Freaking wiper blades - Page 2

grtharris · 02-15-2017, 11:13 AM

mjeffrey Thanks for the info on the Bosch Excel + wiper blades. I ordered 2 for $10.98 from Amazon. Used the H12 adapter that comes in the box and they snapped right in. Well they did not exactly just snap in, it seams the instructions on the back of the box for the H12 adapter is not correct (looks like the changed the design). The H12 adapter installs on the 12mm J hook the same way as the H15 adapter installs on the smaller J hook.

mjeffrey · 02-15-2017, 01:03 PM

You can reused the original adapter too

Cranemec · 02-15-2017, 01:18 PM

For the 2009 Journey.

Wiper Technologies WT8-28

https://www.rvupgradestore.com/tru-v...-p/23-6338.htm

RonVBT · 02-22-2017, 02:47 PM

This last weekend (Feb 17,2017) my wife and I traveled 600 miles or so to visit our daughter in Oregon. The weather wasn’t the best with rain and wind forecast. In preparation, I bought two new 32” trico wipers for our Thor Hurricane 31D. The new wipers were about an inch longer than the old ones but that is what the wiper web site called for. On the way up there, we had to use the wipers quite a bit and it seemed like they were struggling to go all the way across the windshield. Eventually, the wipers started going off the side of the windshield and also went too far below the windshield too.

I used the wipers sparingly so to not stress them but finally, the wipers stuck halfway across the windshield. After what seemed an eternity, they finally made it back to the park position. We stopped at a travel center and I bought a bottle of Rain-X and also removed the passenger side wiper.

The rest of the trip, I didn’t use the wipers at all. The Rain-X did a great job! While in Oregon, I did the research and found that Thor uses the Wexco system. I have the D103 motor with the ball joint linkage (Bosch?). Unfortunately, there was no way to make repairs before leaving to go back home. The weather was forecast to be worse as the week went on with a possibility of snow and chain control over the mountain passes. I decided to go for it and hope the Rain-X held up. It did and we made it home two days ago. Upon arriving home, we found several big branches had fallen and one tree had blown down in our yard. After using the chain saw on Tuesday, I was able to get to the wiper repair today.

I’m finding that a 32” wiper blade seems excessively big for any motorhome. Also my arms are 30” and I can’t find any arm that long or even a spec for it on the Wexco website. I noticed that our wipers go way too high on the windshield so my plan is to put 26” blades on there and shorten the arms to 26” also. I took the wiper system out of the coach and found all linkages in good shape but the nut holding the crank onto the wiper motor was loose and the nut was hitting the frame. It seemed like the crank was bent a little too. This is weird because it is fairly robust.

TeJay · 02-22-2017, 08:48 PM

Re-read my post # 17 above. To add to that information here's this. We had a 1999 Dutch Star 34' MH. The wipers did what yours did. They went off the windshield in both directions. Eventually I had to rebuild the linkages because Newmar nor Ford had a clue as to what to do.

Eventually I made one of the linkages adjustable so I could control the entire swipe of the motor. Then I reduced the length of the wiper blades to reduce the weight being swung.

In all reality one does not need to have the entire windshield wiped clean of the rain. You experienced the use of Rain X. That stuff works great and almost replaces the wipers which for most MH's are almost worthless anyway.

I'll do as has been mentioned which is to go down to probably a 26" on the drivers side and a 24" on the passenger side. The passenger does not need to see as much as the driver IMHO.

Do you have the J-hook set up???? If you do they are probably the 12-mm size. All passenger cars and trucks use 9-mm and bigger trucks use the 12-mm. I'm probably going to grind them down to 9-mm and just use standard wiper blades as others have done.

RonVBT · 02-23-2017, 08:31 AM

TeJay….Yes, I do have J hooks. I ordered some 26” Bosch Excel+ 41926 blades from Amazon which will arrive tomorrow. I couldn’t find the spec on how wide they are (which I find odd) but I’m prepared to grind my arms down to 9mm if necessary. The Trico 32” blades I bought in December were $31.67ea. I’ll be glad to use cheap, widely available blades instead of the stock 32” ones. I (like you) believe the extreme length had something to do with my system failure. My whole wiper assembly will twist and distort with excessive stress applied to it.

I cut 4” out of my wiper arms yesterday. I would buy new ones if I could find a match but the closest I can find are the AM Equipment 352-0211 with an adjustable blade angle. It may work but for the price of ‘free’, I’ll try cutting mine and putting the two pieces together with three 8-32 machine screws.

