I've seen lots of threads about upgrading to tow mirrors or adding LEDs in the front reflector and puddle lights, but couldnt find an answer to my question:

I've got a 2013 xlt. Mirrors dont have turn signal on mirror side or a reflector on the back. Just basic power adjust mirrors. Looks like there are black covers where the lights and reflectors would be. Is it easy to add those? Is it a plug into a harness thing or would it require running and splicing wires? If it's not a lot of work, I'd just add them in if I can. If it's a pain, its probably easier to just buy an aftermarket set that has that stuff already in them.

thoughts?

 

Here's the connector. I think most trucks have everything wired, but not sure if it is all of the XLTs. Check yours, see which wires are there.

 

in guessing that it the harness that plugs into the mirror, correct? Just want to make sure I'm looking in the right spot

 

fwiw my '13 XLT mirrors came with power, defrost and the turn signal. i bought a set of aftermarket towing mirrors with those options and puddle lights and the puddle lights worked without me having to do anything, just snapped the connectors together when installing the new mirrors.

 

Thanks for the reply. I really wish my truck had those features on the mirrors. It seems ridiculous to me that they don't just make that stuff standard. I think I could add the turn signals without too much difficulty, but I still wouldn't have the defrost feature. Not a huge need for where I live, but I travel in the snow in the winter at times, so it would be nice to have it an not need it rather than the other way around. Trying to decide if I should add the blinkers or wait it out and try to find a used set of mirrors/buy aftermarket ones.

 

keep an eye on the classifieds here. non-towing mirrors with lots of various options come up for sale and would be an easy (and potentially cheaper) was to see if sets with other options would be plug-n-play for you. if you are anywhere near cleveland you are welcomed to try my old stock mirrors (i'm hanging on to them to reinstall if i ever get rid of the truck).

 

I'll keep an eye open. I'm in Utah, but super kind of you to offer

 

Yep, inside the door.

AM mirrors all seem to be kinda crappy. I have about the highest quality one I could find and I assume they will fall apart any second. And they stopped making them, so if they break I can't even fix/replace them directly. OTOH, replacing all the parts of a Ford mirror really sucks, and full replacement upgrades can be very expensive.

 

thanks for the response. I had some aftermarket tow mirrors on an Excursion. They didn't seem so bad. I was just trying to figure out if it would be more cost-effective to add the features to my current mirrors or buy an aftermarket set because I've had a hard time finding somebody's take offs. they seem to sell pretty quick. I guess the easiest thing would be to just keep what I have, but who wants to do that?

 

hit up your local junk yards as well. mirrors usually go for $10-25 each.