It's because we lack to ability to see the invisible trailer being towed. I call them moose antlers, and have more than a couple dodge drivers irately defend themselves.

For some people there is a bit of a valid reason for doing that.

Lots of folks are used to, over decades of doing so, to have the spot mirror in the lower outside corner of the mirror. That is where the spot mirror's position is when the tow mirrors are flipped out.

When they are flipped inward, the spot mirror is in the upper right portion of the mirror which is where many folks initially look and it causes issues.

I'd much rather have someone drive past me with their towing mirrors flipped out than take the front end off my vehicle while changing lanes, or back into me while coming out of a parking spot.

Awaiting the throat punch now.

Just because you do it, does not mean you have to defend it...


My opinion on "Tow mirrors", If they stay in your lane go for it. If they cross into my lane, they become mine.

Went through this a few years back when looking to buy a new truck. Looked at the ford, chevy and ram diesel's. Did a lot of homework and talked to a lot of people that had them.

My brief notes:
Ford had the best interior and most creature comforts. Also seemed to be the most quiet. A good friend has one and I spend a lot of time in it. However, Ford seems to be the most problematic. I ran into a lot of people that said they regretted buying theirs.

Chevy had the best performance. Best fuel economy, tow power, even zero-60 times but had the worst interior, like they were a few years outdated on technology and what not (interior is important when you spend long hours in it). Not as problematic as Ford, but some complaints.

Ram was lowest in performance in testing (not by much), but had the best torque. Interior was not quite Ford, but good. Had the best functional tow mirrors (big deal if you tow a lot). Earlier models (pre 2010) seemed to be problematic but the 11 and 12 were much better. Ram was the only one that didn't require DEF, and that was my deciding factor.

Got a 2012, 45K miles on it now, only problem was the windshield washer motor died. Been on numerous road trips hauling a 30 foot rv. Often times driving 10-20 hours straight. Even drove nearly 30 straight to az and back twice now (not towing). Been very happy with it. On the long trips without the trailer i get 17+mpg going 70+. With the trailer, i don't slow down much, so I don't do well, 11-12. If I kept it about 60-65 I'd expect closer to 14.

All that said, if I didn't want diesel for towing I'd rather have gas. diesel is awesome but more expensive all around.

I don't. Actually I don't like towing mirrors. Exhibit A: This old pile has towed a 33' trailer from Deadhorse to La Paz and from Yosemite to Maine with those little pieces of glass. It's amazing what can happen when a feller knows how use 'em.



My '07 Dodge had towing mirrors when I bought it. Kept them about a week.....bought the non-towing versions--like on the gray Ford--and sold the stabilizers on eBay for enough to pay for the non tows and take the female out to din din @ a sorta fancy establishment.

I can up to 22 mpg with my 06 LBZ Duramax.. but that's going slow - 57 mph. My last two trips between Spokane and Puyallup and back, I was getting 19.5 loaded down from the floor of the bed all the way to the roof of the over height canopy, 60-61 mph

I have three.

The 06 I mentioned in my previous post is the one in the middle. The dually is diesel also.

You could always get one of the new Hemi Durangos. They can tow up to 7,400 lbs, and are pretty bad ass to drive around in. Tow package is equipped with extra cooling to the transmission too, which doesn't hurt.

So that works for people in your generation. Not saying it justifies it, but its an excuse. Now how about the biggest offenders I've seen, 16-30 year olds? Ya, douche bags.

nice.. that dually is missing it's 5th wheel... I'm sure there's one somewhere behind that building...

Not really my generation as I'm under 40 and don't own anything with those type of mirrors anyhow.

Curious why it's such a hot button for people?

Work truck is a 1996 Ram 2500 with a Cummins. 250,000+ miles and it just wont die. It's been driven very hard and has towed over capacity many times. I'm not a Dodge fan but I'll never bash those trucks.

i am willing to concede that one point.

I've folded more than a few back when I come back to my truck and find one of these trucks parked next to me. The mirrors stick out so far you can't even walk between vehicles to get in your own.

When I was overseas our "Deuce and a halfs" still had the exhaust on the side and exited between the duals. Those old Continental Multi-Fuel engines smoked so badly when you accelerated that anyone sitting next to you when the light turned green would be totally "in the dark".

More than once I would leave the huge intersection near the Stuttgart Zoo, heading for our battalion HQ only to have some German pull up next to me a minute or two later and give me the "International Greeting sign". We'd seen them earlier when stopped. Too bad they were too stupid to roll their windows up. Wasn't like I was driving the only Deuce and a half in Germany and they all did the same thing. When driving a jeep I never pulled up alongside a stopped GI truck.