What Size Wiper Are You Running?

[ssdvc]

I had 16" wiper blades when I received my M1009. I replace those with 18" one and they worked really good. I just bought a set of 20". They fit and I am going to give them a try.

On another note, my wipers stopped working for me during a trip the other day. Pulled the wiper motor off the firewall and found a boatload of animal hair (most likely mouse hair, but a lot of it) wrapped around the wiper motor and actuator arm. So much hair that it forced the actuator arm off the motor button. I had to cut it off with a razor. Anyway, got rid of the hair, put the motor back on the arm and bolted it all back on the firewall again. Pain in the butt, but I got lucky. Just figured I let folks know, in case their wipers stop working for no reason.

 

[Anubis8472]

They're all cheap junk these days.

IMO 18-20's are not needed. I like to stick to 14-16's.

I've found on other vehicles changing to a smaller size gives me more reliable and clear sight.
Larger blades tend to skip/freeze up/streak/smear and it's always that small area right in your line of sight.

I run 14's on my pickup (non-CUCV) and they'll cut through pretty much anything.

 

[2HIJOS2126]

I run 16's on both my 84' M1028 and my 85' Silverado. They seem to do what I need of them, I have never considered going any bigger than that...

 

[ODFever]

I have stock 16" on mine. I'd rather run stock size blades.

 

[scottladdy]

Stock 16" are working fine for me as well. Had a boatload of rain over the weekend. The 16's gave me plenty of visibility.

I think having more variability of wiper speed would be more beneficial. I grew up on two speed wipers and my first car had vacuum motor wipers. But I am now spoiled by multi-speed, multi-variability wipers.

 

[howardc]

I just replaced my blades and put 16's on it. I have a problem with wiper speed and didn't want bigger blades slowing me down.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Wipers?

Oh, yeah, those are those things that people depend on when they don't use Rain-X.


If you haven't tried it, you should. Seriously, if you apply that stuff on your windshield, side windows, and rear view mirrors (outside), you'll find yourself driving along in a storm wondering why everybody else is driving so slowly. And then it will hit you:

Oh, that's right. They can't see!



(Yes, I know you still need your wipers. I was funnin!)

 

[Anubis8472]

You know I tried that rainx stuff a dozen or so years ago.

It was great for maybe a few weeks. Iritated the heck out of me that you could see where the wipers wore it off. Needs constant re-application and your windshield has to be absolutely spotless before applying or you seal the dirt in. In the end I decided it was far more of a pain then it was worth.

It worked better then the anti-fog stuff I tried on my motorcycle visor. That stuff was garbage. Sure it would prevent fogging for a few minutes, but eventually it would still fog up. The problem was that once it did fog up it took forever to de-fog.

To each, his own.

 

[prairie]

On my M1008, I put a 20" blade on the drivers side, and an 18" blade on the passenger side. The passenger side has an aftermarket wiper arm that was put on before I purchased the pickup at a surplus auction, and that is all the longer I could fit.
On the relatively flat windshield that the M1008/M1009 style trucks have, longer blades work very well. On other windshields and rear windows, such as those with more curve or a bubble shape, longer than OEM blades may not work so well.
I grew up with K20, K30, and C60 Chevys, and we almost always put longer than OEM blades on when they needed replacement. Never had a problem and got improved visibility with very little or no extra cost. They would run for many years with those longer blades, don't remember ever having wiper motor or other problems.
I would never go back to the 16" original length blades on my M1008!!

 

[ODFever]

parairie - Thanks for your explanation of first hand experience. I might just try 18" blades to see if it helps during the blinding rainstorms I drive through in the summer. When the east and west coast sea breezes collide over Central Florida, the downpours can be nearly as bad as a winter whiteout. I grew up in Western NY and drove through the Blizzard of '93, and have driven through numerous tropical storms here in FL.

I used to use Rain-X. I applied 4-5 coats to make sure it was evenly distributed. What I hated the most was when the coating started to wear off and the wipers would catch on a patch of windshield and stutter really bad. That was very distracting during heavy rainstorms. It works great when you remember to reapply it often BEFORE the rain starts.

 

[11Echo]

Been running 18" on my square body GM for 40 years.
Would never go back to 16 on any of them.

 

[cpf240]

I'm just happy the wiper motor is still willing to swing the blades that are attached to it...