Rugged Ridge Mirror Brackets Redesigned?
JK Freak
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Likes: 0
From: philly burbs
When I spoke to Quadratec last night they had 161 sets in stock.....of course....that was last night....
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
OK I had emailed the manufacturer last night with the pictures I took. I'm thoroughly impressed. They replied today with a huge email and a bunch of pictures.
I'll put it together and post it up here. Basically they did redesign the brackets. The new brackets solve the hardware issues with the door mounting plates. They also solved the issue with the mirrors not sitting down fully into the bracket.
With the help of my picture they determined that there are actually two different mirrors in production. It's not clear if the change over occured between the 2007 and 2008 model years, it was a mid-year change, or they are getting the mirrors from two suppliers.
They are working on a solution that will work with both versions of mirrors.
I'll post up their reply and pictures as soon as I can get it put together.
I'll put it together and post it up here. Basically they did redesign the brackets. The new brackets solve the hardware issues with the door mounting plates. They also solved the issue with the mirrors not sitting down fully into the bracket.
With the help of my picture they determined that there are actually two different mirrors in production. It's not clear if the change over occured between the 2007 and 2008 model years, it was a mid-year change, or they are getting the mirrors from two suppliers.
They are working on a solution that will work with both versions of mirrors.
I'll post up their reply and pictures as soon as I can get it put together.
JK Jedi
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 4,470
Likes: 1
From: Westchester, NY
OK I had emailed the manufacturer last night with the pictures I took. I'm thoroughly impressed. They replied today with a huge email and a bunch of pictures.
I'll put it together and post it up here. Basically they did redesign the brackets. The new brackets solve the hardware issues with the door mounting plates. They also solved the issue with the mirrors not sitting down fully into the bracket.
With the help of my picture they determined that there are actually two different mirrors in production. It's not clear if the change over occured between the 2007 and 2008 model years, it was a mid-year change, or they are getting the mirrors from two suppliers.
They are working on a solution that will work with both versions of mirrors.
I'll post up their reply and pictures as soon as I can get it put together.
I'll put it together and post it up here. Basically they did redesign the brackets. The new brackets solve the hardware issues with the door mounting plates. They also solved the issue with the mirrors not sitting down fully into the bracket.
With the help of my picture they determined that there are actually two different mirrors in production. It's not clear if the change over occured between the 2007 and 2008 model years, it was a mid-year change, or they are getting the mirrors from two suppliers.
They are working on a solution that will work with both versions of mirrors.
I'll post up their reply and pictures as soon as I can get it put together.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
They asked for my address so they could send me a fix they are trying. I replied to them asking if I could get an email address to post up here for other people having the issues. As soon as I find out I'll let everyone know.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
Here is the reply I received from the manufacturer...
Todd,
Just recieved your e-mail and I got on this issue right away. These brackets were redesigned for 2 purposes. The first being for the hardware horror stories you heard about. That has been corrected and the door filler plates now accept all original equipment screws. The second was for the opening where the mirror head attach's to the relocation bracket. We had the opening slightly opened up to compensate for the thickness of the powder coating to allow better fitment of the mirror head into the bracket. Again this has also been resolved. Now we have a new issue where the opening in the mirror relocation bracket is to large. Fortunately we have a few different JK's here to choose from. Two of these are 2007's and the other is a Feb. 2008 model year. All three are unlimited X models. As stated earlier I began working on your issue right away. First I pulled the mirror off of the 2007 and found no issues with mirror head to mirror bracket. Then I pulled a mirror head off the 2008 and discovered that Jeep has changed the design of the mirror head at the mounting portion. Usually when we see a design change like this Jeep has changed manufacture's. This is something that was not forseen by us. I have thrown together a few different pictures showing the difference between the 2007 and 2008 models. As you will see there is roughly 2mm difference in the 2 mirrors at where they go into the bracket. We are working on a resolution to this new problem that has risen. We had worked vigorously with our supplier to get them to this current point. That was 1 of the reasons for the back order, was for the design changes. Fortunately I kept 1 set of the redesigned set at my desk, as we are again out of stock, so I was able to look at this issue.
