for those of you who are looking to add the bells and whistles modern rear view mirrors complete with compass and outside temp readout this article is for you!
Tools and equipment needed:
small flathead or allen wrench
hammer (Optional)
some 16 gauge wire
butt connectors or soldering tools
pair of wire strippers/crimpers
zipties
screwdriver
and the mirror and sensor
for this install ill be using a Gentex 177 mirror (can probably pull one of these bad boys off a luxury suburban or truck from a junkyard but I just bought mine on ebay for 70 bucks with the sensor). it took me about 2 hours from start to finish but can be done quicker without taking pictures. so first things first gonna have to remove the old mirror
my back was hurting so I just remove the mirror so I could see the mount more easily
so now we can remove this mount, underneath it is a little hole, all your gonna do is insert your allen wrench or flathead screwdriver and push up to remove the mount. now this is not the easiest thing to remove surprisingly enough, some people can get it by push up on it but I could not so what I did was take a hammer and GENTLY tapped the allen wrench and it came off with no problems
and here is whats under that tab, all your doing is pushing on that metal clip and and the mount snaps out of place simple but a pain in the ass sometimes
so now we are left with this, a clean wedge mount
Here is the mirror we are installing with the sensor
the mirror will slide onto the window mount easily, its a direct fit, and then just tighten the screw on the mout and your done with that part. there are 4 wires to hook up. Power (Red), Ground (Black) and then the two sensor wires which on this one were blue and green. so all we gotta do is extend the wires at this point. I ran my wires up on the headliner and then down the A-pillar and then under the dash
so I ran the ground wire to a bolt near the little fuse box under the driver side dash and then ran a wire to the cigarette lighter power wire and spliced into that
Here is the sensor that we will be mounting
I ran the wires down the driver side next to the battery and then mounted the sensor behind the fiberglass crash bar, now reinstall the bumper
and viola! done! now you got a auto dimming rearview mirror with compass and outside temp readout. wont make you faster but its a nice luxury touch, also you'll have to recalibrate the compass for your location which usually involves pushing a button and then driving in circles a few times but its a set and forget and yes you have the option to turn off the readout in case you get distracted with the numbers there. this is an older style and they now have one that is a dual readout so u don't have to switch between the two but this was easier and cheaper to get, but which ever u get its a direct fit so all u gotta do is run some wires. now you can go show off to your friends! which is exactly what I did after installing this
Tools and equipment needed:
small flathead or allen wrench
hammer (Optional)
some 16 gauge wire
butt connectors or soldering tools
pair of wire strippers/crimpers
zipties
screwdriver
and the mirror and sensor
for this install ill be using a Gentex 177 mirror (can probably pull one of these bad boys off a luxury suburban or truck from a junkyard but I just bought mine on ebay for 70 bucks with the sensor). it took me about 2 hours from start to finish but can be done quicker without taking pictures. so first things first gonna have to remove the old mirror
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
my back was hurting so I just remove the mirror so I could see the mount more easily
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
so now we can remove this mount, underneath it is a little hole, all your gonna do is insert your allen wrench or flathead screwdriver and push up to remove the mount. now this is not the easiest thing to remove surprisingly enough, some people can get it by push up on it but I could not so what I did was take a hammer and GENTLY tapped the allen wrench and it came off with no problems
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
and here is whats under that tab, all your doing is pushing on that metal clip and and the mount snaps out of place simple but a pain in the ass sometimes
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
so now we are left with this, a clean wedge mount
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Here is the mirror we are installing with the sensor
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
the mirror will slide onto the window mount easily, its a direct fit, and then just tighten the screw on the mout and your done with that part. there are 4 wires to hook up. Power (Red), Ground (Black) and then the two sensor wires which on this one were blue and green. so all we gotta do is extend the wires at this point. I ran my wires up on the headliner and then down the A-pillar and then under the dash
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
so I ran the ground wire to a bolt near the little fuse box under the driver side dash and then ran a wire to the cigarette lighter power wire and spliced into that
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Here is the sensor that we will be mounting
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I ran the wires down the driver side next to the battery and then mounted the sensor behind the fiberglass crash bar, now reinstall the bumper
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
and viola! done! now you got a auto dimming rearview mirror with compass and outside temp readout. wont make you faster but its a nice luxury touch, also you'll have to recalibrate the compass for your location which usually involves pushing a button and then driving in circles a few times but its a set and forget and yes you have the option to turn off the readout in case you get distracted with the numbers there. this is an older style and they now have one that is a dual readout so u don't have to switch between the two but this was easier and cheaper to get, but which ever u get its a direct fit so all u gotta do is run some wires. now you can go show off to your friends! which is exactly what I did after installing this