Replacement wiper blades

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buck91

buck91

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Replaced the worn out falling apart blades on my F150 this fall with some Napa "HD" winter blades. They are the old school type with the rubber covering and I have anyways had good experiences with this style blade in the past, though never the Napa brand. Unfortunately these blades are down right terrible. They streak, chatter, and effectively "suck" the water back across the window when they cycle. That said, they do work well enough, especially after some fresh rain repellant.

With a budget in mind (I can't drop $40 on blades...) what are some of the better winter-friendly blades on the market? I will be watching the sales but looking for others suggestions, too.
 
Best ones I use are the cheaper ones. Right now I have a set on ANCO winter blades on. Purchased for 8$ a piece from walmart. Used them last year for a season and should of kept them for one more season. They will definitely last 2 tough winters. They seem to be good for rain as well.
 
The new beam style blades work well year round,but dont try to "plow" snow with them.No blade is made to push 4" of wet heavy snow off the glass.
 
I bought some beam style blades (Trico Neoform and Teflon shield) off of RA a few months back, just got around to outfitting 2 of our 3 cars, very pleased. Did well in the snow 2 days ago, hope the performance keeps up over the winter. $3.80 a blade plus shipping. Shipping starting at $8 to me but no real cost for each additional blade.

I just wish I had placed a bigger order now.
 
Anco conventional have all ways worked well for me. I've had universally rotten results with any "beam" style blade. From a basic engineering standpoint, they suck and are doomed to never work right. A disproportionate amount of pressure gets applied to the middle of the blade.

Rain-X Fusion blades are OK, they look like a beam blade but have an actual multi-arch articulated support like a conventional blade. You get the aerodynamics of a beam blade with the uniform pressure and windshield curvature-following ability of a conventional blade. I've had a set on the Ram for a year and a half now, and other than having to zip-tie one of the flip-up blade release tabs down, they've worked great.

But I'd still just go with Anco, Rain-X or Trico conventional blades personally.
 
I just got some Trico Ice for my Jeep. $11 each on Amazon. Made in Mexico. I was looking for winter wiper blades and the ones at Walmart seem to skip over the 21" size.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I was extremely happy with the Motorcraft blades
There's a coupon floating around where you can pick them up at a FoMoCo dealer for $20 a set


This would be nice, the original blades on my '12 Mustang were great. I will have to google around.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Replaced the worn out falling apart blades on my F150 this fall with some Napa "HD" winter blades. They are the old school type with the rubber covering and I have anyways had good experiences with this style blade in the past, though never the Napa brand. Unfortunately these blades are down right terrible. They streak, chatter, and effectively "suck" the water back across the window when they cycle. That said, they do work well enough, especially after some fresh rain repellant.

With a budget in mind (I can't drop $40 on blades...) what are some of the better winter-friendly blades on the market? I will be watching the sales but looking for others suggestions, too.


Although they are not designed as a "winter" blade, I have had multiple excellent experiences with the Valeo 600 Series conventional wiper blades. The are reasonably priced and wipe streak and chatter free for over 2 years! Just replaced one blade last night when the insert finally tore after 26 months of usage on a non-garaged vehicle. They may be hard to find, but worth the search. I get mine from the local BAP-GEON import parts store.
 
Autocraft Winter blades from AAP are great bang for the buck: http://is.gd/sKuVId

They have served me well the first two mini-storms here. (We just missed the heavy stuff.)

The Autocraft blades might be hard to find, though; I sense that AAP will stop carrying them after the CarQuest merger. If you do find them, you might get an unreal price.....even the normal price, with an online discount code, is excellent.
 
Looking at current sales, if I replace this month my options are as follows:
Trico Neoform BOGO 50% - $22.50
Bosch Evolution BOGO 50% - $29.99
Bosch Excel+ BOGO Free - $13.99

I had the Bosch before on my F250 and they were great except the exposed frame work had some freezing issues with resultant streaking, though I don't remember if they were the Excel or the Microedge. Leaning towards the Neoforms but some reviews state they don't work so well in winter conditions- can anybody confirm rt refute that?
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I was extremely happy with the Motorcraft blades
There's a coupon floating around where you can pick them up at a FoMoCo dealer for $20 a set


This would be nice, the original blades on my '12 Mustang were great. I will have to google around.


wiperblades_zpsedbbf4c5.jpg

Just right click the image and print, They can install them, But if you ask, they will generally just give them to you if you want to DIY
 
Hmmm, those are definitely not the blades that come on my Mustang or my dad's new F150. Both those vehicles came original with the beam style.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I was extremely happy with the Motorcraft blades
There's a coupon floating around where you can pick them up at a FoMoCo dealer for $20 a set


This would be nice, the original blades on my '12 Mustang were great. I will have to google around.

Motorcraft blades are not always the exact part that the car left the factory with.
I often find that:
1. Nearly all blades have the color changing indicator found on Valeo blades only.
2. The blades usually have adaptors for both pins and hooks, whereas OEM wipers were either made just for pins or just for hooks. Beam blades may be different.
3. In a toolbox I bough years ago, there were 2 brand new blades in Motorcraft packages, but written on the blade clearly was "Bosch."

I have found that the best thing to do is get the Bosch beam wipers that only have the attachment device your car came with. It works well on the hook wipers my Mitsu had, and it works well with the pinch tab ones on my dad's Pontiac G6.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Replaced the worn out falling apart blades on my F150 this fall with some Napa "HD" winter blades. They are the old school type with the rubber covering and I have anyways had good experiences with this style blade in the past, though never the Napa brand. Unfortunately these blades are down right terrible. They streak, chatter, and effectively "suck" the water back across the window when they cycle. That said, they do work well enough, especially after some fresh rain repellant.

With a budget in mind (I can't drop $40 on blades...) what are some of the better winter-friendly blades on the market? I will be watching the sales but looking for others suggestions, too.


Clean you windshield really good(I like using Rain-X original) and clean your wiper blades with silicon spray(not silicone lube). The silicone sparay that dries quickly. I use the CRC red can from W*M. Cost about $2+ for the can.

This will buy you some time to get proper wiper blades that were recomended by member here at Bob's
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Nukeman7
Although they are not designed as a "winter" blade, I have had multiple excellent experiences with the Valeo 600 Series conventional wiper blades. The are reasonably priced and wipe streak and chatter free for over 2 years! Just replaced one blade last night when the insert finally tore after 26 months of usage on a non-garaged vehicle. They may be hard to find, but worth the search. I get mine from the local BAP-GEON import parts store.


Does Tire Rack still carry the Valeos?? (Or is it only the beam versions they stock?)
 
About 4 years ago my dad bought me and himself some sets of Anco Contour blades for Christmas. One set for my Grand Cherokee. Another for his 2001 Tahoe.. But he never got around to using them until he sold it and converted to Ford. Mine lasted until last summer. I replaced them with Bosch ones which were like 20 something a blade. They are terrible. They were so bad I thought the springs in the wiper arms were wore out. Just yesterday I found the other 2 Contours. They fit on my Jeep and I was able to test them in the snow. They are great.. especially for being 4 years old. No streaking. No noise. I highly recommend those over anything else. You can't go wrong.
 
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