Boy, sure am glad you're not driving in Phoenix anymore! ;-)

I also have all three pointed the same way, or at least close, so that I
have three different points of view of the scene I want to see.  I don't
much use the interior rear-view (drive a truck for a while - you learn not
to look for it in the middle of the windshield).  The two side views tell me
what's going on right rear and left rear.  The right side mirror is also
pointed down a bit to aid in parallel parking.

Side views should be adjusted so that you can see just a bit of the van
reflected as a visual reference point.

BTW, to stay true to the subject line, When my mirrors get floppy, I remove
them and tighten them a turn or so.  After a half dozen or so tightenings,
the studs pull out, and then I but a new mirror (I spent hours trying to fix
one once, and once is enough).  What is that, about $30 every couple hundred
thousand miles?  I hope I can afford that!

Karl Wolz

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Marshall" <Willolyn99@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 5:56 AM
Subject: Re: Warning: Don't buy cheap exterior mirrors

>        My fix for sloppy mirrors was to put a bead of epoxy around the
ball
> joint, between the mirror and base.  Physically held the mirror in place,
but
> if some idiot in a parking lot hits it hard enough it can dislodge the
epoxy.
>  The only trick that worked for my tired old mirrors.
>        By the way, how many people out there have their side mirrors aimed
to
> the rear, just like the rear view mirror?  Every time I get into someone's
> car and see all three mirrors aimed to the same spot, I laugh.  Don't they
> trust the rear view?  Do they need two backups to verify it?  It's a SIDE
> view mirror!  Sorry, taking my pet peeve for a walk.
>
> Bill Marshall
> 85 GL Tiico
> Bradenton FL