FAQ > Car, Truck and SUV Rear View Mirrors

• My car has a rear view mirror that looks very complicated, Is it going to be an issue when I have Phoenix Glass replaces my windshield? Rear view mirrors in today vehicles do appear to be something to be afraid of and some are but in reality, the majority of them are just business as usual for the technicians at Phoenix Glass. There are a few out there that can be rather difficult to transfer over to the new windshield such as Infinity, Lexus, BMW and a few other makes. Unfortunately for that simple reason it puts some vehicles into the difficult installations category in which we would rather not perform the installation in the field. These types of rear view mirrors use a horse shoe shaped spring that maintains an equal pressure on each of the two ball bearings to retain the mirror to the mounting bracket. It's not at all uncommon for a technician to have difficulty with these type of units in that it will pop apart and the small BB sized ball bearings exit the mirror in an unsafe, unruly, flying formation. Imagine trying to find something smaller than a BB in a parking lot or worse yet a gravel parking lot.

99% of the new windshields of today come from the factory with the rear view mirror mounting bracket already mounted on the windshield.

• My Rear View Mirror fell off my windshield, Can Phoenix Glass reattach it for me? No problem, and we can usually do it while you wait and you will also receive a life time warranty for the work. In the unlikely event of it falling off again we'll put it back on for free for as long as you own the vehicle.

Ford Rear View Mirror

Examples of 20 different rear view mirror mounting brackets

An Interpretation of the Standard: Passenger vehicles must have an inside mirror along with a driver’s side mirror for rear viewin g.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 is a specification pertaining to the rear vision parts of a vehicle. This federal standard outlines important safety requirements as it relates to automotive mirrors. FMVSS 111 specifies the required range of vision that the driver must achieve utilizing rear vision products. These ranges are both horizontal and vertical angles from the side and rear of the vehicle. In addition, FMVSS 111 states that rear vision products shall have an average reflectance of at least 35 percent (OEM mirrors are typically between 40% and 60% reflective). This part of the specification is achieved through the use of special first surface chrome glass.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS-111)

The key function for rearview mirrors is to maximize the field of vision of the area behind the driver. The convex mirror was designed to increase that field of view. The federal law does not specifically dictate usage of convex mirror for passenger side viewing; however, to be on the safe side, if a convex mirror part was originally used then convex mirror should be reinstalled to maintain the maximum field of vision.

The passenger side mirror is optional as long as there is a field of vision from using an inside rearview mirror. It can be flat or convex and if it is a convex mirror, the insignia “Objects are closer than they appear” must be inscribed on the mirror.

If viewing from an inside mirror is impossible, an example of this would be one of our Phoenix Glass Mobile Installation vans, the vehicle must have a passenger side mirror along with a driver’s side mirror .

If there was a convex part on the vehicle originally, it should be replaced with a convex part etched with the proper “OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR” statement.

• My Car doesn’t have a side view mirror on the passenger’s side, isn’t it supposed to?

• What are the requirements for Rear and Side view Mirrors in Vehicles?

The passenger side mirror is optional as long as there is a field of vision from using an inside rearview mirror.

Requirements very depending on what type of vehicle you have, below you’ll find the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that applies to just about all Vehicles.

• One of my side view mirrors on my car has a crack in it. Can I just have the glass replaced or do I have to buy an entire unit?

An Electrochromic Mirror is a mirror that electronically automatically dims to a darker color when it is subjected to bright light such as headlights from the vehicles behind you. The reason we ask this question is the vehicle will use a different Windshield if it has one. In some cases the vehicles black matrix band may be different and in others it may be as simple as a different mirror mounting bracket.

In most cases, depending on your particular vehicle we can replace just the glass but there are a few out there that will require the entire mirror unit be replaced. Stop by our Service Center and we will be able tell you what options are available to you.

