The real way to remove front cap on pre '06 mirrors

[Scarsman]

Ok, my goal was to remove the chrome caps on the front of the mirrors so I could make them black. I searched on here and found info saying for the pre '06 mirrors you need to pry the mirror glass out and then remove screw holding the cap on. The info said that the mirror glass would pop out from the motor housing. After cracking one mirror getting it off I found that this is not accurate. So, here is the real way to remove the chrome cap without breaking anything. At least on a 2005.

If you look behind the mirror you can see some tabs from the cap that insert into the main housing. There are two on the top, two on the inboard side, two outboard, and one on the outboard side of the bottom. The only thing holding the cap on is these tabs and two wads of two sided foam tape on the inside of the cap.

1.
Start by prying out slightly on one corner of cap. With a screwdriver reach in and pry the tab towards the center of the mirror housing. If you have enough pressure on the cap you will feel/hear a small pop as the tab releases. Work your way around the cap in this manner until all the tabs are released.

2.
Very slowly increase pry pressure on the cap. You will feel the two sided tape peeling away. Just keep slow pressure on the cap and it will keep coming off. If you let any sides move back in the tabs may reengage and you may need to pop them loose again. Just be aware of this and you will be fine.

Once you get it pulled off of the tape it is removed! To replace just apply new tape to about the thickness of the OE tape and push it back on the mirror. The glass does not need to be removed at all.

I hope this helps someone else not break their mirror!

[guruerror]

THANKS!

[The_Yeti]

This is going to be my next project. Hope the tabs don't put up too much of a fight.

[Scarsman]

They shouldn't. A long thin screwdriver works good to pop them. Just put a little pressure pulling out on the cap and you'll hear and feel them pop. Then just keep slow steady pressure to overcome the tape. If you had a second person to pull on the cap while you pop the tabs it might be easier. I did it myself though.

[scottminor]

Yeah, I did mine the "Jethro" way and just pulled them off. A couple of the tabs popped but a little super glue went a long way...

[mightyepp]

Can you post any pics if you have any? Mainly I just want to see what the mirror looks like after the chrome caps are removed. Thanks

[Scarsman]

Sorry, I did not take any pictures of that. But if you can imagine, it is shaped like the inside of the cap. There is a cut out in the front of it for the arm coming up off the door. You definately want the cap on there, if that is what you are wondering. It looks disassembled without it.

[guruerror]

You definately want the cap on there, if that is what you are wondering. It looks disassembled without it.

You may acutally 'need' the cap to keep water from going down in the arm. The old model mirrors didn't have a very good (or any) method of draining water out of the base...hence the reason that many of them no longer retract...motors rusted or frozen up.

[SUT-UP]

Bringing back this old thread. Say you did crack the mirror....... Did you replace the glass or the entire mirror. I did not break mine with the mirror chrome change, however mine fell out while driving. Bigger problem: the mirror has some sort of round attachment piece on the back that the mirror is glued to. That fell out along with the glass. Is there a replacement piece for these two items or will I be needing to replace the entire mirror. Have been putting off the complete replacement anyways since mine do not power fold anymore.

[guruerror]

Check this out: http://parts.nalleygmc.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_product=0&ukey_assembly=392540&ukey_make=1027&modelYear=2003&ukey_model=14605&ukey_driveline=0&ukey_trimLevel=0

I punched in 2003 to try to find the diagram of the old-style mirror, but only the newer one shows up. Anywho...item #1 is the mirror, #2 and #3 (which appears to be the 'round attachment piece you mentioned) are not listed, but the description for #1 indicates that the 'HTR PAD and GLASS HOLDER' are included. I'm thinking #3 is the 'glass holder'...

[SUT-UP]

Great. Thanks. Got to love a $400 mirror. Appreciate it though Guru