So, with 4” less arm length and 6” less wiper blade, that makes my radius of wipe (or lever length) 7” less and the wipe area much less than it was. This will put much less strain on the Wexco system. I’ll keep the window treated with Rain-X as I test this new set-up. Of course, now that I have done all this, it probably won’t rain on us for a while.

I’d be interested in how you made your system adjustable. I’d like to make my system’s wipe angle smaller. I see some systems have multiple holes on the pivot levers to change where the linkage connects to them, effectively changing the length of the pivot lever. My system doesn’t have this feature. You mentioned that you made the linkage arms adjustable but that wouldn’t change the area of the wipe (Wipe angle) but it would move it left or right. I think the only way to change the wipe angle is to change the length of the pivot lever or the length of the motor crank. Making the wipe area smaller would also help to put less stress on the system.
I have been looking at the AM Equipment 2P system online.
A Fully Customizable Plug & Play Windshield Wiper System | AM Equipment | Wiper Systems and DC Motors

It’s made with roller bearings rather than ball joints. The pivot arms are adjustable to change wipe angle. I need to call them and see how much this system costs…..I’m sure it’s not cheap!

RonVBT · 02-23-2017, 10:08 AM

Just called AM Equipment. They custom make wiper systems for coaches. They need pictures and such to make a new system. I drove right by their factory on Monday on the way home from visiting my daughter in Oregon but it was President’s Day…and I was in a hurry to beat the weather! Anyway, it depends on your configuration but a system is approximately $450 for the motor, frame, linkages, and wiper pivots. The complete package with wiper arms, wipers, etc is $600-$700. A new Wexco G138 motor for my old system is $250. The AM Equip system needs 11” clearance between the fiberglass and anything behind it.

TeJay · 02-23-2017, 02:24 PM

Ron,

Sounds like you are committed to doing it right which is the only way. Man the wiper system that i re-built was done back in about 2,000. I can't remember what i had for breakfast.

Newmar sent me a different wiper motor arm which did reduce the total movement some but still not enough.

As best as I can remember I think I made the arm that connects the two sides using some metal pieces that were like a drawer slide. One piece that slid inside another and I set up something to bolts to lock it in place.

I think I changed the position of the wiper motor arm to adjust where the swipe started then adjusted the total sweep by changing the length of the center arm.

I would not spend $700 - $800 for a system but that's just me. I know I can find some extruded aluminum metal of some sorts to make arms that can be adjusted.

If I had to I go up to Colaws in MO which is one of the best RV salvage yards around. I'd just go and but a bruised wiper arm system from a wreck and salvage the arms to make something new.

Even back in 2000 I was not net savvy like these days so searching on line should provide a trove of information and sources as well.

Let me know how the blades work out. I was out today working on things and took a look at my wiper arms to see what I'm going to have to do as well. I'll check your sources for the wiper blades.

You are right about it not raining. We seldom drive in the rain but when you do you need the wipers to work. I'm like you and will be pro-active for the rainy days so they are good rainy days.

Just took a closer look at the AM wiper system you posted . Those arms are just aluminum tubing. Heck get some tubing (square or round) that will telescope inside one another and use sheet metal screws to make the adjustments. That's a simply and cheap way. Drill one hole in the outer tube and a series of holes on the inside tube and you'll have a multitude of adjustments.

RonVBT · 02-25-2017, 11:12 PM

TeJay, you are right. I think a similar system could be made, or at least, the old system could be modified and made a lot better. Meanwhile, I decided to try something different with the problem of fitting a smaller 9mm blade onto the larger 12mm wiper arm. Some people are grinding the arm to 9mm.....which would work. I decided to try modifying the smaller blade to fit the stock 12mm arm. That way, if I decide to go back to the 12mm blade, I still can. I drilled out the 9mm blade's saddle, bent the wiper frame a little and installed the old 12mm blade's saddle in the new smaller blade. I'll give it a wet test tomorrow.

TeJay · 02-26-2017, 01:48 PM

Ron,

Man another good idea. I'm looked at the blades that i have and still want to use a 26" on the drivers side and a 24" on the passenger. I'm certain that will be enough blade so i can see.

It was 81 three days ago and back in the 20's at night and maybe low 40's today. Also have an engine battery that is toast. So one thing at a time!!!!

