Wiper Blades..

[OtisBlkR1]

throughout my 21 years of driving ive never paid particular attention to my wiper blades. Ive simply always told whoever was behind the counter (parts store) what auto i was installing them on and let them pick out blades.. i dont know why ive never cared or given much thought to it, probably becouse aslong as they werent ripped most blades worked reasonably well.

With that said my 07 Honda Accord driver side blade leaves a little to be desired, it tends to smear a bit in the middle.
I tried cleaning the blade with alchol and it didnt help. The current blades are Napa branded.. thats all i know.

Do you have a particular blade your in love with thats given you flawless performace for extended time ? like more than 12 months ?

Can you tell me what you like about the blades that keeps you buying them ?

thanks

 

[NHGUY]

There are many beam style blades today that have no framework and no joints or pressure points.Anco,Trico,RainX,Michelin all make a version of these.I use Trico's beam type and hybrid type beams with no problems whatsoever.

 

[surfstar]

Beam-type blades, when they have rebate/sale/etc for very cheap. They work well for me, but I'd never pay $10-15/blade for one. Costco had a BOGO sale last month, so a pair was only $8.

Buy cheap, change when needed.

 

[MarkStock]

I hardly ever change blades because my cars are garaged and we get no rain for 6 months and then little rain when it does rain.

But Anco 31 were perfect on my Taurus. And I got 2 for $5 after rebate. Anco are factory fit on many cars anyway. They are just about the cheapest and got one of the highest scores in Consumer Reports. CR found that blades pretty much last the same time so value for money is key here.

I believe that Anco Contour are highly regarded and may help if you have a more contoured windshield. Use the application lookup on their website.

If you're quick, I think they still have a rebate going.

Apart from that, on my Lexus, my preference was to replace the inserts. I felt that the whole wiper assembly is engineered for the car and didn't want to mess with it. I managed to get the Toyota original part for $15 so it was the same cost as replacement wipers, more environmentally friendly, and a better result was likely.

On the Taurus, I couldn't easily track down inserts and when I found that Ancos were OEM and really cheap, I went for those.

 

[Tegger]

OE Honda: the very best there is. Five bucks each for the refill (also known as the "rubber").

But I'll bet you threw your OE wiper blades in the garbage after you installed your aftermarket parts. In that case, $50 each to replace, THEN it's five bucks each after that.

You may also want to try cleaning the GLASS, with Windex or equivalent. That's pretty important, but won't fix lousy aftermarket rubber quality.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: MarkStock
I hardly ever change blades because my cars are garaged and we get no rain for 6 months and then little rain when it does rain.

You must have NO idea what the Northeast is like!!!

Up here you need to replace the refills ("rubbers") twice a year.

I've seen collector cars in CA that not only have their original wiper rubbers, but the original washer fluid as well. Different world down there...

 

[Artem]

The Honda OEM wipers are perfect, IMO. My 07 Civic still has the original wipers, I only replace the rubber insert when needed and they are $3 a piece. Why would you so anything else with a car that has removable inserts that are easy to replace (I do both in under 2 mins).

From personal experience, I've found that the expensive brands degrade at the same speed as the el cheapo wipers. The cheap stuff also wipe just as good.

I can replace the cheap wipers 4x in a year if I wanted too and still come out cheaper or equal too the expensive pair of name brand rubber.

The expensive wipers are almost always on sale or with a rebate, so they are cheaper then MSRP but I still avoid them.

 

[dparm]

There are two types of blades: beam and armature.

Beam blades are the one-piece ones, sometimes called 'winter' or 'all-weather' blades. These do not clog with ice and debris but they do not exert consistent pressure across the entire blade, which means you'll sometimes get smearing or poor wipe quality on the edges.

Armature blades are the ones with metal arms that apply tension. These can clog with ice in the winter, but provide a better wipe since they can press down on the entire length of the rubber.


As for change intervals, best to do it in the spring and/or fall. The summer heat will cause rapid deterioration of the rubber. When this happens, you'll notice streaking or chattering since the rubber is actually pitted or split.

However, the cold of the winter will cause the rubber to 'take a set' and it won't want to flip very easily on the up/downstroke. You'll see smearing or an inability to push snow off the windshield.


Avoid the gimmicky silicone or synthetic rubber blades. These were tested long ago and natural rubber was actually found to be superior. If silicone was really that much better, don't you think everyone would've switched to it?


Also, you should avoid using RainX on a windshield or rear window (with a wiper). Repeated independent tests found that nighttime driving with RainX can cause temporary blindness. Why? Because all the beads of water on the window act like tiny lenses and focus cars' headlamps right into your eyes. It makes for a very dangerous condition.





My credentials on all this: my father worked in Bosch's wiper division for 25 years and imparted this to me. I am biased towards their blades, but truthfully any of the big brands are fine: Bosch, NWB (Nippon Wiper Blade, big Japanese OEM), and SWF/Valeo. The principles I listed above remain the same regardless of which brand you buy.

