We used Big O tires on our work trucks in Nevada, where we were driving down horribly maintained backcountry roads and frequently got flats (we had 6 flats, 2 of them irreparable sidewall punctures, in 3 months). These roads probably hadn’t seen a grader in 20 years, with washed out gullies, lined with yucca and cholla.
Big O brand tires are pretty crappy, but they have a really good warranty on them and don’t ask too many questions about how you’re abusing them. And it doesn’t matter how nice a tire you have on your truck, nothing’s going to stop the yucca you didn’t see from popping your sidewall. Might as well get the cheap ones and get a free replacement.
@eelise … I think if you ask nicely and they aren’t busy at the time, one of the staff at Autozone will be happy to do the WW replacement for you. Don’t expect this to happen at 4 pm on a Friday, or on the weekends, but 10 am on a Monday? Almost certainly.
If you really want to do it the frugal way, ask them to simply replace the inserts (i.e. purchase refills). One of the posts above said Autozone WW refills cost about $5 total - for both sides. (To get this price you might have to purchase two sets of refills though, if you have different length wipers left to right.)
Edit: To answer your query above, 9 years between WW wiper replacement is certainly unusual. I replace mine either every year or every other year. But if the wipers are still working close to good as new, there’s no sense in replacing them. Replace them when they are no longer getting the job done.
“We used to have a Big “O” tires here in my town, there are several in the state of Indiana”, @WheresRick–we had a “Big O” tire store in my Indiana city not too far from my house. I did buy one Big O tire there. I had come home one evening after teaching a night class and realized I had a rear tire that was low. When I checked it, I found a nail near the sidewall. I had to be at a grant proposal meeting in a town 30 miles away the next morning at 9:00 a.m. and Big O opened at 7:30. I pumped up the tire with my portable compressor and drove the mile to Big O. They determined that the tire couldn’t be repaired, so I had them put on a Big O. The tread seemed to match pretty well. However, the Big O store closed and then the store became an NTB (National Tire and Battery). I bought two tires from them of the Sumatoma brand because a friend of mine had a church job as a full time minister of music at a church and the job was eliminated. To support his family, he went to work at NTB and was paid mostly on commission. I needed two tires, so I decided to help him out. I will say this: both the Big O tire and the Sumatoma tires wore as well as the Firestone tires that came on my Sienna. The last tires we have purchased for our vehicles have come from an independent tire dealer and have been Michelin.
In addition, I find I use my wipers much less using Rainx windshield washer fluid. It is cheaper then it use to be, water does bead and visibility out has improved. It extends the life of the blades for me.
Thanks for the recommendation for whoever sent me to auto zone! It was great. And they did install them for me. I got the Bosch ones- I thought they were so wonderful the first day - and they are fine - but you know - in today’s storm - I thought they were good - but not wonderful - bot any better than the original wipers. My rear wiper if the original and it works fine even though it’s 9 years old. I know everyone says the rubber erodes - but it works fine. one of my front wipers worked fine. Are there better ones that Bosch? more expensive ones ? I paid $38 for the pair.
I will say that any wiper will work better if the windshield is clean. I’ve never tried it but many on these discussion pages recommend “Invisible Glass”. It makes a difference when the road crud is cleaned off.
Invisible Glass is great - way better than Windex. I use it for the inside of my windshield, and it really is a ton better. In particular, it got rid of the glare from dust that just gets streaked by Windex. I don’t know what it is, but it smells like hydrocarbons instead of ammonia. Rubbing alcohol on a sheet of newsprint also works really well.
Just a non-scientific observation, but I don’t think most wiper blades now last nearly as long as they used to decades ago and it’s probably due to the compound used. Maybe the amount of carbon black increased as it’s cheaper than other chemicals used?
The carbon black plant is about 10 miles from me and it seems they’ve really stepped up production over the last few decades. Nasty stuff; think of it as coal dust by the train and truckload.
There’s some Big O tire stores in my 'hood and I had a set on one of my SAABs once. My daughter currently has a set of Big O tires on her Mustang and they’ve been good performers even with high miles and lousy road surfaces.
I don’t use the Big O here because I’ve found that when comparing tire specs and prices they’re generally higher than everyone else around here on similar spec tires.
The franchise owner has a race car operation to fund, so …
@eelise … 9 years for a wiper blade, and it still works fine, that is pretty remarkable. Sunlight is probably the most damaging thing to wiper blades. Do you keep your car in the shade or garaged mostly? That might explain. Running the wipers on a really dirty window or on an ice covered window is another cause of blade damage. If you wash your car often and don’t live in a snowy/icy area, that also could be a reason. Ozone and other air pollutants is probably third on the list, which is usually worse in big cities.
“Sunlight is probably the most damaging thing to wiper blades”.
My wife and I made a trip out west via Amtrak and rented a car in Grand Junction, Colorado. While we were driving in Utah, a rain storm came up and the wipers were virtually useless. I stopped at a WalMart in some town, bought the cheapest refills I could find (I think I spent about $5) and installed them. When I turned in the car that I am certain was no more than 1 year old, I gave them the receipt for the wiper refills. They took the amount off the bill, but said that the sunlight out there was good at destroying the wiper blades.
Not stupid @texases, you gave the dealer a chance to prove their value and they failed, not you. You learned something and it only cost a little time to get the blades installed.
@Barkydog, the ethanol is absorbed by the rubber and replaces the light weight compounds that outgas over time. Just don’t use too much, as it will eventually dissolve the rubber.
my car has been garaged for all of it’s 9 years except the past 6 months - maybe that explains it! Are there better blades than Bosch? I am not thrilled with them now that I see them in a snow shower - they are ok - but not ay better than my original ones.
I agree with sunlight being the most damaging to wiper blades. If you live in an area that doesn’t get much rain, but gets a lot of sun, the blades just cook on the hot windshield and dry out. Then when you need them, they’re nearly useless. I experienced this last summer with a rental in TX during a rare heavy downpour they had.
I don’t know if anyone’s said this so far, but I have to: Wiper blades are pretty cheap–why not just spend the $20 and replace them! Is it worth spending this much of your time to (probably poorly) engineer a solution that may save you $10 and probably won’t last nearly as long as a new set of blades? Even if you buy a cheap set of blades and they only last a year, it’s only $20! Far cheaper than just about anything else in life any more. To me this is like cheaping out on toilet paper…
