side mirror vibration

[lynx5653]

Anyone have an idea how to stop side mirrors from vibrating on 55-59 truck?
I have tightened them as much as I dare and still vibrate like crazy.

Thanks in advance

[mr48chev]

If it's the same one that was on my 57 Panel they just shake. I remember reaching out and holding it to see behind me at times.

[lynx5653]

Thanks MR48, but there has to be a better way or better mirror that can be used to fix this problem. I also tried holding mirror with very little success.

[1project2many]

there has to be a better way

Oh, man... Story of our lives, eh?

Anyway, the reason "truck" mirrors have a full support from top of door to below the window is because a single post mirror is much more likely to shake. If you have a stock mirror or a small footprint base the door skin can actually flex. And the longer the arm, the more vibration you'll get. You might be able to install a support on the inside of the door to help reduce the shaking. That's what GM did. I can't find a picture of the original style support but the installation instructions for the extendable mirror show a nice brace.

You might also want to look at the "California Style" mirror.

Also, it's tougher to use but the peep mirror mounted to the top of the door is much less prone to shake. It was factory on trucks with a bed mounted spare.

[joedoh]

as an experiment, try adding some mass. vibration is energy and there is a point where the vibration is the highest with the smallest input, it is called the resonant frequency. if you can lower the resonant frequency value, it will take more energy to vibrate it.

this is the theory that sound deadening material works on, adding the heavy mat to the panel lowers the resonant frequency and requires more energy to vibrate. lower frequencies take a lot more power and arent as intrusive as higher frequencies, think of the last subwoofer amp you saw, probably twice as big and three times as powerful as the mid/high amplifier. amazing how its all correlated to the same theory.

anyway, as a temp thing to try out, try attaching some weight to the mirror head and see if that helps. stop at the sporting goods store and they sell little stick on lead pellets with tape on the back for adding mass to golf clubs. if it works, add some weight permanently. maybe open up the mirror and put the lead inside. maybe pour lead in the arm tube? any way you can to add mass. add some mass to the base and the inside of the door where it attaches too, like asphalt sound deadening material.

it may be impossible. I put a long lokar shifter in a truck and it looked great sitting still but wiggled like a widow pleaser when the engine was running, just how long it was and its solid attachment to the transmission made it really susceptible to vibrating.

[dsraven]

stick on wheel weights are a temp fix as well.a good plate on the inside of the door, a rubber membrane between the door and the mirror, all good stuff.

[mr48chev]

Now I need to find the pictures (what few there are) of that panel to see what mirror it had on it.
On my 48 I found out that peep mirrors are one of the more worthless things a guy can stick on one of these trucks as they always shake and bake.

[lynx5653]

I will try the weight trick and see if it helps at all, also will continue a search for a better mirror that will look good on my 55 .

[Dan in Pasadena]

Sorry to be the naysayer here but they're 60 years old trucks. You get what you got in the way of vibration. You could spend a LOT of effort (and money) to try to reduce it but i doubt you can eliminate it. YMMV.

[lynx5653]

It is ok Dan ,but I will find a solution come H... or High water