The second type is an Automatic Dimming Mirror. It’s the more modern of the two and is called an Electrochromic mirror. Do to it’s higher cost this type of mirror was typically only found in today’s higher end vehicles but in the past few years we seen them in a variety of different models. It works automatically through what the automotive industry refers to as Electrochromism. Sensors which are located on both the front and rear of the mirror detect the level of light coming from the front as well as the rear of the the vehicle. The Sensors are programmed to detect night driving conditions and focuses on areas of light intensity that may prove to be a problem for drivers. When the sensors detect light they send an electronic signal along with the proper voltage level to the mirror activating the solution that is sandwiched between two layers of glass to darken.

• When I called Phoenix Glass to obtain a price on a new Windshield for my car your CSR asked if it had an Electrochromic Rear View Mirror. What is an Electrochromic Rear View Mirror?

In an effort to help overcome this problem, two different types of interior dimming mirrors have been created. The first is the traditional manually operated day/night mirror. This is the one you are most likely to be familiar with, it works with a manually operated flip tab located in the bottom center of the rear view mirror. You flip the tab and it adjusts the mirror’s angle to a light dimming reflection. This is actually the result of using two different reflective surfaces, one on the front of the mirror and one on the back. The reflective surface on the back is lined with a silver derivative material that makes it very reflective, while the front of the mirror is normal glass only slightly reflective. This entire piece of glass is actually a wedge shaped piece of glass formed to a particular angle. When the tab on the mirror is set in the Normal position, it’s positioned so the backside of the mirror reflects the road, but when flipped up into it’s night time mode the normal glass in front handles the reflection, returning a much dimmer version of the road. The lesser reflecting capabilities of the normal glass will help protect your eyes from bright light effects behind them.

Most people think the interior dimming rear view mirror is just another gadget the auto makers came up with as a customer convenience but they were actually developed as a result of the many accidents that are caused from a visual effect known as The Troxler fading effect. The Troxler fading affect is a phenomenon that occurs when you try to focus your vision on a single point in space for more than 20 seconds. When you do this it will create a stimulus outside the range of your focal point to fade away. To see an example of this effect click on the photo on your right and then try focusing on the red dot in the center of the picture for 10-15 seconds and you will see that the blue circle will disappear. T his momentary blindness or obscurity can cause problems for drivers d riving at night or in dark conditions because The Troxler fading effect happens automatically when your eyes are exposed to bright lights, be it from your rear or side view mirrors, (typically both) on coming traffic or even street lights. This happens even quicker when your driving in rural areas. where it’s very dark. When your eyes are exposed to bright lights your eyes immediately compensate by tuning out distractions so you can focus on particular things. Unfortunately, after the bright light disappears your eyes take time to readjust to low light conditions, especially when you're trying to look in a particular direction. The continual distraction of bright lights from behind the driver can be even worse when reflected in the rear view mirrors causing the eyes to slowly lose sight of road details in front of the car. To reveal the effects of glare on the eyes that drivers must endure studies that have been conducted have shown that The Troxler fading effect increases driver reaction time by up to 1.4 seconds. This means that when traveling at night or in dark conditions at 60 mph, it would take you 1.4 seconds which translates to 123 feet more than normal before you would be able to see again and be able to react to road hazards.

• My Cars inside rear view mirror is broken and I’ve found that it is very expensive to have the whole unit replaced. I understand I’ll loose the dimming capability of the mirror but can Phoenix Glass custom cut a normal type of mirror to fit it?.

That’s a simple question we’re asked almost on a daily basis but the answer isn’t so simple. Let us start out with Yes we Can but we’re sorry to say we Won’t. Long ago it was done with both rear and side view mirrors on a regular basis and considered business as usual because the majority of people didn’t know any better and as much as we hate to say it, some still don’t. The mirror glass that was used is the same type of 1/8th inch thickness mirror glass that you see everyday in your typical bath room medicine cabinet mirror. In that type of situation it does a fantastic job but in an automotive application it can literally cost you your life. When this type of mirror is used in an automotive application the reflection it gives you is far to bright in dark night time driving conditions. When the bright light enters your eyes it causes a little known phenomenon called The Troxler Fading Effect that can literally make objects disappear before your very eyes.

• What is the Troxler Fading Effect and how does it effect my night driving?