 

[skyship]

BOSCH Aero, but it must say made in Germany on the box. Good for about 100K miles or 10 years, as the passenger side one on my old Volvo is an original 11 year old (I just changed it), like my battery, but due to lack of Ah I am replacing the original wet cell with a BOSCH sealed for life S4 following a fail to start caused by the kids turning the horse box lights on. I will sell the original on e bay as it will last for another 10 years in a petrol car.
PS: Don't park under sap dripping trees or leave the car in ice forming conditions (including frost) without lifting up the wipers cos that can tear up any wiper except one from NASA original parts! Never do anything with alcohol other than drink it!

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: skyship
BOSCH Aero


The Aero/AeroTwin line is merely Bosch's OEM branding. Typically found on cars with unusual or custom designs.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

wow great info ! I may still have the original wipers in the trunk, i will look. if i do i will just buy the refills, wish i knew about this before

oh well. thanks for all the great replys !

 

[dparm]

If you can buy just the refills, it's usually cheaper. A lot of the German cars offer this, actually, since they have weird designs and you can't just walk into Autozone to get a generic one.

 

[Mr Nice]

For me I use low cost Trico blades and change them every year. They work great and with AAP discount codes are a great deal.

I don't need expensive blades when the basic ones do just fine.

Rain X 2-in1 washer fluid (orange) makes a significant improvement in all weather driving conditions.

 

[Colt45ws]

I went through a beam-blade phase, but I discovered they just didnt last very long before they started streaking. Right now I have a Rain-X Fusion on my car mainly for the look of beam. Also, just put a pair of Anco Winter blades on the Ranger.

 

[kr_bitog]

I did try the premium aftermarket wiper. I like the beam one due to less wind noise and it seems better performing in high speed drive. However, this beam may not work well on windshield with high degree of curve.

Brand wise, from the best to worst(all beam type) i tried
Bosch -> Rain X -> Trico -> Valeo

 

[faramir9]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
throughout my 21 years of driving ive never paid particular attention to my wiper blades. Ive simply always told whoever was behind the counter (parts store) what auto i was installing them on and let them pick out blades.. i dont know why ive never cared or given much thought to it, probably becouse aslong as they werent ripped most blades worked reasonably well.

With that said my 07 Honda Accord driver side blade leaves a little to be desired, it tends to smear a bit in the middle.
I tried cleaning the blade with alchol and it didnt help. The current blades are Napa branded.. thats all i know.

Do you have a particular blade your in love with thats given you flawless performace for extended time ? like more than 12 months ?

Can you tell me what you like about the blades that keeps you buying them ?

thanks


As others have posted, location, climate and driving conditions make a big difference. Indiana is not the snow belt, but it ain't SoCal either.

I recommend an all or nothing approach to wiper blades. If you park outside and need to drive much in winter, then Rain-X Latitudes are worth the money. They are not cheap, though. I have them on my Saturn because I get a fantastic deal from a local shop, using a $20 off coupon for Liking their FB page; I get the Latitudes installed for a hair less than $20. At close to full price it would be a much tougher call, but I would still likely get them for peace of mind in winter driving. They are that much better in snow/ice than 'regular' blades.

If your car is garaged or you don't need to drive in bad weather or if you are at the southern tier of the state, then I would just get the cheapest blades you can find at Wal-Mart or AAP. How long has the current blade, with the streaking issue, been on the car, anyway?

 

[OtisBlkR1]

probably a year, maybee a year and a half.. its my wifes "hand me down Accord" as i bought her a new car this past week her old daily driver is now my daily driver (funny saying a 07 is old) HA! anyways there are a few kinks that im looking at taking care of before we get bad weather.

 

[MarkStock]

Well I hope that my Mercedes has Bosch Aeros on it now which will last 10+ years in CA.

They cost something like $50 for just refills.

 

[faramir9]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
probably a year, maybee a year and a half.. its my wifes "hand me down Accord" as i bought her a new car this past week her old daily driver is now my daily driver (funny saying a 07 is old) HA! anyways there are a few kinks that im looking at taking care of before we get bad weather.


Sounds like it's time for new wiper blades anyway, or at least close, especially with winter looming. I cannot speak about Bosch as I never used them, but I learned the lesson the hard way about "lifetime" beam blades with a pair of Tripledge blades I got for my old Chevy. Yep, they lasted a good couple years---longer than any blade I had used before---but after that they were toast. I left them on longer than I should have out of disbelief that marketing hype could lie to us....

 

[Donald]

Your best blade is a inexpensive name brand at Walmart ($6.00) changed more often. Consumer Reports evaluated them (look on their website or search BITOG) and said almost none last over 6 months.

Or what my Dad use to do was to change the driver with new and move the driver to passenger. But change the driver often. Cost would be the same, but always a almost new blade on the drivers side.