I need new windshield wipers!

Jeffrey · 01-11-2009, 04:00 PM

I see that I can install longer blades on the arms. So,what are the best ones?

oclv · 01-11-2009, 09:53 PM

I need new ones also. I have Bosch Icons on my car and really like them. I am going to see if they will work on the Sportsmobile. oclv

jage · 01-11-2009, 10:38 PM

Everything I put on the SMB is crap by the time I drive it next. Are those little alcohol wipes a scam? Because the blades last in the case for several months and I install them, wipe them down and 3 weeks later they're streaking and gapping. I've tried 3 different kinds including Bosch and they all suck after the van sits between trips.

Greggd · 01-11-2009, 11:38 PM

You might look into the Piia Silicone blades they are supposed to provide a decent service life and they don't freeze up , and make very good contact for cleaning and clearing of your windshield . My personal favorite solution is the use of Rain X which I apply weekly to a cleaned windshield and have done this for over twenty five years on every vehicle that I have owned . The beauty of Rain X is that you really do not need your wipers 90 per cent of the time .
Greggde

Ed in Montana · 01-12-2009, 09:50 AM

I have had the Bosch wiper blades for one year, and they work great. They are soft enough to completely clear the windshield in heavy rain and don't squeak horribly when they are partailly dry.

Installing them was fairly confusing though, and required several searchs on "the Google" (as the soon to be Mr. Bush would say).

Psomaki · 01-12-2009, 10:10 AM

Consumer Reports puts the Valeo at the top of the list, with Rain-X wipers next. They say the Valeo cleans best but the Rain-X holds up better. Kinda interesting - their tests over six months showed that the wipers that clean the best when installed also poop out pretty fast and need to be replaced. We don't get freezing weather and ice here that often, but we just had a lovely winter wonderland period and it pretty will messed up the wipers on every vehicle we used. But hey, folks, long ago and far away I had a 1953 MG-TD. Now there was a car with totally worthless wipers. Just like the car's Lucas ignition, everything worked until it rained...

winvest · 01-12-2009, 04:13 PM

Ed - How do the Bosch's work in snow?

Ed in Montana · 01-13-2009, 03:09 PM

Winvest, I don't drive the Sporty much in really bad snow storms to know for sure how Bosch wipers work under those conditions. I am ususually waiting for it to stop snowing so i can plan a weekend Sportsmobile trip.

Last March a friend and I drove to Death Valley NP down I-15 in Idaho, and got hit by a nasty 32 degree F heavy wet snowstorm. Even with the defroster going full blast (to the point where we were sweating buckets) I had to stop every 10 miles or so to break the ice off of the wiper blades. You had to be really careful not to break a blade off entirely and be stuck there. Ice was forming incredibly fast on the vehicle, but luckily not too much on the road surface.

Joanna · 01-13-2009, 08:07 PM

Give me the name of wipers that will sweep away salt and sand. Every morning.

JoeyNick · 01-13-2009, 09:35 PM

There's always a HotShot system. I heard that GM is installing them in some of their high end vehicles.

http://www.hotshotdirectllc.com/

My driver side windshield wiper is, I think, 2" longer than stock to help eliminate that space between the blades that never seems to have the snow cleared from it. Passenger side is original size.

I usually get the the blue box wipers from Wal Mart -- Anco brand, maybe? Something like that. In the past, I didn't see any difference between them and any of the other brands I tried.

Has anybody ever thought about installing one of those electric defrosters to the bottom of the windshield, as is common on the rear windows of cars?