Windshield or Tower mirror?

[Longjohn]

What does everyone prefer on their boats? I am a first time tower owner and my mirror is currently on the walk thru windshield.

If I was to go to tower mirror, what do your recommend for a Titan 3 tower?

Thanks.

[johnsvt]

Tower mirror for me.

[caninom]

If you are trying to save money stay with what you got. I got the mirror off the tower and I think it looks much better than the stock off the windshield. I am a bran new malibu owner and my first post by the way so I am no expert.

[edwin]

No questions asked, tower mounted is the way to go....best rear visibility out there. I have a Titan III on my RLXi and use the Monster tower mirror arm. It's adjustable in lots of directions, is quick release, constructed nicely, pretty cost effective.

[CarveItUp]

I agree: I like the tower mirror better and highly recommend the CIPA Extreme mirror for this application. It has three mirrors and the outside mirrors are adjustable. They allow me to see the riders when they are out to the side of the boat and that makes me feel a lot better...

[Wkerat]

I agree that for the most part the tower mirror is better. I have had one on my last few boats, but in some instances you will lose side vision with the cipa extreme and a tower mount because the boards in your racks will block the view. This usually only occurs if you have two racks on a side because the lower rack blocks the view. Other than that they are a better set up.

[hotrodbowtie]

Ditto here. Tower mirror all the way. Cipa extreme is the only way to go.

[68Slalom]

What does everyone prefer on their boats? I am a first time tower owner and my mirror is currently on the walk thru windshield.

If I was to go to tower mirror, what do your recommend for a Titan 3 tower?

Thanks.

I was thinking about getting one too, but I don't know what I would do with the brackets on the windshield and if I took them off I would have two, actually four open holes

[Hman442]

What does everyone prefer on their boats? I am a first time tower owner and my mirror is currently on the walk thru windshield.

If I was to go to tower mirror, what do your recommend for a Titan 3 tower?

Thanks.

Call these guys, they will fix you right up. Wakeside also has several choices, but you can't beat Samson - quality & nice people.

http://www.samsonsports.com/

[hotrodbowtie]

Sorry, forgot to mention, SAMSON ROCKS

[Bill_AirJunky]

Having the mirror on the walkthru is a drag in the summer because you have to drive with the windshield closed.

On my old Prostar I had two mirrors, one on each side, and loved the full view of the rider they gave me. Plus I could easily watch in the passenger side mirror as I was talking to whoever was sitting under it, easily glancing back & forth. The brackets I used are stock Calabria & Cipa mirrors.

The Vride I just purchased has the Fusion tower mirror bracket on it. Very good quality, and rock solid. The only thing I don't care about it is how long it is...... it sticks well into the walkthru & people tend to hit it as they go to the bow.

I want to run dual mirrors on this boat too & have purchased a pair of brackets from DIYwake.com. I don't have the brackets mounted yet but they appear to be much shorter & I think will be pretty solid without blocking the walkthru. But I'm leary of the quality of the mirror itself.

Edited January 28, 2008 by Bill_AirJunky

[D-GOOSE]

What does everyone prefer on their boats? I am a first time tower owner and my mirror is currently on the walk thru windshield.

If I was to go to tower mirror, what do your recommend for a Titan 3 tower?

Thanks.

I was thinking about getting one too, but I don't know what I would do with the brackets on the windshield and if I took them off I would have two, actually four open holes

Well your going to buy a new boat right? so just buy it with a tower arm bracket

I would go with the Titan tower arm and the CIPA Extreme mirror. Sampson is great but I look to them for the Illusion tower mounts.

[stewart]

Sorry, forgot to mention, SAMSON ROCKS

You have the Samson and the Z5 cargo rack? How does that all work together? How do like the Z5 cargo rack overall? Pluses and minuses.

[hotrodbowtie]

No issues at all. They work together just fine. The only negative at all is that I had to get a stand for the tower in the down position so that the mirror mount would not hit the dash. Not that I would let the tower rest on the dash anyway, but...

Still, not interference with the z5.

