RIGID REFLECT 4RUNNER MIRRORS
While the OEM mirrors and ditch light brackets out off the hood are often more than fine in their respective categories, a culmination of the two seems like a rather fitting build out for the 4Runner. I was asked to hang some Rigid Reflect mirrors off the side of the 4Runner as well as mount some additional Rigid lights in a similar fashion.
What I in turn designed and built out was what you see here. To start, I templated out the mounting surface on the exterior (let’s call it the mirror base plate), as well as the mounting provisions that pass through the door itself and secure from inside the cabin. The cut out for the internal mounting provisions is rather unique and utilizes 3 bolts. With some threaded portions of solid stock, a thicker base plate then affixes the standoffs to the base plate.
Shown as well is a singular standoff that mounts the two additional Rigid lights outboard. I was able to run this in such a fashion as well to help hide the wires.
Keeping the baseplate true and flat was critical throughout the welding. In the center of the base plate is the mounting flange for the Reflect mirror itself - it mounts using two 1/4-20 fasteners and has a center cutout in which the wire and adjusting bolt are located.
Getting the lights in their optimal position, whilst still maintaining rigidity, adjustability and ultimately keeping the lights out/off the hood to reduce unwanted reflections was vital.
This initial trial run helped me finalize the hardware selection I wanted to use, and showed me where I would need to trim the larger lights pass through carriage bolt to allow the smaller lights full adjustability.
I wanted to be sure that the baseplate mounted securely and also in an OEM fashion with no existent gaps around its perimeter and the door frame. To help with that, I was able to remove the OEM mirror gasket and slide it right over the new setup.
With the gasket installed I then located the areas of it in which I would need to clearance out for the wires to pass through as well as the hardware to affix the Reflect mirror itself.
After fully prepping and DA-ing the entire assemblies I got them powder coated to help with their rigidity, lifespan and overall look and design. I chased the threads on both, and installed a grommet(s) in each baseplates lower most hole for the two additional lights to pass through.