So I get into my car and the side mirror is loose on the shaft, WTH? You can fix this with a hammer and a clamp.

1.Pry mirror off from bottom ( its clipped into a yoke) and remove the 5 screws that hold the clamshell together.
2.pull clamshell apart and youll see the spring and find the retainer key somewhere in the housing.
3.Pull the spring off over the wires and use a hammer to reform the ears on top of the metal post, just hit the bent up edges on top of the flats down so they form a lip
4.No you have to fully compress the spring (F'n thing is like a valve spring!) and slide the retainer back across the flats under the newly formed lip
Once that is done, you can put the entire thing back together, carefull with the mirror, it hooks on top and clips onto the bottom.

For the clamp, I used a $7 2 screw wood clamp with some metal extensions clamped on each so it would reach over the spring. I made a plank with a semi circle cut out so it looked like a valve spring compressor, then welded 2 nuts on to act as spacer so I could clamp and then slide the keeper on with it all compressed. That was the hardest part as I was struggling with how to get the spacers to stay on while I was compressing the patheticly thin top plate. I ended up tack welding them onto the metal plank. crank it down and use a screwdriver to manipulate the spacing so you can slide the key between the nuts. I dont know how long it will last but its on pretty good.

sprung spring!




$7 2 screw 8" wood clamp worked perfectly as it compresses with variable angles. I clamped on 2 metal extensions and made one look like a valve spring compressor, that may work too.

Compressed spring I had to tack weld 2 nuts onto the metal so as to give me a space so I could slide the key back into the slot, make them wide enough for the retainer key!


retainer slid in, note placement of nuts as spacers and new hammered mushroom lips on top. You can drill and pin if your clip is broken but the spring is very stiff, I think its an actual valve spring off something.