Tech with a twist of lime! & FLHybrid Club.

Several weeks ago, I got tired of the HomeLink mirror taking too long to respond when a vehicle was behind me with its brights on, or if a vehicle with poorly adjusted headlights was following me, I thought back to something I read a few years back on one of the Prius forums.  Their solution was to flip the mirror over, but when I tried it last time it just didn't feel right, they said it would better match the shape of the rear window as well as putting the light sensor in a more optimal location.  The problem was I did not adjust the mirror vertically, because when the mirror is out of its factory orientation the mirror mount adjusts differently.

The reason this trick works is, the light sensor for the rear window sits in the bottom edge of the mirror along with the buttons, to the left of the on switch as pictured above, right in line with the spoiler. The spoiler blocks the glare from the headlights of the car behind you, so the mirror does not adjust correctly or quickly.  When you invert the mirror, the sensor is now at the top and no longer blocked by the spoiler's shadow.

I tried it again and had much better results for your benefit I will give you what I didn't have, a pictorial tutorial, I had to rely on the vague text descriptions, which can be frustrating.  So here in pictures, I will explain the process of successfully adjusting the HomeLink mirror 180°.

First rotate the mirror downward so that it's facing the floor,

Next rotate the mirror 180°so the buttons are now facing you

There is only enough cable for one-half rotation in only one direction watch your cable! 

Tilt the mirror up that is facing out the back window again

Adjust the height of the mechanism so that you can actually see out of the back of the vehicle again.  Grab both the left and right edges of the mirror, and move it up and down as you would the headrests but much more gently.

It is best to do the next part in a parking lot, where the lines and other cars can be help with these adjustments.  (Straight-in not angled)

Make sure that the HomeLink mirror allows you to see directly behind the vehicle.
Next, adjust the side mirrors:

Lean to your left so that your head is almost touching the glass; adjust the mirror so that you can see down the side the vehicle (you should see windows and paint but barely).  Now when you sit back normally all you can see is the lane behind you to your left but if you need to check behind you (say you lost track of a motorcyclist), with that mirror, lean to your left.  Do the same to the right except lean the same distance as before to get the same effect.  Now when a vehicle passes to your right, it will appear in the rearview first and then it will move seamlessly to the right side mirror and from there into your field of vision seamlessly.  When a vehicle passes on your left it will first appear in the rearview mirror then move seamlessly to the left side mirror and again into your field of vision.  This way is much safer because it minimizes blind spots, and is suggested on all kinds of vehicles.
You will notice the Prius has almost no blind spots now, if you have done this correctly.  You don't need to see the corners of vehicle constantly, they shouldn't be going anywhere in relation to you.  One of my favorite quotes at one of the Prius sites was, "Why do you need to see the sides of your car?  To check and see if they're still there?  Give me a break."AAA and several members of the Prius groups, recommended this method to me, many performance-driving schools even teach this method.  With your mirrors improperly adjusted, children and cyclists (motor or pedal powered) can easily disappear, if the settings are bad enough, whole tractor-trailers can disappear into your blind spot!

See these websites for pictorials of how to adjust the side mirrors:

http://www.smartmotorist.com/mir/mir.htm
http://www.linquist.net/motorsports/tech/mirrors/ (great photos and explanations)

Kacey Green
www.grlt.com
"Tech with a twist of lime!"
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Alexander said:

Hey thanks! I knew there was a better way.

September 08, 2007

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