Windshield Wipers

I dont use it regularly through the year. Mainly when the monsoon season is here. So 3 months out of the year or if theres a chance of rain. I will reapply ever week or so. You can usually notice its wearing off by water staying on windsheild. I use it on my rear window and side mirrors aswel.
 
I've found it depends on how much you actually have to use your wipers. But if I see the weather calling for a bunch of rain and I know I've got alot of highway driving coming up, there's nothing like a fresh coat.
Also, I will not use car wax, it gives a glare, especially at night, that personally drives me crazy. But my eyes are 62 years old. Your results may vary.
 
I've heard the difference between a cheap and good pair is not really worth the price difference. Getting 18 months out of a pair that costs twice as much, vs 12 months out of the cheapies isn't worth it.
I live where it rains a lot and used to not worry about replacing wipers. Now after putting some cheapies on one year, I change them every year and won't go back to letting years go by figuring "it's good enough".
There is a video on yt with some guy showing how to maintain them so you won't have to replace them. After watching it I just figured mine get tore up from redwood getting caught under the blade and buggering up the edges so it wouldn't be worth it. If you garage your car and get good blades it might help if you do it regularly.

Btw, I can't bring myself to buy the cheapest blades for some reason, but I get blades on the lower end of the price spectrum
 
D
De Plano said:
I've heard the difference between a cheap and good pair is not really worth the price difference. Getting 18 months out of a pair that costs twice as much, vs 12 months out of the cheapies isn't worth it.
I live where it rains a lot and used to not worry about replacing wipers. Now after putting some cheapies on one year, I change them every year and won't go back to letting years go by figuring "it's good enough".
There is a video on yt with some guy showing how to maintain them so you won't have to replace them. After watching it I just figured mine get tore up from redwood getting caught under the blade and buggering up the edges so it wouldn't be worth it. If you garage your car and get good blades it might help if you do it regularly.

Btw, I can't bring myself to buy the cheapest blades for some reason, but I get blades on the lower end of the price spectrum
Click to expand...
Do you buy the old style blades or the newer single edged blade?
 
Single blades. I deal with rain, and not snow if that makes a difference.

I read a thread on Jalopnik that somehow devolved into buying windshield wiper blades and a few had brand recommendations, but most seemed to just figure just replace them once a year. Very few folks said to get "high end" wipers.
 
Thanks everybody. I live in an area that see ice and snow and I park outside. To this day, I've been changing my blades yearly at about this time. I used to buy the "jacketed" winter blades, but switched to what I call the single edge blade.
I'm not overly happy with them. As many have brought to my attention, not parking in a garage and simply their age can have an effect on performance. I'm not sure if I want to spend the $$ on the single edge ones, twice a year or not. I do like the low profile for the aerodynamics it gives, while letting the Rain X work better.

Decisions......decisions. (you're prolly thinking, if that's all he has to worry about?) Well, it's not!
I just like your guys input. 50 heads are better that one.
 
I've used Bosche branded or OEM VW (made by Bosche) for years now, but have used the RainX brand, and a fair number of cheapos. I typically get two years out of them, parking outside with a daily driver in New England. The one thing I learned years ago was to never run wipers over an iced up windshield, it just beats them up too much. Having had a couple pairs of the articulated arm types fail and scratch up the windshield I've been using the mono-blade types since they became easy to find. Usually there is a sale somewhere online for a pair of the Bosche wipers for $20 or so, amazon seems to run their sale three times a year or so.
 
Yea, I'll admit, I'm guilty of hitting the washers to buzz a windshield full of frost off. That can't be too healthy for them.
Mine aren't interchangeable, that sucks. I don't know who the genius was that came up with that. Prolly a kick-back between the auto manufacturer and the wiper industry.
 
