Wiper blades

[DonRybak]

I have never had a reason to use my wipers but noticed that the rubber had more or less dry rotted on them. I was afraid that sometime I might inadvertently turn them on while reaching for the work lights button and the rubber come off the blades thus scratching the glass. The front wiper is 18" and readily available. The rear blade is only 12" and harder to come by. The only 12" blades I found at Walmart were marked for rear of car and the way they connect to the wiper arm was different. The original blade is the standard hook style like the front. I picked up a 14" but was worried that with the the extra length there might be interference with the warning triangle mounting bracket. But everything works fine with plenty of room in case you ever have a need for replacements.............Don

 

[5030]

Blade mounts are generic, that is one blade will fit all mounts (and they come with the correct adapters).

When I replace blades on my tractors or vehicles, I measure the swept area and buy the longest blade that will fit and not over run the glass and rub on the moldings.

 

[DonRybak]

The ones at Walmart were RainX marked Rear R-12-A, R-12-B and R-12-C but there were no adapters in the packages that I saw. On the RainX 14" and 18" I bought the packages were marked on the back as "Hook Style" and there were no adapters. I have seen packages with the adapters in the past but evidently a different brand.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Try driving a 76 model truck. Been using them rear wipers for years.

 

[DonRybak]

I was mistaken on one thing though. Those are Michelin wipers I bought and not Rain-X like I thought. I went and dug the boxes out of the trash just to be sure.

 

[Wagtail]

Hmmm... I know that my local auto-parts shop can simply replace the 'rubber' part of any blade.

It's less expensive than replacing the entire blade assembly and sounds like a good solution for you.

 

[DonRybak]

Wagtail, I haven't seen any auto parts stores here that do that. Seems like years ago you could buy the rubber and thread it onto the blade yourself but I think that's something that's long gone. The rubber option would be good here in Florida because the sun does a number on blades. I have to replace mine on my vehicles every 6 months or so when they start getting hard or the noise will drive you up a wall. I never have used them on the tractor but as I said in my first post the rubber was coming off the blade and I was worried about scratching the windshields.