Abstract: An extendable exterior rearview mirror assembly includes a mounting bracket, a mirror subassembly, and a support arm which is supported by the mounting bracket. The mirror subassembly is supported by the support arm and is mounted for selective movement along the support arm to one of a plurality of viewing positions. The mirror subassembly includes a housing, a reflective element, and an actuator which supports the reflective element in the housing. The actuator is mounted to the housing by an actuator bracket. The rearview mirror assembly further includes a biasing member which urges the support arm into frictional engagement with the actuator bracket to limit movement of the mirror subassembly along the support arm. In preferred form, the biasing member comprises a plate spring having an undulating cross-section which urges the support arm into frictional engagement with the actuator bracket while absorbing manufacturing tolerances of the actuator bracket and the support arm.

Abstract: An exterior rearview mirror assembly, especially suited for towing vehicles, includes a dual purpose spring that provides a break-away feature and holds a mirror subassembly in one of a plurality of positions along a mounting arm. The exterior rearview mirror assembly includes a housing supporting a reflective element, a mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle, and an arm supporting the housing and mounted to the mounting bracket. The arm is adapted to pivot about the mounting bracket between a normal operating position and a folded, break-away position and includes a spring cooperating with the arm to selectively bias the arm into frictional engagement with the housing to hold the housing and mirror-subassembly in a fixed position along the arm and with the mounting bracket to hold the arm in one of the two positions.

Abstract: A rearview mirror support bracket for mounting a reflective element in a rearview mirror assembly housing in which the rearview mirror assembly housing is mounted to a vehicle by a vehicle mounting bracket includes a support bracket having a reinforced polyolefin body, and most preferably a glass filled polypropylene body, with a mounting surface for supporting one of electrical actuator and an adapter member and having an arm for connection to the vehicle mounting bracket. The support arm includes a collar for rotatably mounting the rearview mirror support bracket on a post or pivot of the vehicle mounting bracket and includes a plurality of detents for engaging in spaced recesses of the base of the vehicle mounting bracket for releasably coupling the rearview mirror support bracket to the vehicle mounting bracket. Preferably, the detents comprise a dissimilar material from the support bracket, for example a plastic or metal material.

Abstract: An exterior rearview mirror assembly, especially suited for towing vehicles, includes a dual purpose spring that provides a break-away feature and holds a mirror subassembly in one of a plurality of positions along a mounting arm. The exterior rearview mirror assembly includes a housing supporting a reflective element, a mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle, and an arm supporting the housing and mounted to the mounting bracket. The arm is adapted to pivot about the mounting bracket between a normal operating position and a folded, break-away position and includes a spring cooperating with the arm to selectively bias the arm into frictional engagement with the housing to hold the housing and mirror-subassembly in a fixed position along the arm and with the mounting bracket to hold the arm in one of the two positions.