#@^&*! Windshield Wiper Blades

[JEBar]

a couple of days ago we put our Chevy 1500 in the shop to have it serviced and the tires rotated .... while working on it they called us and said the wiper blades needed to be replaced .... I have no doubt that the blades needed to be replaced but declined having them do so .... sat down and ordered a reasonably priced set guaranteed to fit our truck from Amazon .... blades delivered next day which naturally had bands of rain moving through .... to take advantage of a lull between showers, I decided to go out and install the new blades .... naturally the truck was parked in standing water and yes, I my shoes were quickly saturated .... that was then things became unhinged .... first, I couldn't figure out how to removed the old blades .... frustration escalated as once again it started raining .... back in the house I decided to read the directions .... must admit I was a bit taken back by the instructions being all pictures, not a single word .... for me that's not bad at all .... both of the pages of diagrams were divided to sections written for the up-teen types of wiper arms one might find .... problem, you couldn't know which type of tip was used on our truck's arms until the blades were removed .... during subsequent lull, I must have pulled or pushed or twisted something because all of a sudden I had a wiper blade in my hand .... back to the directions and found the area that covered the arms on our truck .... another lull, back out there and lets just say that things didn't go well .... finally gave up and decided to drive over to an auto parts, buy another set and have them install them for free .... figured that would probably be cheaper than going to a regular garage and paying them to install the ones ordered from Amazon .... naturally not a cloud in the sky this morning .... got in the truck, put the key in the ignition to head to an auto parts but I couldn't make myself crank the truck .... went back to work on the blades with the directions in one hand .... finally I noticed that one of the many parts of the adapter that came with blade needed to be removed .... once again, a picture of the part off to the side but no hint as to how to remove .... eventually, I did figure it out and the blades popped into place .... must say that don't know whether grumble or smile

 

[W. WIllie]

Sometimes getting old is a bitch! LOL

 

[JEBar]

ain't no Sometimes to it

 

[Hog]

Changing wiper blades used to be a rare event, now they only last a few years. I have sent many cars to the boneyard with the original blades still on and working perfectly. Some of those Nickel bumpers looked as good as new after 15 years as well.

 

[3wheelin]

a couple of days ago we put our Chevy 1500 in the shop to have it serviced and the tires rotated .... while working on it they called us and said the wiper blades needed to be replaced .... I have no doubt that the blades needed to be replaced but declined having them do so .... sat down and ordered a reasonably priced set guaranteed to fit our truck from Amazon .... blades delivered next day which naturally had bands of rain moving through .... to take advantage of a lull between showers, I decided to go out and install the new blades .... naturally the truck was parked in standing water and yes, I my shoes were quickly saturated .... that was then things became unhinged .... first, I couldn't figure out how to removed the old blades .... frustration escalated as once again it started raining .... back in the house I decided to read the directions .... must admit I was a bit taken back by the instructions being all pictures, not a single word .... for me that's not bad at all .... both of the pages of diagrams were divided to sections written for the up-teen types of wiper arms one might find .... problem, you couldn't know which type of tip was used on our truck's arms until the blades were removed .... during subsequent lull, I must have pulled or pushed or twisted something because all of a sudden I had a wiper blade in my hand .... back to the directions and found the area that covered the arms on our truck .... another lull, back out there and lets just say that things didn't go well .... finally gave up and decided to drive over to an auto parts, buy another set and have them install them for free .... figured that would probably be cheaper than going to a regular garage and paying them to install the ones ordered from Amazon .... naturally not a cloud in the sky this morning .... got in the truck, put the key in the ignition to head to an auto parts but I couldn't make myself crank the truck .... went back to work on the blades with the directions in one hand .... finally I noticed that one of the many parts of the adapter that came with blade needed to be removed .... once again, a picture of the part off to the side but no hint as to how to remove .... eventually, I did figure it out and the blades popped into place .... must say that don't know whether grumble or smile

when in doubt, go to youtube!

 

[JEBar]

I usually do and probably should have done so this time

 

[84mpg]

When I was a young lad, watching my Dad work on our vehicles... he used to often say "If I could only see it – I can do it". He had glasses on and I couldn't understand why his bifocals or trifocals wasn't enabling him to see the hole, bolt or nut.... or the release you'd have to press to get the wiper blades off. I've officially caught up with my Dad. My biggest problem is just SEEING the problem or the fix. It never fails that the issue is ALWAYS somewhere between me tilting my head back – for the "reading" part of my eyeglasses to kick in and where my "distant" portion of the glasses work. It's rare for me to easily see what needs to be fixed – especially working overhead or underneath a car. Now that I'm an old geezer myself, I finally understand what frustrated my Dad so much, tinkering around on a car! HA!

 

[ehwatt]

When I was a young lad, watching my Dad work on our vehicles... he used to often say "If I could only see it – I can do it". He had glasses on and I couldn't understand why his bifocals or trifocals wasn't enabling him to see the hole, bolt or nut.... or the release you'd have to press to get the wiper blades off. I've officially caught up with my Dad. My biggest problem is just SEEING the problem or the fix. It never fails that the issue is ALWAYS somewhere between me tilting my head back – for the "reading" part of my eyeglasses to kick in and where my "distant" portion of the glasses work. It's rare for me to easily see what needs to be fixed – especially working overhead or underneath a car. Now that I'm an old geezer myself, I finally understand what frustrated my Dad so much, tinkering around on a car! HA!

My dad was a plumber. He had a pair of glasses with the bifocals in the upper part of the lens.

 

[84mpg]

My dad was a plumber. He had a pair of glasses with the bifocals in the upper part of the lens.

I've never seen bifocals like that. Makes sense with him having to look upward so much.
Dad had the only trifocals that I ever saw. The closeup reading was at both the bottom and top – with the middle for distance. I've never asked, but I suppose they could make progressives like that?

Getting back to wiper blades. I changed mine out a few weeks ago on my Ram. I knew how the release was suppose to work – but couldn't really see it or feel it (the release). I hated to do it, but I got out a pair of sturdy needle nose pliers and basically ripped the blade attachment apart. Heck, it was plastic anyway and I wasn't going to reuse it.

Putting the new blade on was a cinch. At that point, I could see what I was doing and how the clip was suppose to work.

And yes, it seems like the blades are cheaper made these days and don't last as long as they used to.... like everything else, short lived and disposable.