Wiper Blade Survey

[OrangeBowl]

I got a free set of Michelins when I bought tires,they've been good for a little more than a year.Time to change them though,probably do another set of Michelins or Bosch.

 

[colby450xc]

I have some kind of flex blade on my truck. They came on the truck, and Ive had it for about 10 months. Usually I replace mine once a year if I feel like spending the money. I Usually wax all of my windows when I wax my vehicles, which is about every six months. I don't know if this effects the life of the blades or not, but it makes water bead off the glass pretty well. ALSO.....I have never seen this before, but whoever owned this truck before me put a 1" outer diameter nut behind the wiper arm spring. It makes them a hell of a lot stiffer. The truck came from Minnesota, so I'm guessing this helped with ice and snow. I thought it was some awesome engineering myself. I bet it was a bitch to get those nuts behind the spring too...lol

 

[daniel3507]

Ive had a few pairs of the Rain-X flex wiper blades. Wont get them again. They seem to streak a lot after not very long at all. Luckily I rarely use my wipers since I load up my windshield with Rain-X the old fashioned way. Water just flies off to the point where the wipers arent even needed. Next set of wipers though will be Silblade
http://www.silblade.com/

 

[06RangerXLT]

i still have my factory wipers from 2006. they work mint and dont streak

 

[Daniel_187]

I put some rain-x wipers on my moms Heep and was very disapointed, after a week or so they smuged and did not do a good job on wet snow. I get the cheaper ones ($5-$6) a blade at autozone and change them once for winter blades then again for summer blades

 

[Sweersa]

Can't think of the exact model name but they are made by michelin, you can get them at target. The kind that are curved without the pressure springs. Last ridiculously long(3+ years) and will clear anything on the windshield without a streak. Even blood(roadkill deer).

+1 except I got mine at Wal-Mart. They have held up fine for over two years.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

I only ever had one pair of contour blades. Brought them back that same day because the snow was getting caught all over them and they wouldn't even wipe anymore.

Tried contours of different brands...same crap. And I find the longer they are...the worse they work 'cause they can't keep enough pressure at the tips.(my wife has them on her civic)

I stick with the old fashioned design.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I got tired of my old style wiper blades freezing up this winter and I tried some of the Bosch Icon blades (Autozone has them on sale once in awhile). I have to say that I have mixed emotions about 'em. For whatever reason, the passenger side blade wipes the windshield clean no problem, but the drivers side will skip the entire viewing area sometimes when it's cold. Tried putting on a new wiper arm and playing with the bend in it, but it still freezes. When it's not frozen it works great though with no squeaks (my old blades were clearing most of the time but the squeaking was driving me nuts). I tried replacing the blade (Autozone swapped it out at no charge) but the new blade does the same thing. I'm thinking my windshield is just defective at this point, lol. (It needs replaced anyway because of a crack on the drivers side).

I will say that windshield washer fluid can make a difference too. I used to run the cheap blue stuff all the time, but a couple months ago the local Autozone had a deal going on the "premium" washer fluids - with the purchase of two bottles of the stuff you got a free bag of ice melt. And if you got the Prestone De-Icer, you got a rebate for the cost of one bottle. I got two bottles to try it out and after having tried it for a week or so, I went back on the last day of the sale and got two more bottles of the De-Icer and four bottles of the bug wash.

I still have three bottles of the cheap blue stuff.... it will be used for de-icing my truck doors in winter, lol.

My mom ran regular old winter blades on her truck but they didn't survive one winter season without freezing up despite the rubber boot on 'em.

And I know what ya'll mean about the refill blades, seems like nobody sells them anymore for anything, they want you to buy the whole assembly now.

 

[buckshotz43]

I've had the Trico Flex blades for 2 years now through two terrible snow storms. ran em over the ice on the windshield many of times. they are still going strong perfect windshield every wipe. got em at Advanced for 25 bucks way. definitely worth it.

 

[Sunk]

I got Bosch blades on sale at Schuck's and with the Rain-X fluid it's tits.