Trail Ridge Tow Mirror vs Generic Tow Mirror

Hi. I'm Tony, with 1A Auto, here to talk to you today about the advantages of buying a quality, name-brand part for your vehicle, like this tow-mirror upgrade from Trail Ridge Truck Accessories.

Now, at first glance, this part may look nearly identical to a comparable, generic mirror that we brought to show you, but upon further inspection, the difference is clear between the fit and finish, the quality of the parts, and the attention to detail that really makes this mirror from Trail Ridge Truck Accessories a quality part that lasts.

The generic mirror already has a large scratch going across the face of the mirror, and there's pitting around the edges where the reflective material is already starting to fail. This mirror from Trail Ridge uses a very high-quality reflective material, as well as being a defrosting upper and panoramic mirror, where this one only has a defrosting upper mirror.

The Trail Ridge mirror has a much finer, more uniform finish. Another great benefit to these mirrors is the caps are interchangeable, so you have all this selection, on top of being a quality fit and finish on the largest section of your mirror, which is what the majority of people looking at your truck are going to see.

There’s nice clean metal on the hinge for this mirror. The generic part is already rusting out on the hinge. It's brand new. It's never been exposed to the elements. It's rusting out already.

We have the same color sockets on the generic mirror. The ends have waterproofing in them. Somebody did this very quickly. They also have steel contacts on them. On the Trail Ridge Truck mirrors, the sockets are color coded. We know which one goes where. We have a brass contact that's not going to corrode, and it's going to conduct electricity much more smoothly.

The wiring on the Trail Ridge mirror uses the OEM color coding, so all of these colors and pin-outs are going to match up for the factory wiring colors, as well as the pin locations. This generic mirror used whatever color wiring they had around. The wires in the Trail Ridge mirror are also a much heavier gauge. It also comes with an adapter harness for the earlier model trucks, that weren't as feature packed as the newer ones, which while still using the same bolt-on application, will have a different wire harness connector.

The Trail Ridge truck mirror still has that cool tinted look without being so dark that you're not going to be able to see your turn signals and side markers. The motor on the generic mirror is very loose. I can move this very easily by hand. The Trail Ridge truck mirror has nice smooth movement. It actually takes a little bit of force. These are zero-clearance motors, which means they're a lot more accurate. If you're using your mirror switch and you adjust it, when you let off, that's where it's staying.

We have a higher quality steel here. The ends are nice and secure, where you can see these are all bent up and banged up already.

On top of the physical differences that you've seen here in this comparison, these Trail Ridge truck mirrors also come backed with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, as well as the support of a toll-free call center, and online instructional videos and tips to help you make the best out of every upgrade. So if you want a set of these for your work truck or toy hauler, be sure to check them out. Available exclusively from 1AAuto.com.