I have found that expensive wiper blades don’t last much longer than cheap ones. What I use now is the cheap Walmart ones–is it Super-Tech? Maybe $7 or something like that. And I change the driver’s side more often.
@tester while in the printing business many years ago we used denatured alcohol to rejuvinate rubber rollers. We would basically strip off the dead rubber and it would cause the rubber that was left to be softer.
It probably would be a good idea to do a test with it first though, that was in the 70,s
Thanks everyone for the informative comments on this seldom-discussed topic. Seems there is a wide range of views! TSM … not sure what you mean by "frameless wipers. I’m not sure if I still have the original frames or not. For a long while I was able to find refills. The frames are very easy to remove from the car though, takes like 15 seconds. Sort of a U-shaped thing is used to hold them in place. MG McAnick … good info on the refill sources and technique to install, I’ll check in at my local AutoZone here, see what they have in the way of refills. $5 a pair sounds pretty frugal.
Speaking of frugal, has anyone purchased replacement wiper units (not refills, the whole assembly) by mail from Rock Auto? Their prices seem to be much lower than what I see at retail auto parts store displays. Like $3-$5 instead of $12-20 per side. And there is a huge selection of them, for the most part the same brands as at the auto parts stores, grouped by “economy”, “winter”, “better”, “best” etc. Some of the economy models are priced less than $2 per side. If I had confidence they’d actually fit, I might go that way.
I’ve never ordered from Rock Auto, but I just ordered some WW blades from Amazon for our bus at work, and their “make sure these fit” feature worked.
speaking of cheapo customers driving expensive cars . . .
When I was working at the Benz dealer, sometimes an $80K car would show up, rolling on a brand new set of Big-O tires
I would snicker and say under my breath “This guy doesn’t even deserve to be driving that car”
So I had to google Big-O tires, it appears to be a brand @db4960 save me the internet bandwidth and wat do you really mean to say? Hey I know a guy at a Benz dealer, Chicago area?
“save me the internet bandwidth”
I don’t understand what you’re getting at
If you’re attacking me, tell me straight out
“wat do you really mean to say?”
I mean to say Big-O tires are cheap, and that a guy in an $80K car shouldn’t spend less on tires than some poor slob buying a set of Michelins for his Corolla. It doesn’t make sense to me
If you’re not attacking me, please accept my apologies for misunderstanding
"Hey I know a guy at a Benz dealer, Chicago area?
Huh?
I live and work in Los Angeles. I don’t work at that Benz dealer anymore. I got a better offer elsewhere. What does Chicago have to do with anything?
@db4960 Hey dude dont get your undies all up in a bunch, I have never attacked you and always liked what ever responses of yours I liked. Now just happen to know a Benz mechanic in chicago area, thought you might have met him, Never heard of Big-o tires, pardon my ignorance. Ya know I am the guy that emailed you saying I would post troll to whatever guy was posting troll on you.
I’ve noticed that a main factor for how long blades last is how curved your windshield is. I can use the cheapest Trico blades on my newer car and they last for at least two years. But my old car has a sloped and curvy windshield and blades last about 8 months before they start to streak. The contoured windshields don’t get wiped well when the rubber starts to age and the spring tension starts to weaken, but the fairly flat ones are not rough on wiper blades at all.
Everything’s good
The way you worded your post sounded kind of weird . . . to me, anyways
The “save the internet bandwidth” thing was what really confused me, and put me on edge . . . for no reason, apparently
For what it’s worth, I’ve also like your responses
As for that Chicago area Benz mechanic, unless he previously spent time in southern California, I probably don’t know him
In regards to Big-O tires, I had no idea they weren’t national. I just used them as an example for my point about driving an expensive car, but being a cheap ass on upkeep
But in all fairness, it’s better to have cheap ass new tires on your expensive car, versus bald michelins
I need to try to be less defensive
LOL
I am the one with the 2004 subaru with gasket issues- for what it’s worth - only now do I need to replace my wipers- actually only one of them is broken - so that is 9 years- is that a typical ?
@GeorgeSanJose
I buy parts from rockauto all the time. Great prices and great service. The wiper blades I have on my car are Trico flex private package blades from rockauto - while they came in a package labeled for an auto parts store, they fit perfectly and work great.
If you spend more and get one that isn’t marked “private label” it will come in the same packaging you would find the item elsewhere. I suspect however that the part is exactly the same either way.
Yeah I never heard of Big O brand tires either. Sometimes we don’t write very clearly either so its easy to misunderstand.
Like I said I get the complete blade with the refill for $35. Just seem to work better. The one time I had to replace the whole wiper arm though due to the socket being stripped, it cost me $80 for my Buick back around 1988. I’m very careful now not to strip them.
@eelise: Do you mean replace your wiper BLADES (the rubber parts that squeegee the water off the windshield) or is something wrong with the system? (one or both wipers do not move)
If you have waited 9 years to replace your wiper blades, you are very overdue. They are cheap and you can usually change them yourself in a few minutes, typically with no tools. (I usually change mine in the parking lot of wherever I bought them)
I have done nothing to my wipers as they have been fine up until this week. do I change the rubber part only or the rubber part with the metal frame ? I have never done this and now I need to. But - really they have been fine up until this week - no issues until now.
I’d go to Walmart and get a set of the cheaper Bosch or Michelin blades, they have a catalog to help you pick the correct ones. If you want someone to help you replace them, I think they’ll do that at Autozone.
Get the blade+metal frame, just to make sure it fits correctly.
And 9 years on a set of wipers it much longer than most, I usually replace every two years or so.
oh…I had no idea! I thought when it stops working you replace it1 oops:) I don’t have a walmart near me - but I can check auto zone - would love someone to just help me or do it for me. Thanks! Does it matter what kind? Are there better styles for lack of a better label ?
The cheaper Michelin blades at Walmart have worked well for me.
I personally think they are one of the better blades you can buy. I’ve been using them for years. Never had a problem.
As for refills…Almost all the auto-parts stores near me carry them…but not in all the sizes.
found autozone right near me! I am not the helpless female at all -but if it comes to something I don’t know anything about - it does help to go to male environment and say “help” and I know a male will come and help me! In our culture it does work and for this - I don’t feel bad about it! LOL
Thanks for your suggestion:)
We used to have a Big “O” tires here in my town, there are several in the state of Indiana, I am actually surprised they have a presence in LA, I always thought they were a midwest chain.
I work at an electric company, thankfully they put decent Goodyear tires on the big bucket trucks, but on the small f-550 buckets and dump truck they put the cheapest chinese made tires on them that you can find, and they put cheap chinese tires on the pickups as well, the tires wear quickly and poorly, and traction is not what it should be in the rain and snow.
My employer loves to trip over dollars to pick up dimes so thats just the way its going to be.
Sometimes its hard to interpret what people are trying to say in an email or post, I for one am not the best at explaining myself at times, and I am also not the best at deciphering things some times.
It happens, I have had occasions where a simple text message has started a fight with my wife, all because we were both misunderstanding what each other was trying to say and its hard to set the tone with a text. It happens…