Now the wipers come with all the adapters to fit whatever mount your wiper arms have. Haven't seen a car they don't fit, they even have the adapter for the bayonet and side clip types. Just make sure you're getting the whole setup and not the very cheap blade refills, but I've only found those at the dealer so far. ($10 for just the rubber edge piece for all 3 wipers on my car)
 
I'm a Bosch Icon fan too. MI resident so I see some snow. I also use wax on the windshield instead of Rain X. I change the wipers every year.
 
I'm also a bosch user but my girlfriend will take whatever's at walmart. I also use rain-x.. or carnauba wax on my windows if I have time, but getting it on the molding delays the process so I stick to rain-x most the time. I reapply when it no longer wicks water away to my liking.

If you guys don't want it wearing out fast in the sun, take them off your car and store them in the trunk. Put it back on when you need it.
 
I used to use wax on my windows but found it gave me an awful glare at night. Maybe it was just my eyes.
I remember long before Armor All was thought of, we used Pledge on our tires and vinyl seats. It made it kind of slippery if you had a bench seat and you were trying to keep your date beside you. (Only make right hand turns) :)
 
I want to thank all of you that "steered" me towards the Bosch Icons. Ironically, I was in my local Wally World and they had them on closeout for $9.00 apiece. They're discontinuing selling them. I bought a few pair.
These things are great. Way better than the Latitudes.
Thanks again y'all!
 
Our Phoenix sun is brutal on wiper blades, for sure. Usually have to be replaced annually. I am, however, a huge proponent of waxing the glass. Been doing so over 30yrs, and I think it was a late uncle that taught it to me. He'd had years of driving a truck interstate. I apply it, buff it off, and repeat at least twice a year. I can get through normal storms with sometimes no wipers at all, so long as my speed allows enough inertia to let the beads roll up and off. In our occasional driving rain, wipers don't have to be maxed-out. Another plus is that it prevents the small asphalt pebbles that are kicked up from causing chips/cracks, or at least mitigating the damage they might otherwise cause.

As to glare, I suspect that has much more to do with the vaporous deposition that occurs ON THE INSIDE of the windshield. It's a huge pain to clean off, due to the convex curve and the hard-to-reach spots. I seem to get the best results from the solution at the typical gas-station, same as you'd do on the exterior. Just lay down a layer of their cheapo paper towels on your dash first, to absorb most of the slop. Use the squeegie, too, and save your energy to get into the tight spots with your hands.
 
VictorLouis said:
Our Phoenix sun is brutal on wiper blades, for sure. Usually have to be replaced annually. I am, however, a huge proponent of waxing the glass. Been doing so over 30yrs, and I think it was a late uncle that taught it to me. He'd had years of driving a truck interstate. I apply it, buff it off, and repeat at least twice a year. I can get through normal storms with sometimes no wipers at all, so long as my speed allows enough inertia to let the beads roll up and off. In our occasional driving rain, wipers don't have to be maxed-out. Another plus is that it prevents the small asphalt pebbles that are kicked up from causing chips/cracks, or at least mitigating the damage they might otherwise cause.

As to glare, I suspect that has much more to do with the vaporous deposition that occurs ON THE INSIDE of the windshield. It's a huge pain to clean off, due to the convex curve and the hard-to-reach spots. I seem to get the best results from the solution at the typical gas-station, same as you'd do on the exterior. Just lay down a layer of their cheapo paper towels on your dash first, to absorb most of the slop. Use the squeegie, too, and save your energy to get into the tight spots with your hands.
Click to expand...

Great thread, the glare I speak of is at night. It's when the highway lights or approaching headlamps hit my windshield. It just must be my eyes?
However, I find that my eyes have zero glare issues using Rain X.
These are just my results mind you.
 
Once again, thanks to everybody who, "steered" me towards the Bosch Icons. I been driving in some pretty crappy weather and they by far are better than the Rain X Latitudes. I guess the only reason I went with the Rain X ones was because they were right there, in your face, when you went to buy blades. I guess you can chalk it up to good advertising on their part.
Well, no more for me thanks to you all!
 
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