Out of the 642 kits that have shipped out you are the first to respond with this issue. I know now we will more than likely see more. I sincerely apologize for the issue you ran into. As I stated earlier, this was a design change that just could not be forseen.
Here are the photos of the differences between the the 2 model year range's.
Mirror pictured on the left is the 08, on the right is the 07.
The 08 into the relocation bracket is the same as your end result.
The 07 into the same bracket. Fits as designed with a small amount of the mirror head mounting being visible.
Size comparison.
The 08 mirror head.
The 07 mirror head.
As you can plainly see the 08 mirror head has been changed from the 07 version. A mistake on our suppliers part caused all the original stories that you have heard with the hardware issues. Which led us to updating the instructions to use the included hardware in the old design kit. Unfortunately, alot of those kits left our suppliers without the updated instructions causing the horror stories you have heard. When we recieved the revised brackets I personnaly rewrote the new instructions unaware of the fact that Jeep changed either suppliers or had the mirrors redesigned in this location. Myself and my supervisor are working vigorously for a quick and simple resolution and will have something by the end of buisness today.
To give you an idea on what we are working on here is a few pictures of what we have in mind.
An insert to compensate for the smaller size mirror. Like I said this is the first idea that came to mind.
This seems to work fine and the mirror is secure without it dropping all the way in the bracket.
I apologize again for the problem you ran into with your new brackets. This is something that has totally blind sided us. Without any feed back from you this is something we would have never known about. I want to thank you for taking the time and putting together the series of pictures you sent us.
Although somewhat negative it is great that you took the time to do this.
If all goes well, we will have a fix for you by the end of the day. Please feel free to post this to your forums.
Just recieved your e-mail and I got on this issue right away. These brackets were redesigned for 2 purposes. The first being for the hardware horror stories you heard about. That has been corrected and the door filler plates now accept all original equipment screws. The second was for the opening where the mirror head attach's to the relocation bracket. We had the opening slightly opened up to compensate for the thickness of the powder coating to allow better fitment of the mirror head into the bracket. Again this has also been resolved. Now we have a new issue where the opening in the mirror relocation bracket is to large. Fortunately we have a few different JK's here to choose from. Two of these are 2007's and the other is a Feb. 2008 model year. All three are unlimited X models. As stated earlier I began working on your issue right away. First I pulled the mirror off of the 2007 and found no issues with mirror head to mirror bracket. Then I pulled a mirror head off the 2008 and discovered that Jeep has changed the design of the mirror head at the mounting portion. Usually when we see a design change like this Jeep has changed manufacture's. This is something that was not forseen by us. I have thrown together a few different pictures showing the difference between the 2007 and 2008 models. As you will see there is roughly 2mm difference in the 2 mirrors at where they go into the bracket. We are working on a resolution to this new problem that has risen. We had worked vigorously with our supplier to get them to this current point. That was 1 of the reasons for the back order, was for the design changes. Fortunately I kept 1 set of the redesigned set at my desk, as we are again out of stock, so I was able to look at this issue.
Out of the 642 kits that have shipped out you are the first to respond with this issue. I know now we will more than likely see more. I sincerely apologize for the issue you ran into. As I stated earlier, this was a design change that just could not be forseen.
Here are the photos of the differences between the the 2 model year range's.
Mirror pictured on the left is the 08, on the right is the 07.
The 08 into the relocation bracket is the same as your end result.
The 07 into the same bracket. Fits as designed with a small amount of the mirror head mounting being visible.
Size comparison.
The 08 mirror head.
The 07 mirror head.
