Proper mirror adjustment is essential for safe driving and towing.
Proper mirror adjustment is essential for safe driving and towing. Whether your vehicle is fitted with a dual-mirror setup or a single-mirror design, this guide will help you set up your Clearview Towing Mirrors correctly after installation.
Before You Start
1. Set the Primary Mirror (Main / Top Glass)
Action: Use your vehicle’s electric mirror controls (or manually adjust) to move the primary mirror glass.
Goal: Achieve a clear line of sight straight down the side of your vehicle and trailer.
Confirmation: You should only just see the edge of your vehicle or caravan on the inner edge of the glass. The horizon line should sit roughly in the middle of the mirror, giving you maximum visibility of the road behind you.
2. Adjust the Secondary Mirror (Bottom Convex Glass)
(Note: Skip this step if you have a single-mirror Compact model.)
Action: Manually push the bottom convex glass to angle it downwards and outwards.
Goal: Minimise blind spots in adjacent lanes and monitor the lower sections of your vehicle and trailer wheels.
Confirmation: The reflection should complement, and be an extension of, your top mirror, not overlap it. You should clearly see the lane next to you and the lower blind spot areas near your rear wheels.
3. Verify Towing and Normal Driving Positions
Action: Slide the mirror heads out into their fully extended towing position, then push them back into their standard retracted position.
Goal: Ensure your mirror angles work for both daily driving and towing.
Confirmation: When fully extended, you must be able to see clearly past the widest point of your towed load. When retracted, the mirrors should provide a safe, standard view for normal daily driving.
4. Make Final Fine-Tune Adjustments
Action: Do a final sweep of all mirrors from your natural driving position.
Goal: Catch any minor misalignments before hitting the road.
Confirmation: Shift your eyes between the left and right mirrors. You should have a comprehensive view of your surroundings with minimal head movement.
How to Verify Your Setup
The Walk-Around Test: Have someone stand at the rear corners of your caravan or trailer. You should be able to see them clearly in the primary mirrors.
The Blind Spot Check: Have them walk slowly up the side of your vehicle. Watch how they transition from the primary mirror to the convex mirror (if applicable), and finally into your peripheral vision.
Next Steps
Once you have verified your visibility in both the retracted and extended positions, your mirror setup is complete. You are now ready to drive.
The dual mirror view feels confusing:
You likely have the top and bottom mirrors overlapping the same viewing area. Angle the bottom convex mirror further out and slightly down to separate the viewing zones. If you’ve adjusted the mirrors correctly and the dual mirror design still feels overwhelming, consider replacing the flat top glass with a convex one for a uniform view across both mirrors.
I can’t see past my caravan:
Check that your mirrors are fully extended into their widest towing position. Ensure the primary mirror is angled wide enough to catch the rear corners of the van.
The mirror arms feel stiff to extend:
Your Clearview mirrors should always feel firm when extending and retracting. However, if your mirrors feel like they are too stiff, it’s time to lubricate your towing mirror arms.
