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Samson tower mirror


Matty_gs

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So I've recently added the Samson tower mirror with the CIPA 180* mirror to my VLX. I finally got to take the boat out on Friday afternoon to cruise around for the first time this year. There was quite a bit of shake in the tower mirror. I'm going to replace the tower bushings (they needed them anyways), but I think a lot of the problem with the mirror is the length and width of the arm. I'm hoping I can get this fixed, but if not, I will probably be sending this back to Samson.

The mount is very tight on the tower and I have tightened the handle by hand as tight as possible. Anything else I can try? Are you guys having this much vibration? I can just thump the mirror arm and get a good amount of vibration in the mirror.

Thanks

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Try adding some anti seize to the treads. I found adding this allowed me to tighten further and significanly reduce play when hitting waves. Just be careful to keep the anti seize off vinyl, carpet, etc.

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I will try the anti seize but your mirrors are not shaking? I'm wondering if my expectations would be that the mirror would be rock solid. Before i get all bent out of shape, I just want to know the amount of vibrations you guys are getting in your mirrors.

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Is the mirror shaking or the arm rotating when you hit waves?

Mirror is shaking. The arm is not rotating at all.

could it be the connection of mirror to arm versus arm to tower?

I guess it could be but I have tightened the mirror down pretty well. It's pretty difficult to tilt the mirror.

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I have a question along the same lines. I just added a samson miror and CIPA 180 deg mirror to our boat as well. I haven't had a chance to water test it yet but have noticed the mirror produces a rattling sound when you bump the arm. I am wondering if this is common or do I have a bum mirror.....the sound will likely drive me nuts once the boat is actually on the water. Sorry for the somewhat related thread hijack, but I appreciate your guys input.

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Matty: my anti seize suggestion was more if the arm was rotating. It's probably still a good thing to do but likely won't help the vibrations.

I don't really have that issue. Perhaps it vibrates and become hard to make out objects when in chop, but definitely not a problem in good skiing conditions.

Maybe the tape someone else suggested would help.

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I had this issue on our echelon lx with a aftermarket tower. The mirror bracket and wake racks would shake and vibrate down the tower. I bought a rubber plumbing fitting from out a local hardware store and cut it to the right width of the brackets. It allowed me to crank on the bolt without causing any "pinching" or marking on the tower itself. The rubber kept it from sliding around quote well!

Something like this. You can get as many pieces as you need,

http://www.kent.ca/kbs/en/product.jsp?navAction=jump&navId=1552&prdId=7024105&skuId=7024105&catalogId=1552

Kirk

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I have the exact same mirror but the illusion x tower. It's pretty rock solid, has some shake but about what i expected on a boat.

If you can barely move the mirror then you are good there, that was the adjustment I had to play with. But maybe you had higher expectations than I did.

maybe next time take a quick video and post it. The mirror may be fine, maybe the tower is vibrating?

Easy way to figure that out is put something reflective on the tower (like 3M sticky tape something very shiny) and see if it shakes like the mirror.

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Why green? Why not blue or black or clear for that matter?

I guess the color doesn't matter :) Green is what I grabbed off the shelf and it was the perfect size.

  • Like 2
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Adding to this post with slightly different question. Where can it find mount and mirror? Ism told Samson only sells to dealers and the dealer is asking $550. Seems high. Is there another option to purchase elsewhere?

This is for G3 Illusion.

Thx,

Todd

Edited by Toddshy
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Thx Deven. I guess dealer was in ballpark with price. Hopefully I can find a cheaper option. These boats are expensive and accessories are the same. $550 for a mirror seems a little ridiculous though.

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Wow what a joke! Mine was $325 at Bakes but for the XS tower. It's actually more material in the clamp section and probably the same everywhere else. Looks exactly the same. They charge $225 MORE because it's for newer boats I guess.

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Not at all. Here's why it's more expensive.