As you can plainly see the 08 mirror head has been changed from the 07 version. A mistake on our suppliers part caused all the original stories that you have heard with the hardware issues. Which led us to updating the instructions to use the included hardware in the old design kit. Unfortunately, alot of those kits left our suppliers without the updated instructions causing the horror stories you have heard. When we recieved the revised brackets I personnaly rewrote the new instructions unaware of the fact that Jeep changed either suppliers or had the mirrors redesigned in this location. Myself and my supervisor are working vigorously for a quick and simple resolution and will have something by the end of buisness today.
To give you an idea on what we are working on here is a few pictures of what we have in mind.
An insert to compensate for the smaller size mirror. Like I said this is the first idea that came to mind.
This seems to work fine and the mirror is secure without it dropping all the way in the bracket.
I apologize again for the problem you ran into with your new brackets. This is something that has totally blind sided us. Without any feed back from you this is something we would have never known about. I want to thank you for taking the time and putting together the series of pictures you sent us.
Although somewhat negative it is great that you took the time to do this.
If all goes well, we will have a fix for you by the end of the day. Please feel free to post this to your forums.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 212
Likes: 0
From: Massachusetts
See...I wasn't crazy when I posted a message that I installed my RR Relo Brackets and that they went on and fit perfectly - looks like I did receive the redesigned brackets 
As far the reaching the bottom bolt on the bracket, I didn't need an angled ratchet as you can easily reach the bolt with a standard rachet from the bottom as there is enough side to side room to tighten it up using that.
As far the reaching the bottom bolt on the bracket, I didn't need an angled ratchet as you can easily reach the bolt with a standard rachet from the bottom as there is enough side to side room to tighten it up using that.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
The good news is that if you have the older mirrors these new redesigned brackets should work great. If you have the newer mirrors you'll need the fix.
I know they've gotten a lot of flack on the forums, but these guys are absolutely first rate for customer service. I'm amazed at how seriously they took this and how quickly they responded.
I asked him about getting the fix out to others with the problems. Here was their reply...
I know they've gotten a lot of flack on the forums, but these guys are absolutely first rate for customer service. I'm amazed at how seriously they took this and how quickly they responded.
I asked him about getting the fix out to others with the problems. Here was their reply...
Todd,
Bill again. We have already a bunch of inserts that are going out to the majority of our customers, mainly Quadratec, and 4WD Hardware. Included is a simple instruction sheet on how to place the inserts and how to install the mirror. Anyone having issues similar to you can simply contact there retailer, they inturn will contact us and these inserts will be sent out, usually the same day. If this is unsatisfactory, tell them to drop me an e-mail at the techsupport@omix-ada.com e-mail. Not that I mind if it goes into my personal work e-mail, but I will respond faster to the tech support e-mail. Sorry for 2 different e-mails, I am going through my e-mails from home and wanted to be sure you get taken care of. Being that I am at home, I will be sure to get you your inserts out first thing in the AM, you should have them by Monday.
Bill again. We have already a bunch of inserts that are going out to the majority of our customers, mainly Quadratec, and 4WD Hardware. Included is a simple instruction sheet on how to place the inserts and how to install the mirror. Anyone having issues similar to you can simply contact there retailer, they inturn will contact us and these inserts will be sent out, usually the same day. If this is unsatisfactory, tell them to drop me an e-mail at the techsupport@omix-ada.com e-mail. Not that I mind if it goes into my personal work e-mail, but I will respond faster to the tech support e-mail. Sorry for 2 different e-mails, I am going through my e-mails from home and wanted to be sure you get taken care of. Being that I am at home, I will be sure to get you your inserts out first thing in the AM, you should have them by Monday.
JK Newbie
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Orange County NY
You have to admit that was a first rate job at getting a fix in short order...
I sent an email for the spacer fix and received a response back in minutes stating that he would get the fix to me in the mail today.
Five star customer service for sure.
I sent an email for the spacer fix and received a response back in minutes stating that he would get the fix to me in the mail today.
Five star customer service for sure.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI