Somebody must know...
What is the purpose of those tiny little wing mirrors that a lot of large Jap 4x4s have on the extreme front of the n/s wing? Too small and far away to be of any use in driving, I would have thought, and not big enough for a meaningful shaving mirror on the school run.
I believe there is a reason for everything, but this has got me stumped.
A legal requirement I believe, though I'm not sure why.
In the early days of our barcoding project for T5 they were discussing whether we needed a register for the presence / absence of these mirrors on the bodyshell. Even they didn't know at that point whether they would be fitted.
They are a legal requirement in Japan, which also means all those vehicles you see with them are second-hand imports from Japan. I understand the Traffic Wardens out there attach the parking tickets with a padlock to these wing mirrors and you can only get it removed by paying the fine. Of course it also lets the police see you haven't paid. I suppose they have to have them on Rollers and Ferraris out there too.
I asked a friend with one of the small mirrors on her imported Hilux and it's for seeing the kerb when you're parallel parking, and apparently it works. If it's a legal requirement it must vary with model, as the missus has got an imported Mitsubishi Chariot (Space Wagon) and it hasn't got one. I apologise for using the M word, but at least the Chariot is 4wd!
Ah. OK. Makes sense. Do you happen to know *why* they are a legal requirement in Japan? I only ask because they seem so useless from a practical point of view.
(FWIW - what's to stop you unbolting the mirror to remove the parking ticket?)
I'd imagine they eliminate a good chunk of blind spot when used in conjunction with window mirrors?
Now why would you want to see the kerb when...
Oh, you mean parallel parking a *vehicle*, sorry.
Not in Japan ... they drive on the same side as us so the mirrors would be on the passenger side.
Regards Steve G
They may be too small but wing mirrors are much better than door mirrors - less blind spot.
Regards Steve G
Button bashing in practice for another round of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, SteveG left Shakespeare to the monkeys by typing...
Parking mirror for seeing kerb/small children Toyota Previa (or some name like that - van with windows & seats in rear) - Jap imports have rear pointdown mirrors for same reason. Lorries sometimes (esp. in tall artics) have an extra mirror above conventional one pointing downward to see if small people have got caught in the spokes...
Button bashing in practice for another round of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, SteveG left Shakespeare to the monkeys by typing...
See other thread in same topic
Oh, thought they were on both sides.
Could they be for parking with? Left pointed down they would perhaps be useful for that. My Jag had mirrors which automatically dropped kerbwards when you put it in reverse, which was very neat.
SG: Never thought of that ... until I saw the earlier posting.
SG: I wondered what that mirror was for on my truck (please not a lorry) ... always thought it was so I cold see if the wheels were still going around :-) They're also bl00dy useful for making sure you don't hit pratts who park in awkward places as you squeeze by with just a whisker to spare on either side.
LOL Steve G
Button bashing in practice for another round of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, SteveG left Shakespeare to the monkeys by typing...
The ones on trucks are for a different purpose - Checking cleavage on prospective hitchers.. :-)
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