up. I tried to turn my dash vents to defrost the side windows so I could see my side mirrors, but it never worked. With the diesel mirrors, the defroster keeps the windshield between me and my mirrors nice and clear.
Sun is no problem. I don’t do too badly with a little sun coming in my side window, but my co-pilot really has trouble when the hot sun beats down on her. It used to be that we would fight about how far forward she could pull the drapes so that she was shielded from the sun but I could still see the side mirror. Now no more battles, since the drape can be pulled very far forward and the front mounted mirror is never blocked.
Open window is no problem. When either driver or passengers side window is opened, there is compromise of the image in the side mirror. If the window is open, there are two panes of glass to look through in order to see the mirror. These four reflective surfaces (the inside and the outside of each pane) decrease the light significantly, particularly on dark days, and increase reflections in the evening. If the screen is open too, things are further compounded.
As with all of life, there are a couple of downsides.
If you are 6 feet tall, you may bump your forehead on them as you come around the front of the rig. It does not take too many times, however until you give them a little wider berth.
Because I use a cover, putting it on and taking it off sometimes moves the mirrors a bit. I have solved this by putting a tiny dot on the bottom of the mirror and frame so I simply line up the dots and the mirrors are perfect again. The readjustment dots can also be used the first few times you hit the mirrors really hard with your head. These dots are an extension of the Joe and Vicki Kieva trick for marking the correct temperature settings on the shower faucets.
They do cost a little more than the side mirrors. But you may not want to know how much the side mirrors cost either. But they are certainly worth it to me.
I have been very impressed with the diesel mirrors. Since Rexhall will do modifications when you special order you next RV, I would strongly recommend them. Your vision will be significantly improved, and hey, you might even be mistaken for a diesel.
Doug
PS To further the illusion that you are a diesel, you of course need a diesel horn.