[ohiojoe]

I have the illusion x tower with the Samson Tower Mirror with the Z5 Cargo Rack. It all works together just fine! I have to admit though that the z5 rack is a little bit HUGE and I do take it off from time to time. It came with my 05 23LSV. I prob. would not have forked out the cash for it. I think it is too much weight on the illusion tower. I LOVE THE SAMSON Mirror though. I did see at the boat show this year that they mount the mirror on the driverside windshield so you can open the windshield and still use the mirror. GREAT idea. Had I had that option I prob. would have not bought the tower mirror, but I still think I like it up out of the way better! Just my 2c.

[stewart]

I have the illusion x tower with the Samson Tower Mirror with the Z5 Cargo Rack. It all works together just fine! I have to admit though that the z5 rack is a little bit HUGE and I do take it off from time to time. It came with my 05 23LSV. I prob. would not have forked out the cash for it. I think it is too much weight on the illusion tower. I LOVE THE SAMSON Mirror though. I did see at the boat show this year that they mount the mirror on the driverside windshield so you can open the windshield and still use the mirror. GREAT idea. Had I had that option I prob. would have not bought the tower mirror, but I still think I like it up out of the way better! Just my 2c.

thanks.

[68Slalom]

What does everyone prefer on their boats? I am a first time tower owner and my mirror is currently on the walk thru windshield.

If I was to go to tower mirror, what do your recommend for a Titan 3 tower?

Thanks.

I was thinking about getting one too, but I don't know what I would do with the brackets on the windshield and if I took them off I would have two, actually four open holes

Well your going to buy a new boat right? so just buy it with a tower arm bracket

I would go with the Titan tower arm and the CIPA Extreme mirror. Sampson is great but I look to them for the Illusion tower mounts.

I still have to ski behind it to make the final decision What I have come to realize is that there is no perfect crossover boat for both (wakeboarding/slalom ski) unless you go with the VTX/diamond hull, but it's kind of small and I'm sure the wake for boarding can't be as good as what we have now. I just have to settle on the best I can get and test drive more boats this summer. Don't get me wrong, I love our boat, but if I can get a little smaller wake @ 34mph and the same wake for boarding

[tmacwake]

I had a walk thru mounted mirror on my 02' SS and I really wanted the same mounting mirror on our 07' VTX, however, we ended up going with a Titan tower mounted mirror. I must say I never gave it a second thought. You see more and it is solid as a rock. Anyway, good luck and Congratulations on the new Bu'

[Malibusteve]

With the samson mirror for the Illusion X tower, what's involved with removing the mirror/mount? My tower folds each time so this is important to me. Also, does the mount interfere with the bimini?

[Sandbagger]

With the samson mirror for the Illusion X tower, what's involved with removing the mirror/mount? My tower folds each time so this is important to me. Also, does the mount interfere with the bimini?

The samson mirror does not interfere with the bimimi. The new Samson mirror has a swinging arm that was supposed to be designed to lower the tower but I got the old fixed arm design as I do not lower my tower. The owner at Samson is a good guy and will answer your questions, just give him a call. I like the mirror, looks great and works great. Immediately removed my old mirror from the middle winshield.

[augie09]

Reviving this thread. I found the samsung mirror on my tower does not provide good visibility, due to the tower speakers on the illusion tower. We are most likely upgrading to a 'bu with a g3 tower and wonder if anyone has this same issue with the g3 tower. We'll probably get the ptm mirror ,but the issue is the driver can't see the rider when they cut out and are approaching the wake.

The other option we are considering is the windshield mounted ptm mirror, but not sure if that has to be removed every time we put the cover on the boat.

[3sport]

Speakers definitely create blind spots with the PTM 140 mirror and g3

[thtrog]

Reviving this thread. I found the samsung mirror on my tower does not provide good visibility, due to the tower speakers on the illusion tower. We are most likely upgrading to a 'bu with a g3 tower and wonder if anyone has this same issue with the g3 tower. We'll probably get the ptm mirror ,but the issue is the driver can't see the rider when they cut out and are approaching the wake.

The other option we are considering is the windshield mounted ptm mirror, but not sure if that has to be removed every time we put the cover on the boat.

You will not have to remove the PTM to cover, just fold it down.

[BFWAKE75]

I went from windshield to tower mount and I love it.