RonVBT · 04-22-2017, 08:59 AM

I tested the wiper modifications made in February and they worked fine as far as wiping area and performance, however, the true test will be a full day of heavy rain! I think the weak link (at this point) may be the motor but the reduced load on it should help. A 32" blade is ridiculous and really not needed. I was wiping areas of the windshield that I don't even use.

So far I have shortened the arms by 4". I took off the original 32" blades with a 12mm wide saddle and installed 26" Bosch plus blades (41926-26") which has a 9mm wide saddle. I modified the new blade to accept the 12mm saddle off my old stock blade so it would fit on my 12mm wide arm. That all worked fine. The end result was that the wiping area is 7" lower on the top and 1" lower on the bottom. The blade goes to the same spot on the top of the swing but seems to park a little higher on the windshield than it did originally. I don't think that is a result of the blade change or the arm shortening but I did have the entire wiper assembly torn apart and out of the coach. I must have changed something in the geometry.

I think, however, that I'm going to grind the arm to accept 9mm blades so I can use blades that are easy to find. I found a ton of common blades that will be easy to purchase at any auto parts store and cheap. The Rain X website is a good reference for this. For example, a 2016 Honda Accord uses a 9mm X 4 "J hook" blade that is 26" long. Many vehicles use this blade. A simple little thing like a wiper blade can disable your coach.

My unit is in storage right now but prior to our next trip during the first week of June, I'll make the mod and report back.

Finhawk · 04-23-2017, 10:46 PM

Get online and check out etrailer. They have a good selection of stuff

RonVBT · 06-07-2017, 02:37 PM

Okay...we're in-between trips right now and I had time to grind the 12mm wiper arms down to 9mm.

I used a bench grinder to reduce the 12mm arms (.472") down to 9mm (.354"). I used a file to get rid of sharp edges and painted black. Tested with a garden hose and after the windshield dried, I coated it with Rain-X. These wiper blades supposedly apply Rain-X when being used.

We are taking off, tomorrow, for Northern Oregon and there is a 100% chance of rain. It will be a good test!

The good thing is that most of my wiper arm is still 12mm thick and it's only the last 1 1/2" that is thinner. I don't think it will affect the strength of the arm any. . .it's pretty beefy!

UFO Pilot · 06-07-2017, 03:04 PM

The Bosch 41928 blades work great with no modifications required. I have bought them on Amazon for $8 to $9 each and have now installed them on my RV plus 2 others.

RonVBT · 06-07-2017, 05:58 PM

UFO Pilot...Does the Bosch 41928 fit a 12mm wide arm? I had Bosch 41926 blades that were 26" long but they had saddles that would only accept a 9mm arm. I modified them in an earlier post to fit the 12mm arm on my coach. I would assume that the model number indicates the 41928 model you have is a 28" long blade with a 9mm saddle. Is that true?

UFO Pilot · 06-07-2017, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonVBT

UFO Pilot...Does the Bosch 41928 fit a 12mm wide arm? I had Bosch 41926 blades that were 26" long but they had saddles that would only accept a 9mm arm. I modified them in an earlier post to fit the 12mm arm on my coach. I would assume that the model number indicates the 41928 model you have is a 28" long blade with a 9mm saddle. Is that true?

The 41928 blades are 28" long and they fit my 12mm arms with no mods. They came with a "adapter" but I chose to use the ones from my old blades.

Neverenuff · 10-16-2017, 06:43 PM

I ran into this problem while traveling. Thought for sure I could find a set of replacements at a truck stop but I didn't. What I did do was buy a set of the right length blades that did not fit BUT I took them apart and fit the rubber part of the replacements into my old blade frames. McGyver would have been proud! Worked fine and those are still on the coach.

Indyrvman · 10-20-2017, 08:15 AM

I have a Vista 29VE that uses 32" wiper blades. I found them at carid.com and they were only $16.99 plus $10 shipping. Even with shipping this was the cheapest I could find that fit my 9mm x 3mm j-hook arm. The model is Anco Contour 22-32.

Lakejumper · 10-20-2017, 09:10 AM

How do I know if I have 9 or 12mm J hooks? Do I need to buy a caliper (not sure of the tool name) to measure them? My unit was manufactured on 9/8/15...not sure what year the chassis is but I do have the 6 sped tranny if that helps.

Indyrvman · 10-23-2017, 05:07 PM

I did not measure the arm. I just bought the wiper blades assuming that they would fit my wiper arms and they did. I went back to the Carid websight and saw the dimension of the j-hook and included that in my post. Since you have a Vista that is only 1 year older than mine I would think that you have the same wiper arms.