Need windshield wiper recomendation

Can anyone recomend a replacement widshield wiper blade?? I put Anco on
my PT and my wife's Alero. Within a couple of weeks they were making a
terrible noise when wiping the windshield unless it was raining very
hard. Hit the squirters, one silent pass and then the loud noise. It
was caused by the blade's contact with the windshield.
Is there a make that can wipe the windshield silently in a drizzle??

 

I have never tried any aftermarket blades or refills that I've been
happy with. I was going to get some silicone ones for my 944 but it's
been in and out of various shops for months so I haven't had a chance
to try them (I finally did find a shop that recognizes that there's
something wrong with the car and is actively trying to fix it however.
yay.) But IME there really isn't any such thing as a good wiper blade;
they never last longer than six months at the outside. The problem
that I have, and the one that I expect you are having, is that the
blades become hard and don't "flip over" properly when wiping. This
can be caused by the blades not being exactly parallel to the
windshield; bend the arms with a crescent wrench to fix. But even with
the arms properly bent I still can't get them to last.

nate

 

A couple of months ago, I put a pair of Michelin arms and blades on my
wife's 2003 Grand Cherokee. So far, they seem to work as well as (maybe
better than) the originally equipped blades.

 

My recommendation would be either oem or silicon blades, but neither are
perfect.

You might consider getting some wiper snuggies from your local Napa dealer.
I had good luck with them on my truck, although you may have to bend them a
little to tweak them. See:
http://4x4xplor.com/snuggies.html
http://tinyurl.com/a7vzy
http://www.openroadsforum.com/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/14863183.cfm

 

A friend of mine bought some for his pickup, they didn't seem to last
any longer than the Bosch ones that I've been in the habit of buying.

nate

 

Original Equipment blades are definitely better than anything you could
get from Anco or Trico or Bosch. But they cost much more money.

 

I posted using OE wiper blades. But I did not see it appear so it might
appear later - a redundant post. Why not try OE blades from the dealer?
They cost more but they are regarded as better than anything you buy
from a parts store. I had your problem when I tried wiper refills
instead of replacing the entire blade.

 

The Bosch Excel line of wipers have done the job for my on my PT Cruiser.

Richard.

 

Ditto- Bosh seems to work the best. Did you all see the new Bosh wipers??
They want $22.00 a piece for them at my local AutoZone. I can't see paying
that much for wipers.

Scott

 

Has anyone tried silicone? The Bosch don't last any longer than any
other brand for me (i.e. they're all dead after a couple months) Most
common brand of silicone seems to be PIAA which makes me a little
skeptical...

nate

 

I have always had good luck with the OEM blades. It seems that whichever
aftermarket blade I purchased, they have not lasted very long.

Ken

 

Why not try OE blades from the dealer?
They cost more but they are regarded as better than anything you buy
from a parts store.
____Reply Separator_____
This seems to be the most suggested remedy. Just one question. I know
GM or Chrysler don't make their own windshield wipers. They must
contract it out to ANCO or one of the other manufacturers who also
supply them to the after market stores. Why can't you get the same
quality there?

 

I have consistently had good success with Anco's regular yellow-box
wipers, and with Trico's units with the embedded teflon strip, and most
recently with the Motomaster (Canadian Tire house brand) spring steel
blades without the normal bridge-and-truss structure. Have had bad luck
with Bosch's overpriced junk, and refuse to spend a dime with the scam
artists at PIAA.

With any brand, you must clean them thoroughly before using them, and in
many locales, the contaminants in the local air mean you must clean them
again frequently to prevent chattering and maintain a quality wipe. Get a
bottle of denatured alcohol ("Methylated Spirits", "Methyl Hydrate") from
a paint or hardware store. Wet a folded paper towel with it and really
scrub the wiping edges of the blade by pinching it between your fingers
with the alcohol-wetted paper towel. You'll be amazed at how much gunk
comes off the surface of the rubber. Keep on refolding the towel and
rewetting it until it comes away clean from the blades. You should then be
back to a quiet, quality wipe.

Rain-Xing your windshield will also help quite a bit.

