Wink mirror warning

[sevenspeed]

My frist post just had to be a proglem :\
When installing a wink mirror to the roof be careful. I know have no cigarette lighter (for electric heater until car warms up or gps,) no radio, and no dome light. I must have screwed or drilled into the wire doh. I think I screwed twice as many holes as needed. Nothing to grab, now my roof padding is molested
While I'm at it, ditch the screws that come with it and get some real self tapping ones and drill a pilot hole first. Dunno how to check for wires though. Also, maybe get a windshield mount kit too? Don't know if they have one but too late for me.
As for the mirror I think it's going to be great, but it's dark out and roads aren't busy so can't really tell yet. I just hope I can get to the wire to fix it.

[FastPlastic]

Sorry you had such a time. Thanks for the heads up to save others from the headache. Are you planning on removing the outside mirrors? Or just wanted a little extra vision out the back?

I'm all about not drilling in to my car. I want to leave it the way I got it. So any one else looking at doing it I would suggest taking a look at the visor mounts. Some times you can slip a small custom bracket under them to mount things.

[metromizer]

I have another warning about Wink mirrors... from a Friend's dad, who beside being a <now retired> automotive engineer, crash test engineer for consumer's union, at the end of his carrer worked as an accident investigator and expert witness.

According to him, those Wink mirrors have been partialy responsible for 'scalping' the car's occupants during certain types of front end collisions. Apperently, in a front ender, the passenger lurches forward enough to graze the lower leading edge, peeling off that little protective cover, exposing the semi-sharp edge, which does the harm by pinching your forehead skin between the mirror's plastic fram and the skull, cutting then peeling back... you get the gruesome picture.

He claims to have investigated more than one such incedents. But... i think these were pre-air bag cars, so if you have a modern car maybe it's not a concern ?

My friend saw my wink mirror in my old racecar, and thought it was his duty to let me know about the words of caution, so I'll pass them along.

[sevenspeed]

Yeah, I was going to at least remove the passanger side. Need to find some plastic or something to block off the holes. But from what driving and observing I did in the dark looks like the driver side might go as well, I'll try it out some more in the daytime. I got the 5 panel glass mirror btw, didn't read the details that it was 3 feet long but the view is awesome. The lanechanger plus looks like a very good compromise bewteen function and form. Looks to give good enough angle of view but can't beet the size of the wink.

It's not as bad as I was thinking, a friend had the idea of taking the dome light off, cutting the wires and tying a string to them, then pulling them back down by the dash to fix the bad spot. A hassle but not complicated.

I didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the roof either (mainly the foam/vinyl,) but it was a compromise. Custom brackets would work too, the visors won't be functional anymore anyway. Impatience and lack of supplies I guess. The car isn't perfect anyway, original owner needed more then mirrors.... Looks fine from a distance but dented in various spots, fixed the major ones, like where they must have run under a small trailer? (2 rectangle dents or impressions on the front of the hood.)

There is the glass mount option it seems for $10 per side though maybe ebay would be cheaper?

Thanks for the "heads up on the scalping", would never have thought of that. Guess I'll just have to duck or wear a bicycle helmet. Hehe, I'll wait till it's super aeromodded and then wear one with one of those sauna suits too. Or maybe find some plastic bolts so those might break off instead?

[dcb]

Originally Posted by sevenspeed

"beware of dog" grill block

LOL

[blueflame]

Hey I've still got 2 wing mirrors. Whats my best option to just have internal mirrors? My car has excellent vision/small pillars, front and back. Is it:

A 3 foot long curved mirror visor that folds up when you want to cruise in the slow lane and not see anyone behind you? (illegal when an officer sees you have no rear view vision)

Or mirror disks mounted on the inside of the windscreen, left and right? (illegal?)

Both dangerous for my scalp? (and illegal) or

Camera and LCD screen? (yeah right it would be worth more than my car)

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by metromizer

According to him, those Wink mirrors have been partialy responsible for 'scalping' the car's occupants during certain types of front end collisions. Apperently, in a front ender, the passenger lurches forward enough to graze the lower leading edge, peeling off that little protective cover, exposing the semi-sharp edge, which does the harm by pinching your forehead skin between the mirror's plastic fram and the skull, cutting then peeling back... you get the gruesome picture.

So it cuts, then it binds, then the motion of the occupant past the mirror results in the skin peeling off? I don't see how that's possible in a vehicle built within the past few decades w/ working seatbelts. If the crash is hard enough and the occupants have enough momentum to knock the rubber end off and get the plastic underneath stuck on their forehead then the seatbelt will stop their forward motion long before they can even get close to the wink mirror. Otoh the only way the seatbelt wouldn't restrict their movement would be if they moving at a much lower rate of speed which would preclude being able to get the wink mirror stuck to their forehead in the first place. Maybe this could happen w/ a vehicle w/o seatbelts or where the seatbelts don't work properly and a crash would result in their head slamming into the dash for all intents and purposes but I can't see how it could happen otherwise.

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

I don't see how that's possible in a vehicle built within the past few decades w/ working seatbelts...I can't see how it could happen otherwise.

Fair enough, but like I said, Carl was/is still a crash investigator, working real cases involving real people with real injuries. Only you can decide how to weight the information I've shared.

I understand you being skepticle, but I encourage you (and everyone for that matter) to search youtube for some high speed camera crash footage, and watch the crash dummy's head and neck. Even at relatively low speeds, it's incredible the amount of fore and aft movement that happens. Containing a human body with seat belts is sort of like mastering the baloon toss at the church picnic. The belts aren't designed to stop a body without some give, which is why they are made of nylon diagonal web, they give quite a bit, and you want that. Interior designers pay close attention to even the sun visors. Ever notice how compliant they are? That's by design, for safety.

Anyhow, I love wink mirrors for the outstanding rear view (also safety). If someone would reintroduce them with a different design, one rigid enough to not vibrate and jiggle, yet compliant enough so it wouldn't harm me if I smacked it in a crash, I'd put one in the Metro in a minute.

[metromizer]

Inside mounted, sideview mirrors on my racecar... The rear window is almost completely obscured by the intake air induction ducting and I have no outside sideview mirrors. The solution I came up with was to mount a 6" diameter convex mirror on the inside of the A pillar. If I can figure out how to re-size the pics, I'll post them.