SUNPRO

So I read every thread here to find the best brackets..sounds like the late model rugged ridge type with filler plates are the best. Good price and a product that comes with all parts needed..great. I ordered them for myself for x-mas. They arrive. It's cold out. I'm in Michigan. Brrrrrrr. My garage is not heated. Finally can't wait..I'm gonna put these puppies on (why now? I can't take ..well..shouldn't take the doors off..not planning on it until it's warm and sunny). Why Because I can and I want to..

I get the instructions out and head to the garage. I attempt step one. I undo the bolt to realease the mirror head from the arm protruding from the door as per the instructions which state to then "Remove the mirror head". Followed by: "NOTE: Some force may be needed to remove the mirror head from the bracket. Carefully work the mirror head from side to side until it is free."

So I tried that for a while..slowly but surely adding more and more force over a period of minutes (I really want to avoid F'ing up my new Jeep). I got to the point where the exterior portion of the door panel was starting to bow..I tried a heat gun..just in case..again..a little bit at a time to not jack anything up.

Nada.

I finally just removed the entire mirror assembly and brought it inside after installing the filler plate where the mirror was. I waited until it was room temp. The plastic piece covering the arm is now loose. The assembly will pass the "break / fold" point in both directions..but will not release. I tried the ol' screwdriver through the hole and tap from underneath..nope.

ANY IDEAS?? I really put some muscle into this thing..I'm no bodybuilder..but I'm no string bean either. Anybody run into this "problem"? I'd like to have a mirror (or half of one as I've read) on the passenger side again.

fourxfourjeep

Weird...I did the side to side wiggle with the mirror after I pulled the bolt from the bottom and it popped out. It didnt seem to be that difficult to take off... Did you give it a lot of verbal lubrication

SUNPRO

You mean like "Golly gee whiz" and "aw snap". Yep. Then I tried the "Get off of there you MOTHER F#(%@%!!". I thought it moved on the second attempt..but it seemed to go back into place when I looked at it. I'll try the stink eye next time.

pirate

when I did mine, it was warm out. But I lifted up on the mirror so it was as tight in the hole as i could make it then repetetedly hit my hand (smaking it up) and it finnaly broke loose and went flying in the air and landed in the grass. Try the other one, My dr one was looser the the passenger one.

YingYang

I did have a little problem with one of my mirrors. I backed the screw out from the underside leaving it about 1/2 threaded in. Gave a few love taps with a hammer and it popped out. The screw head kept it from falling on the floor

It looked like the metal had a little corrosion on it and had a death grip on the housing.

SUNPRO

I noticed the screw was pretty rusty and did have corrosion on it..(even with only six months of age and 12k+ miles..hhhhmmmmm. Now I wonder if "break free" lube will eat the plastic...

YingYang

I traded my 07 2dr for a 09 4dr and moved the RR brackets over. I wanted the new mirrors because they didnt have as many bug guts on em. My new 4dr JK had under 100 mi on it and the mirror/brackets were already stuck.

I also noticed that the new mirrors were smaller in diamater and were a little loose in the mounting hole. I wrapped a little electrical tape around the base and fit like a champ.

The "break free" should be fine. Im sure a little WD-40 would work good also.

I would also pick up some of those 2" blind spot mirrors to put on your passenger side. You cant see squat out of that mirror unless you do a gansta lean over the center console. They work fine with no doors tho.

Dre64

My buddy had the same issue, he has an 08 2-door X, we ended up cutting off the plastic from the original bracket, then grabbing the mirror by the mirrorhead and smashing the bracket into a concrete pillar until the original bracket finally came off. Seemed to take forever with both sides, but it finally popped off after a shit load of hitting and force. He's definatelly not happy with the fact that he can't put the stock ones back on because we ripped them apart, but the rugged ridge ones popped on really nicely and he hasn't had any issues since. We figure the issue was corrosion, as the bracket looked pretty rusted inside when it finally popped off, so the trick is lots of force, and careful not to break the mirror, oh and we tried wd-40 and grease, and that didn't do any good either, you just need to hit it enough till it pops off.

fourxfourjeep

So true

sm_rubi

We had the same issue trying to do it on the trails cuz we had just bought a pair and wanted to try them out...problem is off the jeep the mirror are impossible to pull off of the bracket...once we got home I tried again this time leaving it on the jeep, adding a little wd40, twisting side to side while pulling it up and it came right off. Also, they do have a major blind spot so we used the little round 2" blind spot mirrors and it works. Good luck!