I thought I would show you how I spent my last 30 minutes. I had to get this Donnelly rearview mirror separated from its mounting bracket. In theory, the spring-latched bracket should have been a snap to disengage, but I spent a long time googling the issue and poking at it before I discovered the trick. I even looked up the original patent sketches, patent number 4936533, and that proved even more confusing.
So to keep you from spending the same amount of time trying to disassemble a rear view mirror, I’m going to show you the trick right now.
The secret is to ignore the spring latch at the front, that’s just a decoy. You’re actually aiming for the spring at the back. Slip a small screwdriver or stiff rod through the access hole, and press it against the back spring while putting pressure on the mount to slide forward.
The arrow points at the access hole.
Here’s what it looks like inside. The arrow is the path your screwdriver will have to travel to unlatch the spring.
View Comments (60)
Thx great help worked
Thanks much dude, I wish I had looked this up earlier!
This was greatly helpful. I wasn't looking forward to holding the whole mirror assembly in place in order to reattach my mirror to my windshield. Thanks a million! To anyone still struggling: I held the mirror bracket post in my left hand, mirror down, with my left thumb on the silver mounting plate. I used a small Allen key in my other hand and levered slightly against the edge of the silver mounting plate (in order to provide sufficient force on the spring, pushing it down and away from the mounting plate) while pushing the mounting plate toward the opening in the bracket with my thumb. It won't feel particularly springy, but you are aiming for the metal pad the author's red arrow points to in the second image. You need a fair amount of pressure on the pad and the plate should start to loosen as you go. Good luck!
Thanks for this extra bit of advice!
Thanks a million and I mean that!!!
You are a genius, thanks
Hey I know its a bit old post. But do you still have the images. I am having the same issue and cannot find anything in google. Thanks for help.
Benny, sorry about the lack of pictures, not sure what happened there. They've been re-uploaded. Hope they help!
man. You are freaking awesome. Thank you so much for putting this out here. It was a tremendous help and save me a lot of time I really appreciate it.
Thank you sir!!!!!!! I tried mounting the whole mirror, forget about it, lol. I saw that whole, wasn't sure. What a goofy design.
Matthew: Thanks for taking the time to post this. I am glad that I found it. It was greatly appreciated and worked like a charm.
Worked great that last photo helped me the most...Thanks