Who remembers in the days before heated mirrors (and heated seats,heated bunks and nite heaters) ripping a piece of cloth into strips and tying them on the mirror arms.Once you gained speed if you had positioned them in the right place they would flick over the mirror face and keep it clean.
Very handy in dirty winter weather,many drivers did it at one time many moons ago.Imagine Stobart looking down a yard line up and seeing all his trucks with bits of cloth hanging from the mirror arms.Me thinks he would bring in rule number 789 section c2. Cheers all
Can remember the bits of rag on the mirror arms along with can holders but “heated bunks”. . never.
hi. I used to have one of those comb over hair styles, I just opened the side window, and the hair shot out the widow and flapped up and down the mirror cleaning it a treat. looked a lot neater than a bit of rag tied to the arm. lol
hi all
the bits rag jolted the old memory in the early 60s I drove a thames trader luton van & the mirrors were bolted on to the front underside of the luton & hard to clean from the inside of the cab the strips of rag were a god-send,its funny I can still remember the reg-5813-UA LONDON in that old heap vac wipers,one heater,poor brakes,allways had to have a bunch of spare injector pipes,
thanks for the memory jolt
regards
sm1
yes remember doing that how drivers today would cope I thinknot
snowman1:
poor brakes,
you were spoilt 
Suedehead:
Can remember the bits of rag on the mirror arms along with can holders but “heated bunks”. . never.
I remember the rags as well, but I’m struggling with the…" heated bunks " 
I must be getting old - yes I remember the rags. have to try it on my ERF 
the strips of rag were a must for the discerning driver back then along with the fairy liquid bottle to squirt on the mirrors when the road dirt built up . also handy if you spotted an open topped sports car overtaking .
diesel dan:
hi. I used to have one of those comb over hair styles, I just opened the side window, and the hair shot out the widow and flapped up and down the mirror cleaning it a treat. looked a lot neater than a bit of rag tied to the arm. lol
Have you any photos of this? Would be good to see,(if it was true) regards ardennes
rigsby:
the strips of rag were a must for the discerning driver back then along with the fairy liquid bottle to squirt on the mirrors when the road dirt built up . also handy if you spotted an open topped sports car overtaking .
Yes do remember the fairy liquid bottle,we where ingenious wern"t we ! Best wishes ardennes
I remember the rag tied to the mirror arm. I also remember one of Stobarts 2800 Daf having them. It was just after the time of wavy hands in the windscrean. I also had a heated bunk; stopped at Londenderry truck stop on the A1 one winter afternoon and came out with an electric blanket that plugged into the ■■■ lighter. I wasn’t a smoker so I never noticed the F7 I was driving didn’t have a socket, but I jacked it into the the same outlet I made for the TV so I was sorted. TV, electic blanket, flat battery.
Jeff…
In my early days of trucking, all the lorries I drove ‘belonged’ to a regular driver, most of whom attached these rags to the mirrors. Personally, I found them incredibly distracting and tended to remove them in the morning and replace them at the end of the day! I’d do the same if ever I borrowed a car with a bouncy trolls dangling from the rear view mirror.
Another thing I have always removed when getting into someone else’s lorry, is those infernal invalid-carriage knobs on the steering wheel that run up the the slit in your cuff just as you are executing a critical manoevre. Nasty things! Robert
Aye the fairy liquid bottle the water used to run back up your arm when you held it round the front to wash the screen doin about 50 especially the curved screen o the Mickey Mouse Fodens.
Wee had an 8wheel Foden that was fitted with one of the first tilt cabs Foden made within months the gap where it was supposed to seal got bigger and the bloke that drove it had papers folded and sellotaped to try and stop the draught.
I read now in the truck mags about the lack of space and they don’t have enough lockers and we are talking SUPER SPACE here, how some of these pampered drivers would have managed with the old stuff I dont know hell you were lucky to get a wee box thingy tacked on the back wall enough just to hold some notes and that was it. Eddie.
altitude:
Suedehead:
Can remember the bits of rag on the mirror arms along with can holders but “heated bunks”. . never.I remember the rags as well, but I’m struggling with the…" heated bunks "
I will jog your memory you usually kicked her out the next morning
cheers Johnnie 
robert1952:
In my early days of trucking, all the lorries I drove ‘belonged’ to a regular driver, most of whom attached these rags to the mirrors. Personally, I found them incredibly distracting and tended to remove them in the morning and replace them at the end of the day! I’d do the same if ever I borrowed a car with a bouncy trolls dangling from the rear view mirror.Another thing I have always removed when getting into someone else’s lorry, is those infernal invalid-carriage knobs on the steering wheel that run up the the slit in your cuff just as you are executing a critical manoevre. Nasty things! Robert
Hi ,I maybe wrong but always thought the steering knobs where illegal.Heard stories of broken bones after hitting a kerb or something and the wheel spinning ,We both can imagine that would hurt.
regards ardennes
ardennes:
robert1952:
In my early days of trucking, all the lorries I drove ‘belonged’ to a regular driver, most of whom attached these rags to the mirrors. Personally, I found them incredibly distracting and tended to remove them in the morning and replace them at the end of the day! I’d do the same if ever I borrowed a car with a bouncy trolls dangling from the rear view mirror.Another thing I have always removed when getting into someone else’s lorry, is those infernal invalid-carriage knobs on the steering wheel that run up the the slit in your cuff just as you are executing a critical manoevre. Nasty things! Robert
Hi ,I maybe wrong but always thought the steering knobs where illegal.Heard stories of broken bones after hitting a kerb or something and the wheel spinning ,We both can imagine that would hurt.
regards ardennes
A few of our lads had those nobs on the wheel ,the gaffer was not happy when the trucks went back and he got a bill for new steering wheels,no more nobs allowed 
ardennes:
robert1952:
In my early days of trucking, all the lorries I drove ‘belonged’ to a regular driver, most of whom attached these rags to the mirrors. Personally, I found them incredibly distracting and tended to remove them in the morning and replace them at the end of the day! I’d do the same if ever I borrowed a car with a bouncy trolls dangling from the rear view mirror.Another thing I have always removed when getting into someone else’s lorry, is those infernal invalid-carriage knobs on the steering wheel that run up the the slit in your cuff just as you are executing a critical manoevre. Nasty things! Robert
Hi ,I maybe wrong but always thought the steering knobs where illegal.Heard stories of broken bones after hitting a kerb or something and the wheel spinning ,We both can imagine that would hurt.
regards ardennes
I think they were legal in UK but probably shouldn’t have been, for precisely the reason you gave (pot-holes being the worst hazard). There were too many about to be illegal and my guess is that gaffers would have removed them in case of nullified insurance, if they had been illegal. They may now be illegal for all I know. Who can give a definitive answer? Robert
I must admit they were good for reversing but i dont think they did the steer tyres any favours 
I’ve just Googled it. The first thing I found was another TruckNet thread dedicated to Steering wheel knobs, which runs for two pages and features a spirited discussion between those who hate them and those who love them. During the two pages it is shown that the steering wheel knob is not always necessarily the chap in the driving seat, but it doesn’t tell us whether or not they are legal. An ask Yahoo site stated quite definitely that they are only legal in the UK for registered disabled drivers. Let’s stick to mirror rags - a much gentler subject! Robert