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Ramco Mirrors
Hello,
My Ramco mirrors have oxidation bubbles on them and are really bugging me. I got a price to re chrome them locally at $700 each. New they are $1900 a pair so the refurb price does not make sense.
They sell a black pair for $900.
Questions:
1) Has anyone put on the back ones? Do they look nice?
2) Does powder coating look good? That is a much less expensive choice.
3) Any other options out there?
Thanks
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14 Replies
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This has been discussed a number of times. Apparently the plating process that Crapco (excuse me … Ramco) uses is deficient.
I just Googled “correct procedures for chroming aluminum” and the first topic is: https://arlingtonplating.com/substrates-specifications/plating-on-aluminum/
Follow the link for “polish and link” in the article. To do it right, its a multi-step process.
From what others have posted, new mirrors from Ramco eventually have the same peeling problems.
Other options might be powder coating which gives you a variety of color. Anodizing might be another option.
Has anyone thought about copper plating and some kind of clear coat over the copper?
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I have a friend who bought the snap on covers for his H Marathon and they looked great, you couldn’t hardly tell they were covers for Crapco mirrors. I think this is the correct website: Mirror Covers
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Aluminum is a very hard material to finish. Whether it is powder coating or plating the surface must have the correct pre-treatment. Crapco mirrors are a consistent source of complaints for two reasons. The first is the chrome plating has issues. Crapco refuses to spend the few extra dollars to make the first stage in the plating process a copper plating. The chrome plating will likely last significantly longer if that step was included but we all know how it is essential to cut manufacturing costs on multi-million dollar conversions.
The second issue is the vibration of the mirror itself. A lot of us have wedged rubber pieces between the mirror and the housing to stop the mirror glass from vibrating as we travel.
Prevost has the muscle to force Crapco to correct these issues but apparently chooses to not exercise that option.
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I have seen black mirrors on a coach and I thought they looked great. I think they look good on a coach with a black painted front (which mine does). my mirrors are in great shape now, nut if I ever replace, it will definitely be with black.
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Well a few years back my Dad saw this fire truck laying in a field and it had Ramco mirrors on it … they looked the same so he purchased both for a hundred dollars.. sure enough the fit perfectly on his 95 xl country coach… he spent a few days polishing and they looked great … Soooo I spent about 2 years looking on social media places looking for a set ..well it paid off I finally found a set of Brand new in the box for 700.. the only thing is you have to changed the electric switch to get the mirror to adjust electronically.. but since i am the only one driving once set … i am done … on the set i purchased the passenger side arm was about 1 inch shorter … the brand of firetruck was Spartan .. but not all have ramco mirrors.. i forgot to mention these are all aluminum mirrors…
Dave
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Our last coach had painted mirrors ,I paint stripped the mirrors,started sanding them , moved on to polish then sealed them. Project was a bit of work but felt outcome justified the effort.
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Nice job .. your mirrors turned out nice
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I have Velvac mirrors on mine.
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Hello everyone. I wanted to take a moment to share some information with you all regarding some of the forum posts we’ve seen.
1. Mirror Vibration-All components or change in components have to be approved for use by Prevost before they can be implemented on their parts. While a motor change was suggested by Ramco several years ago, no approval was given. This summer due to supply chain issues, the original motor used was not available for an unknown period of time. This caused Ramco to forcibly implement use of a stronger screw drive motor in order to keep their production orders moving out the door. The screw drive motor offers significantly improved stability in comparison to the older gear drive motors.
2. Chrome Plating Issues-While it has been stated that Ramco does not use copper during the chroming process, that statement is false. The parts are first plated in copper, then nickel and finally, a layer of chrome. The cause of the peeling issue is more related to the actual aluminum castings. The arms and mounts are sand casted aluminum which is more prone to porosity and off-gassing. The gassed trapped in the casting can be released at any given time, thus causing bubbles under the chrome which later break to allow moisture to enter between the chrome plating layers and the casting.
Feel free to reply with any other questions and we will try our best to respond in a timely manner. Have a great day!
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Concerning mirror vibration,
Is the screw drive motor available for purchase?
If so, how far back in production year would the motors be compatible?
Part Number and price, also please.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
I appreciate Ramco posting on the Forum.
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The mirror head was redesigned to be compatible with the footprint of the screw drive motor, so they are not backwards compatible.. There is a stronger motor (ELE080) that is compatible with the 6000 series heads from about 2001-present. Essentially, your options are to either replace the head entirely to get the screw drive motor, or contact us for an RMA to have your mirror rebuilt and request the ELE080 motor to be used. If you have further questions, feel free to contact David at 574-266-1455 ext. 103.
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My apologies to Ramco for misstating how their mirrors are plated. I was relaying what had been told to me by a person who I’ve always found to be knowledgeable and accurate.
I found a plating company near me in Wisconsin which will replate my mirrors when it’s time. The owner shared this with me regarding pealing chrome plating:
That comment from them does have some truth to it. Any aluminum is not as durable to elements as plated steel for example. To plate steel you dip the part in a solution and it puts a very thin coat on the part then the plating will stick to that, where-as when plating to aluminum or other metal the plating bond to the base metal. This is how all aluminum is plated. Just a piece of sand that pops up like road dust can fracture the plating and sometimes you cant even see the fracture because it can be very small, then moister gets on the bare aluminum and it corrodes almost like mold would and it delaminates from the aluminum and then peels off. Keeping the parts waxed frequently helps protect the plated surface. I hope this helps or makes sense.So it sounds like the peeling problem has two sources: off-gassing from the raw aluminum casting and minute fracturing of the plating itself. The mirrors on our coach have started to peel from the inside, behind lower portion of the glass mirror. So I’m guessing off gassing and water/moisture sitting inside the housing.I’m encouraged to hear that Ramco has come up with a new motor solution to address the mirror jiggling issues.The Ramco person who responded might want to start a hew thread to share with us a possible upgrade path to get mirrors with turn signal chevrons in the mirrors.Again my apologies to Ramco for proving false information. -
Trying to create a new thread. Let’s see if this works…..
Vibration-
A couple of weeks ago, Ramco formally introduced the 8000 series mirror to retire and replace the 6000 series. Cosmetically, there is no difference between the two, but the 8000 series uses a newer style motor which greatly reduces the amount of vibration that plagued the 6000 series for many years.
LED Option-
Just like the 6000 series, the 8000 series does have the option of integrating an LED arrow in the flat glass. Be advised though that this may not be “plug & play” depending on the year of your bus and the harness used. This retrofit may require wiring the LED harness directly to the dash.
If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact David at 574-266-1455 ext. 103
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