GM Power Folding Mirror Parts: Fix a Common Problem and Save Money

It’s an all-too-common plight. You go to adjust your GM power folding mirrors (especially those on some trucks or SUVs) and nothing moves. Or, perhaps, the mirror starts to move but then stops. Is it jammed? Is it broken? Has the motor itself burnt out?

It could be a whole lot of things, but more often than not there is one specific culprit to blame, and it’s an innocuous little plastic gear that, for some reason, GM used in conjunction with the main drive shaft.

It’s a common problem faced by many GM vehicles, but fortunately, there is something you can do about it.

What’s Wrong with Factory GM Power Folding Mirrors?
There are two main problems with some GM power folding mirrors. One is that GM outfitted these mirrors with weak motors that die quickly. When the motor burns out, you need to replace it to restore operability to the power folding mirrors.

More troubling is the fact that GM outfitted many of these power mirrors’ motors with a weak, thin plastic spur gear that engaged the main drive shaft. These plastic gears will crack or fail under even the slightest stresses, resulting in a loss of operability to the power folding mirrors. Worse, they wear down over time, so even without abrupt failure, the result is the same: power folding mirrors that are dead in the water.

Making matters worse is GM’s official response. They will only sell you the entire mirror assembly, which, depending on year, make, and model, can cost upwards of a thousand dollars to install.

We have a better solution.

What You Can Do About It?
We recreated the faulty GM folding mirror parts and paired a much more durable spur gear to the more reliable, high-torque motor.

Our strengthened metal gears are many times stronger than the flimsy plastic OEM spur gears that GM sent off with affected models. They are much stronger and also have a thicker cross-section; this helps to eliminate stresses that cause cracking or failure.

We also paired these higher-quality metal spur gears to an upgraded electric motor which is necessary to solve another problem with GM’s OEM configuration.

Their factory power mirror motors are not compatible with metal spur gears. The OEM motors’ body control module will short out on contact with a metal spur gear; our replacement motor is internally grounded, compatible with metal spur gears, and engineered for much higher performance.

We thoroughly tested our new motor and metal gears, putting the samples through more than 5,000 open and close cycles to test performance and durability. The metal gear showed almost no wear after testing. Testing also included a variety of intentional stresses - including manual stress, striking the mirror during folding, and intentionally jamming the mirror during operation in an attempt to cause it to fail. None of these tests fazed our upgraded motor or gears in the least.

We offer two convenient options for you to solve these problems associated with GM power folding mirror parts. Either you can buy a set of the metalgears pre-mounted to a new steel main spiral shaft, with a new high-torque motor, or you can buy a complete motor drive unit with the metalgears and high-torque motor pre-installed and tested.

These GM power folding mirror parts also come with a lifetime warranty so you can enjoy peace of mind. They’re guaranteed against defect, so if the gears or motor fail, send it back to us (you pay for shipping only) and we’ll replace the gear assembly.

GM Vehicles Affected
Many different GM vehicles suffer the deficiency of inadequate power mirror motors and plastic spur gears, including the following:

●Acadia

●Escalade

●Traverse

●Enclave

●Avalanche

●Silverado

●Sierra

●Yukon

●Denali

●Suburban

●Tahoe

The vehicles affected were produced between the years of 2007 and 2022.

In addition, many other GM vehicles have been produced with similarly inadequate power mirror parts. For instance, many GM trucks produced beyond 2015 were created with power folding towing mirrors that also contain small plastic spur gears that are also prone to breakage, deformation, and failure. Fixing the towing mirrors can be an expensive venture costing as much as $1,500 each, but we’ve produced high-quality brass replacement gears and high-torque motors that are much higher quality and cost less to replace.

How Do I Fix My GM Power Folding Mirrors?
Whether your issue has to do with your GM power folding mirror parts or its towing mirrors, we offer plenty of resources to show you how to make the repairs.

Consult the link above for a wide range of to help you with repairs. We have both written instructions and a video detailing the process for installation as well as supplemental materials for Traverse and Acadia owners.

Keep in mind that we offer much more than just the power folding mirror parts themselves. We also carry a wide range of other auto parts that you might need to make repairs or replacements,

If you need another part for your power folding mirrors that you want to replace when upgrading the motor and gears, contact us a Paul@GruvenParts.com and let us know what you need. If you know the part number, great, if not we’ll help you find what you need that will fit your vehicle.

Questions Before You Start the Project? Contact Us
Whether you’re driving around with a Tahoe or Suburban with mirrors that won’t adjust or you just want to fix the problem before it manifests, we have the GM power folding mirror parts you need.

These folding mirror parts are designed to serve as a perfect fit for the vehicles of the corresponding years mentioned above, but if you are unsure of exactly what parts or tools you need you can contact us for more help before taking on the project.

Contact us to let us know how we can help and we’d be happy to help.