Scott at Samson was the originator of those mirrors. I had one of the first ones.

When the G3 was in development, Malibu came to Scott and said they wanted him to do a mirror for the G3. Along with that design and subsequent orders came a licensing agreement that included a no-compete.

So Scott took the factory deal, builds and sells the mirrors to Malibu. Malibu pays said price. Malibu then sets a wholesale price to its dealers. then the dealers have to make money so they mark up of the wholesale cost.

This is how a 300 dollar mirror ends up being 600. Changes hands three times.

If Scott was able to sell retail you would see them much cheaper, but part of that big factory deal is the fact that he, or anyone else for that matter can't sell it unless it goes through the big dogs.

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I had that mirror and pretty much never liked it, even from the first day I had it. Never could get it into a comfy position, needed a another 2" of length for me.... always had to crank the neck up too high to see into the mirror. I think the PTMs are A+ over these.

But in the event you do want to keep it.... the way to solve it coming loose is a simple .10 cent star washer where the metal handle meets and grinds into the clamp when you tighten.

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They come with the PTM mirror heads or

The CIPA 180 extreme now. Samson doesn't build the mirror, just the arm.

And yes. A lock washer is supposed to be installed in the small inset pocket were the arm tightens. That's how it was designed, but they fail to get installed majority of the time by the dealers.

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Not at all. Here's why it's more expensive.

Scott at Samson was the originator of those mirrors. I had one of the first ones.

When the G3 was in development, Malibu came to Scott and said they wanted him to do a mirror for the G3. Along with that design and subsequent orders came a licensing agreement that included a no-compete.

So Scott took the factory deal, builds and sells the mirrors to Malibu. Malibu pays said price. Malibu then sets a wholesale price to its dealers. then the dealers have to make money so they mark up of the wholesale cost.

This is how a 300 dollar mirror ends up being 600. Changes hands three times.

If Scott was able to sell retail you would see them much cheaper, but part of that big factory deal is the fact that he, or anyone else for that matter can't sell it unless it goes through the big dogs.

That explains why the stupid price of $600 but doesn't justify it. Marking it up 3 times because of licensing is just begging for someone to come out with a similar mirror at $350 or less. And to think, I was literally embarrassed to tell people I paid $325 for my mirror which is almost identical to the $600 one.

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There are a lot of things Malibu can't justify........but they do it anyways.People still keep buying.

Go ahead and buy the tooling, design a mirror arm and buy materials to build the arm. Pay a CAD guy to cut them out and then see where you are at. I think you would be hard pressed to build it for under 3 bills.

Take into account the CIPA or PTM mirrors, even the black PTM is over 100 bucks retail right there.

You own a 70-80k dollar boat. Quit being such a tight arse.

Edited by Bobby Bright
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There are a lot of things Malibu can't justify........but they do it anyways.People still keep buying.

Go ahead and buy the tooling, design a mirror arm and buy materials to build the arm. Pay a CAD guy to cut them out and then see where you are at. I think you would be hard pressed to build it for under 3 bills.

Take into account the CIPA or PTM mirrors, even the black PTM is over 100 bucks retail right there.

You own a 70-80k dollar boat. Quit being such a tight arse.

A fool and his money soon parts!

I'm not saying I could get one done for $300, there's no way. I'm saying someone may come along and make their own to resell, not for their personal boat, but for resell. I do know a guy with a machine shop, does a lot of aluminum products and is incredible at CAD. He's designed and built me a custom piece for my business that saved me a small fortune. There is NO doubt I could take a couple mirrors to him, he'd be in production in a week and I'd buy say 100 of them. Buy the CIPA or PTM mirrors in bulk at wholesale!

I could have mirrors out there for $350 retail or less.

I personally won't do it because it's not worth my time to make $3000 or whatever (on 100 mirrors), but my point is someone will if they keep that up. Hell, if i had more time in my days I'd do it just to put things back into perspective out there!

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