Wiper Arms/Blades

It's time for new front wipers on the Si again. Last time I tried the new fangled one-piece arm/blade (Trico Neo Force). I have not been impressed. Anyone have good luck with the Bosch one-piece arm/blade style? Any comments on the ones sold under the Rain-X brand? Any stand-out good performers in the "old" multi-hinged metal arm style?

Thanks,

Ray

Rain-X blades are outstanding.

I have Rain-X traditional style (not one piece) blades on all my cars, and I live in Florida. It's wiper hell here–relentless sun, and rain almost daily during the summer.

My dad buys the Bosch blades, but I don't really like them. I only got 3 months out of my last few sets, which prompted the switch to Rain-X blades. I consistently get 6 months out of Rain-X blades.

+1 for rain-x blades

The bosch blades were very good quality at first, but later sets didnt last near as long. I have had good luck with the rain-x lattitude the last couple sets i have bought. The bosch ones work fine too, just dont last quite as long anymore (the first set lasted like 5 years of normal use).

I really like my new Michelin "beam/bow style" blades--got them at Walmart for under $12. They are really nice in snow.

Honestly... I use Honda Blades on my cars..... yes, I put honda blades on my Korean cars. Nothing else seems to last. Plus replacement inserts are available for $4-5 each and I don't have to mess around with it.

Just my $.02

I've been most happy with Carquest house brand wiper blades, but I live in NC where an "all season" wiper works pretty much all year.

Since you're up where it gets cold and frosty, I have to ask: are you using winter wiper blades in winter time?

I live in the Land of Many Climates (100+ and humid in summer, 0*, snowing, and windy in winter). Nothing really stands up for longer than about 10 months, but I use the Rain-X ones, and they last alright. Haven't used them in really bad snow and ice yet, so I can't speak to that. That usually tears my blades apart worse than heat. The Bosch Icons used to be better, but they are teh suck now.

I've used the one piece style and absolutely loved the performance .... that said .... they didn't last any longer than the AZ etc house brands ( for ~ 15% of the cost ) that work fine when new.... so now I just buy the cheapest and replace a couple times a yr

I stopped buying Bosch when they stopped lasting more than 3 months. They might have multiple quality levels available, but the ones my shop use are crap.

Goodyear blades at Costco for $6 a piece seem to be worth the money

I've gone back to using Anco wiper blades. I've used Rain-X, got my six months out of them, but got annoyed when it didn't rain enough to really let the Rain-X ones work. I'm back to Anco, which is much quieter on my windshield.

I might be an oddball, but I found the Rain-X needed serious rain to work good, whereas here in Mississippi, a good rainstorm is hard to find most of the year.

I experimented with all of the different ones and ended up reverting to "whatever's on sale". The Bosch line has indeed had a significant drop in quality as of late and the rain here isn't hard enough for Rain-X to really work. The snow doesn't really clean off the -piece types better than the normal ones, either.

And honestly, whatever happened to inserts? I can't even find them anymore. I don't need a new metal arm every 6 months.

I got Latitude blades for mine (forget if they're rainx or trico...) and have been very disappointed. Put them on before a one-week, 3500-mile trip. Before the end of the trip they already had nicks in them which left lines of water. They also were very chattery. I tried cleaning the windshield with #00 steel wool, no dice. Tried putting rain-x on it, no dice. Chattery and crappy.

What are winter wiper blades?

What do you all do to your wipers that they need to be replaced so often?

I've replaced one wiper on the Jeep since i bought it over a year ago. Works great.

The MX6 is still wearing the same wipers that were on it when i bought it 2.5 years ago and they still work. (Could probably use replacing, they chatter a bit)

Escort wore the same wipers the whole time i used it as a DD, worked fine. (on the car when i bought it.)

Pretty sure i drove the Celica for 2-3 years with the same set with no issues. (Were on it when i bought it after it sat for 3 years)

Winter blades are normal blades that have a rubber condom over them so they don't ice up and stop working (as quickly).

I'm pretty good at reaching out and flicking the blades as they travel within reach, at speed, at night, (on the nurburgring, in a caterham)

I like the Valeo blades that TTR sells. http://www.tirerack.com/wipers/brand.jsp?brand=Valeo

Per

The previous owner of my '05 Si used rain-x latitude wipers.

49k miles and almost 2yrs later I'm finally replacing them; pricy, but wow do they last!...

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: What do you all do to your wipers that they need to be replaced so often?

I'm wondering the same thing. I read something a while ago that said blades should be changed every six months, which is what I do. I kinda feel stupid buying them twice a year knowing they last longer than that. But, I live in New England, so putting a new pair on before winter doesn't seem like a bad idea depending on how bad the weather is.

Depends on the climate - for example out here on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada you get fairly high UV radiation that deteriorates the rubber in no time.

That said, I had this impression that they used to last a lot longer than they do now, independent of brand.

Per Schroeder wrote: I'm pretty good at reaching out and flicking the blades as they travel within reach, at speed, at night, (on the nurburgring, in a caterham) Per

Not so pleasent to do when it is -25 degrees C (-13 degress F) like it was here last night, but you do what you got to do! (Says the guy that just went and bought new winter wiper blades tonight!)

They look like this:

Thanks All! Yeah, I'm in a state where the white stuff falls...Connecticut. I have never used "winter blades"...just the all season type. But I do lift my wipers off the windshield when I park if I know that it is going to sleet or snow. I used the Honda inserts in the front until a year ago (I still use them on the rear wiper). The "spring plates" were starting to loose their shape and the arms were pretty beat so that's why I tried the beam type. Looks like I'll check out the Valeos, Michelins, and the "old school" ANCOs.

I used OEM Honda rubber inserts on my ep3.

On everything anymore I buy Valeo 600s on amazon.com.

I can't believe no one has linked to Heywood Banks wiper blade song yet. If I wasn't on the ps3 I would.

I change blades often. Nothing worst than crappy wiper blades.

The Chevrolets always got $4.99 Anco Walmart blades. I trust Wally World has them for the Accord. I don't like buying crap like wiper blades at my .friendly Honda dealer.