 

I am having the same problem with my 01 Sebring. What is up with these
Chrysler wiper blades. I have tired Anco, Bosch, and Trico. Teflon,
non-teflon it doesn't seem to matter. This is the only car that the wipers
are "drive you crazy noisey". The only thing I can see is the tension of
the wiper on the glass is much higher then my other cars. There is no
adjustment on it unless you try bending something. I have also tried using
Rain-X which makes them quiet only because you don't have to run them when
it is raining.

 

If a subcontractor makes the blades for his own brand to the exact same
specification as the OE, then yes, you would get the same quality.
THEORETICALLY.

But it is possible for one manufacturer to put out different grades for
the same piece. Take the rubber for example. If the rubber is not as
fresh, it will not last as long. There may be a premium for the most
recent rubber that the OE is willing to pay because the OE will charge
more for the product, at least twice as much or three times as much, as
the manufacturing subcontractor for his own product.

These are all guesses on my part. I am not privy to what is actually
happening in wipers. But I have seen what happens in subcontracting and
manufacturing. It's not all that obvious as you would think.

I do know that one parts' store said Trico, e.g., made all the blades
for Chrysler. But I am skeptical since I have found differences between
Trico and even the generic blades that the Chrysler dealer sells
instead of the more expensive blades. I cannot even buy the OE blades
from the dealer because my vehicle is just out of the 10 year range
that the Chrysler dealer stocks. So I must buy non-OE blades and thus
cannot make a recent, personal observation on this topic.

I have tried unsuccessfully to buy the OE blades to see if they are
truly better. The only survey in this regard has been conducted by
Consumer Reports. According to them, Chrysler and Toyota made or sold
blades as OE that were better than anything one could purchase in a
parts store, such as, Anco/Trico/Bosch. They rate d the common Anco 31
series as best. They are also the cheapest at AutoZone, around $5, I
found, as opposed to $10-13 for Bosch which came in 4th and 6th for
their Excel lines. Trico Exact-Fit filled the other slots. Pep Boys
sells Trico for $8 or so and I found them not as good as the generic
non-OE I bought at the Chrysler dealer since I could not get the true
OE wiper for my 1994 vehicle. And forget about trying to replace my
rear windshield wiper with the squirter. I cannot purchase a a GOOD
replacement so I make do with the narrow refills I insert by hand. All
the replacements, the generic stuff from the dealer or parts stores are
not quite the proper width for the squirter to stay on snugly.

Now people in the NG contemn and condem CR, fine. But they are the only
band willing to play. If you can point me to any other survey, that
would be great. But I cannot find any other survey so CR is a starting
point. And wiper blades is not difficult science so I trust CR in this
particular survey as pointing the way to whatever is true for the
moment. Not the absolute truth but better than anything else I have
found - and what CR says is also what some of the very experienced
posters here have also expressed. So now there double confirmation to a
degree.

Whew, what a lot of words. Did any of this make any sense or be of any
use?

 

Regarded by whom? The automakers buy their wiper blades from the same
suppliers as you and I do at the parts store.

 

Longer wearing blades tend to make more noise.
This is worse in colder weather.
If your arms are properly aligned try softer blades, which should reduce
the noise, but will wear more quickly.

 

My experience too.
For my Concord I've been using Chrysler's refills, but last time I
bought the last they had.
I get a good year or two out of them, long considering we get a lot of
rain here. I make sure I'm on delayed wipe so then don't wear our on a
dry windshield. Also I clean them when I wash the car.

Not having the refills presents another problem in that my washer
nozzles are on the custom Chrysler arm. The Chrysler dealers here now
only sell a generic arm that presents a problem with those washer
nozzles.
I guess I've to look into moving the nozzles to lower on the hood where
they won't be as effective.

 

H'm.

Perhaps what is needed is something like the Silblade or Ultra Silblade,
http://www.silblade.com . I've not used them yet (though I may try a set).
They're said to be made in the USA of genuine GE silicone, have a 5-year
unconditional warranty, and come in a bunch of different colours.

Found a review of them here:

http://www.4x4wire.com/reviews/silblade/

 

$25 per side - a little pricey, but if they live up to the billing...

come in a bunch of different colours.

Now that's difficult to do!

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')