Authentic Side Mirrors

[Gamble]

Apparently, there are a lot of fake Chinese crap out there being passed around as authentic hmmwv am general side mirrors. I have a couple of questions. How can a person tell OEM mirrors from aftermarket nonsense?
Aren't the mounting brackets made of metal on the OEM mirrors? If so, is it steel or aluminum?

Thanks

 

[Coug]

Apparently, there are a lot of fake Chinese crap out there being passed around as authentic hmmwv am general side mirrors. I have a couple of questions. How can a person tell OEM mirrors from aftermarket nonsense?
Aren't the mounting brackets made of metal on the OEM mirrors? If so, is it steel or aluminum?

Thanks

I have a set of the chinese ones. Hardware is all metric, paint flakes off easily. Mounting brackets are metal on them, aluminum. There is a spacer on the bottom mount that's iron, mine is rusting.
They seem to work okay, a little hard to adjust and hard to keep positioned.

Not sure exactly how to tell the difference, but my usual method for parts is find the cheapest ones out there, and any parts that are identical (but more expensive) get ignored. They're never completely identical.

 

[Gamble]

Thanks. So I bought these from one of the well known hmmwv parts dealers who sold them as OEM:




These smell like fresh paint.

 

[98G]

CARC has a definitive texture. Compare it to the CARC on your truck

 

[Coug]

mine the bottom bracket for the mirror is straight, not curved like that.
You can also look for the NSN on the mirror housing.

 

[Milcommoguy]

They look right... but the over spray and painted housings is hiding something. Molded black or green hard plastic for the mirror housing.

I see something fishy... CAMO

 

[Gamble]

They look right... but the over spray and painted housings is hiding something. Molded black or green hard plastic for the mirror housing.

I see something fishy... CAMO

As you can see lots of overspray. Plus there is 'MLC' on the back of one of the mirrors. Anyone know what that is?

On 2nd thought I think the one with the MLC is legit.

 

[Gamble]

Ok, I figured it out. The one with the 'MLC' is not OEM but American made. The tell tell sign is the MLC on the back and the curved mirror adjustment beacket at the bottom. Vendor said they have sold 100s of these pairs over the years with no complaints. One is OEM and one is aftermarket. They are painted because one is originally black and the other is originally green. So they slap this paint on to make them match.

 

[DREDnot]

MLC= Main Land China! Just kidding.

Ive seen two types of large GI mirrors. The rounded style, and the square style.
They always have the NSN molded on the backside.
The rounded style(older?) are the most common. And ive only seen them molded in green plastic with matching green plastic upper and lower spacers
The square style(newer?) are harder to come by and Ive only seen them molded in black.
Its typical to see either one resprayed tan or green.

The bracketry is aluminum like almost everything on the HMMWV.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

Buy your products from HPG, MAC or KASCAR.

 

[Spitfirebuilder]

You know, if your careful you can pop the mirror glass out and spray them. You have to take the top one out first. The only thing that holds the glass in is the tab. I popped the glass out and painted mine black. You do have to be extremely careful.

 

[Bulldogger]

I bought a $170 set of eBay mirrors last year and while they seem to be holding up I second complaints that they are difficult to keep positioned (no detent inside the mount to remember their position when bumped) and the mirror face is not perfectly flat so I get some fisheye around the edges. Would NOT buy again.
BDGR

 

[JKDAY]

MLC= Main Land China! Just kidding.

Ive seen two types of large GI mirrors. The rounded style, and the square style.
They always have the NSN molded on the backside.
The rounded style(older?) are the most common. And ive only seen them molded in green plastic with matching green plastic upper and lower spacers
The square style(newer?) are harder to come by and Ive only seen them molded in black.
Its typical to see either one resprayed tan or green.

The bracketry is aluminum like almost everything on the HMMWV.

DREDnot,

Is the NSN for the square mirrors different? If so, could you post it? I've been looking for those mirrors. Thanks.

 

[DREDnot]

DREDnot,

Is the NSN for the square mirrors different? If so, could you post it? I've been looking for those mirrors. Thanks.

 

[JKDAY]

View attachment 799666

Thank you!

 

[Bulldogger]

Thank you!

Let us know if you find a good supply.
Bdgr

 

[NDT]

I just need the RH lower mirror insert, is this available loose?

 

[98G]

I just need the RH lower mirror insert, is this available loose?

And i just need the RH upper. If they're not available loose, perhaps we should split one....

 

[Crapgame]

TTBOMK, the GI parts have the part number molded into the ribbed backside of the housing, the imports do not. All mine have the bracket arms made from steel or aluminum. I don't know if the round spacer should be aluminum or plastic on the Genuine Issue part, but I know the tan import I bought the spacers are plastic.

 

[Bulldogger]

View attachment 799666

That part number turns up the same rounded corner ones. Does this mean that the square ones are particular to a single source/manufacturer?
BDGR