Door Removal and Mirror Movers

Door removal and mirror movers

If your like me you want to take off your doors and feel like your driving your Jeep like it was intended right from the show room floor. Problem is what do you do about your mirrors and how do you take off your doors? Im pretty sure almost every state requires the use of mirrors on moving vehicles. Im sure in some states you can get away with one mirror, but if you have two why take a chance. Since its rather easy and you only need 10 minutes with a few tools and a mirror mover kit.

Tools needed:	Time:
17mm socket Driver for your socket 13mm wrench T-40 torx bit and driver	Aproximately 10-15 minutes

You will also need a mirror mover kit. I purchased a pair from Quadratec. MIRROR MOVERS 97+ TJ BLACK (PAIR) There are other kits available, but the door removal and gutting of the mirrors will be very simular and I would bet the exact unless they utilize other equipment.

In this kit you will receive two sets of the above. For the purposes of this writeup Im only showing one side at a time because once you see it on one side the other side is exactly the same.	Im sure we have all seen this site before. Our top is off yet our doors are still on.	Simply take a 13mm wrench and loosen the nuts at the bottom of the door hinge. It should just turn right off.
Ive been asked several times "How can I loosen the nut without chipping or scratching the nut" I would guess you could wrap it with some tape and then use a larger wrench to loosen the nut. Ive never done it myself because Ive given up on the fact that my Jeep will never be scratched. You can see from the above picture there isn't much damage, but it may make some Jeep owners squimish because they can not stomach the chipped paint.	Note This step is not needed to simply remove your door. See last photo*** Take your Torx 40 bit and driver and loosen the two heads just below the windsheild, which is just in front of the currently mounted mirror.	In case you do not know what a torx bit looks like. Its more or less like a start shapped head.
Now if you worried about scratching the head on the nut your really going to be annoyed to know its almost impossible not to chip a bit of paint in the inside of the torx head. Its not to bad, but I just wanted to illustrate the chipped paint. Ive heard of others having a problem loosening the head due to paint on the head. I took a hair dryer and warmed up the head just a bit then placed a couple of shop towls over the area and wacked it a few times just to break up the grip on the head. Dont go wack crazy because we are not looking to dent the Jeep. Just loosen up the head a bit.	Now with the heads removed place the supplied plate in place and loosely place each bolt and slowly tighten each until each head fits into the resessed area of the mirror mover bracket.	All done. Ready for the rest of the hardware.
Under the mirror there is a 17mm nut holding the mirror into the existing door bracket. Loosen the nut holding the mirror for grip. If I recall the nut loosens differently for each side. I found it a lot more difficult trying to remove the mirrors with the doors off thats why for this writeup Ive left the doors on because it acts like an additional pair of hands.	After you gut the inside of the mirror you will find the following stacked in order. Spring on top followed by a washer, brass looking cup and finally the nut. Do not loose any of these. You will need them to rebuild your mirror when you put your doors on. You will need to reuse the nut for your mirror movers.	This is an assembled profile of the pieces.
Slide your mirror into the bracket with the supplied black sleeve followed by the supplied washer and your original nut.	These are the left over pieces from your build. I never reinstall the nuts on my doors simply because I can put my doors back on and off with out them. Plus Im not in the mood to loose them and have to replace them from the dealership.	Make sure you tighten the nut tight enough so the mirror doesn't not swing, but leave just a bit so you can readjust if necessary from the drivers seat leaning over the passenger seat. Your view will appear to be a bit less simply because your mirror is pulled forward of its orignal posistion.
This is the side view of it completed.	Now this is the finished product. I know I didn't show the door removal. What you need to do is simply lower your windows all the way and place one hand in the top of the door with your palm up making a pushing movement. at the sametime have one hand at the bottom of the door making a lifting movement. If the door doesn't lift straight out open the door nearly all the way and almost shut it while lifting. It will break loose and come straight out. Make sure you have a solid and clean area to stack your doors against. I normally lean mine against my garage wall sitting on a couple pieces of cardboard. Make sure you do not trip over them or hit them with other objects. They are pretty pricey and you do not want to have to replace them.

Ive been asked this before.

Q. Can I leave my mirror movers on year around to avoid having to take them off and replacing them every summer?
A. I can honestly say yes you can. However the passenger side is almost completely useless because when the door is on your mirror is almost blocked entirely by the door frame. You can see around the frame just a bit, but I wouldn't think it would be very safe.