Why are Wrangler mirrors attached to the doors?

[Wbino]

Why does a Jeep which is known for off roading not have the mirrors attached to the frame somewhere?
I drove a bus for years the mirror wasn't on the door.
New Jeeper thinking to much......

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[Fuel Fire Desire]

I remember seeing a video where a Jeep engineer explained why. I forgot the exact reason, but his logic made sense when listening to him. IIRC it was something like there’s no place to put it where it’s still visible and useable while still staying clear of the open door. Not much real estate where the A pillar meets the cowl with the vertical windshield.

 

[Arterius2]

I remember seeing a video where a Jeep engineer explained why. I forgot the exact reason, but his logic made sense when listening to him. IIRC it was something like there’s no place to put it where it’s still visible and useable while still staying clear of the open door. Not much real estate where the A pillar meets the cowl with the vertical windshield.

Well Ford engineers seemed to have figured out a way to put it on the body for the Bronco.

 

[rts4714]

Well Ford engineers seemed to have figured out a way to put it on the body for the Bronco.

Not that they figured it out persay. The bronco door looks like it doesn't open quite as far. Otherwise the window would hit the mirror. There is no window frame on the broncos. In theory if the window is rolled down the door would open below the mirror.

 

[beast40]

I moved the mirrors onto the body on my old TJ. The visibility was horrible with the doors on, especially on the passenger side.

 

[Arterius2]

Not that they figured it out persay. The bronco door looks like it doesn't open quite as far. Otherwise the window would hit the mirror. There is no window frame on the broncos. In theory if the window is rolled down the door would open below the mirror.

That seems to be ok for me.
As someone who lives in a very populous city, most of the time I don’t get to open the door past the first notch.

 

[Chief_Dan]

Well...
It is known for being an offroad vehicle because of this. Let me try to explain.

You take the doors off so you can see your tires & obstacles while rock crawling especially. Thus, that usually means tight spaces, between rocks and/or trees. So, if you had side mirrors, they would get knocked off or damaged. So, technically, taking the doors off is for offroad only. But, it is so much fun with the top off & doors off, that folks tend to drive around that way all the time, thus the need for side mirrors, when back on road.

I personally see a lot of broken Bronco mirrors coming up on some of the more difficult trails.

I hope this helps!

 

[#diesel]

Agree with what Chief_Dan said. Door-off wheeling through a tight spot is easier without mirrors slapping against trees, boulders, but I get the point about needing mirrors to be street legal.
Jeep recommends doors-off riding only for off-road, but you need mirrors for the ride to the off-road trail, right, because taking the doors off at the trail doesn’t seem like a good option.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Well Ford engineers seemed to have figured out a way to put it on the body for the Bronco.

If only they figured out how to build and deliver 2021 models before other manufacturers start building 2022's their mirror design might mean something.

 

[Young04]

Well...
It is known for being an offroad vehicle because of this. Let me try to explain.

You take the doors off so you can see your tires & obstacles while rock crawling especially. Thus, that usually means tight spaces, between rocks and/or trees. So, if you had side mirrors, they would get knocked off or damaged. So, technically, taking the doors off is for offroad only. But, it is so much fun with the top off & doors off, that folks tend to drive around that way all the time, thus the need for side mirrors, when back on road.

I personally see a lot of broken Bronco mirrors coming up on some of the more difficult trails.

I hope this helps!

Can't they just be made to fold in?

 

[Joe98]

The widest point on a Wrangler are the front fenders. Everybody sets their mirrors to suit themselves but much of the time the wing mirrors are no wider than the front fenders. If your front fenders fit though a narrow spot, your mirrors should too.

 

[WilhelmSR]

I moved the mirrors onto the body on my old TJ. The visibility was horrible with the doors on, especially on the passenger side.

did the same on my JK and with the doors on the passenger mirror was 99% useless

 

[Medsker]

It looked a little funny but was functional when I mounted them on the front fender flare on the passenger side on my JK. I got the idea from seeing it on a hot rod. This is the best pic I could find. One of the advantages is it showed me my blind spot on the passenger side really well. Not something I would do again but it was a solution at the time.

 

[ThirtyOne]

Agree with what Chief_Dan said. Door-off wheeling through a tight spot is easier without mirrors slapping against trees, boulders, but I get the point about needing mirrors to be street legal.
Jeep recommends doors-off riding only for off-road, but you need mirrors for the ride to the off-road trail, right, because taking the doors off at the trail doesn’t seem like a good option.

I take my doors off at the trail all the time. But i also drive without doors a lot.

honestly theTying i want from the Bronco is the frameless doors more than the mirrors on the a pillar.

 

[The Fixer]

Well Ford engineers seemed to have figured out a way to put it on the body for the Bronco.

Yes, Ford did it by eliminating the folding windshield, which the Wrangler still has. So, on a Wrangler you'd have to mount the mirrors out somewhere off the cowl. That puts the passenger mirror forward of the A-pillar, and your visibility would be garbage unless you were driving with dually-style tow mirrors, which are obviously not practical on a trail.

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