Let’s face it, over time things start to go bad, and one of the things we don’t think about until it happens is the glue holding our rearview mirror DOES get old, and eventually it may fall down, which causes many problems, such as:
- Creating a blind spot
- Making it difficult to see who is behind you
- Making it harder to back up
- The ILLEGALITY of it. You WILL get pulled over sooner or later
Remounting it is fairly easy if you know what you are doing, and have plenty of patience.
The first thing you need to do is determine if you have the original bracket, or if you need a new one. In my case, I had the original bracket, but I opted to go with a new, plastic, bracket, as the glue I chose would stick better, and it had holes in it for a better central seal.
Once you have your bracket of choice, you need to get glue. There IS a glue sold as “rear-view mirror adhesive”, but the 3 tubes of it I’ve acquired have all been dry and unusable, so I get automotive adhesive from wal*mart. It hold up to 465 psi, and is more than fine for holding my mirror up.
Your next step is to scrape the old adhesive off of the windshield and clean the area to ensure that the new bracket will have the best possible seal.
After prepping the area you simply apply the glue to the back of the bracket, and stick it on pointy side up, making sure the bracket is facing the correct way so the mirror can later be applied.
That’s all there is to it! Just remember to BE PATIENT! It’s frustrating not having a mirror, but it’s more frustrating if you try to mount it too early, and end up having to start over from scratch. I put a bead of silicone around the bracket for an extra hold, and when my mirror is up I’m planning on putting a bead of silicone around it’s bracket also for an extra seal over time.
