Wiper Blades

Gidday

May sound silly but do you only replace the rubber? I used to have some of the same problems as you then I read somewhere that you should replace the whole assembly every few years as the whole thing is designed to work together and when you just replace rubbers the little clips invariably get bent and don't apply the right tensions or something. I went and bought the proper Trico assembly for my car and it actually worked. Obviously costs a bit more but I agree there are few things as annoying as a squeaky wiper that doesn't wipe.

Cheers

My squeaking wipers drove me nuts so I bought dearer silicon blades. They were no better. Then I found a USA wiper company website that advised that silicon and some synthetic blades will squeak and recommended pure rubber blades as the solution. Changed to them and end of problem!

Oh yeh brother been there

#1 get the correct blades for ya frames, toyota ( and other) do not take universal wiper blades well, they simply don't fit tin the clips correcty and firmly....you need the ones with the stanless strip inside the rubber blade.

#2 you don't need to change the frames every time but they do have a limited life, after a while they get sloppy and don't hold the baldes flat or straight

#3 somtimes you need to retension the wiper arms...just bend em in a little..they sag just like springs.

OH...these days I use nothing else but Trico

hope this helps.

let us know how you go.

cheers

I've used RainX for years, also wipe the solution on the blades.
Works for me.

""making all the noises under the sun"" thats your problem right there. Should only use them when its raining not when its sunny !!!
Ok I find the best ones are the genuine ones. I have over 27 years of driving, cars/trucks etc the best ones been the genuine. Yes there dearer but seem to last a hell of a lot longer and seem to swivel properly like their meant to. I get the genuine ones with the two metal strips either side of the rubber insert. Occasionaly I replace the metal strips as well but have never had a need to replace the full wiper arm and can tell you, you will be in for a rude shock at the price of some of them wiper arms (well over $100 each !!!). I have tried the trico and other brands and now I only get genuine and nothing else...........

TRICO

I'm not sure that "genuine" will necessarily get you good quality any more. The rush to get everything made in China is almost complete.
Chinese rubber is crap, I'm convinced they use recycled thongs. There are additives added to rubber to make it pliable, resistant to UV light, and to prolong its life - and I'm sure the Chinese sell off these additives, rather than put them in the products.

There's a lot of replacement blades out there that are not a good fit for originals. In addition, there are a multitude of sizes and variations in width, length and attachment methods.
I can recall the Hiluxes had three different wiper blades from the factory just in the one year model, in the early 1990's.

Rubber goes hard in the sun, and hard rubber doesn't make for good screen cleaning, because it doesn't follow the windscreen surface closely, as required.
Thus, you need good quality rubber in the blades, and you need to replace blades about every 3 yrs if your vehicle spends a lot of time in the sun.

Wiper blade arms can get bent and don't sit at the right angle to the windscreen. Wiper blade head pivots get worn and allow the blade to flop. There's some small amount of floppiness required in new heads, but it should not become excessive.

Squawking blades can be quietened by first scrubbing the blades with some Jif, then washing and drying them. Then acquire some powdered graphite, and apply a small amount to a cloth. Fold the cloth holding the graphite around the blade surfaces, and run the cloth down the length of the blade, whilst squeezing the powdered graphite area, so that it adheres to the rubber.

You can also do yourself a favour by not switching on the wipers unless you have thrown some water over the windscreen, if it's dust covered. Fine dust is an abrasive that scratches screens and damages wiper surfaces.
I dislike windscreen washers because they should squirt water on the blades first, not the middle of the windscreen. The dust sits on top of the blades and is dragged across half the windscreen, before it meets any water from washers.

A regular wiper blade and windscreen wash with dishwashing liquid is advantageous to remove road grime. Road grime consists of oil particles, rubber particles, soot, dirt, and other abrasives that all create havoc with the windscreen/wiper blade interface.

Bottom line is that you generally get what you pay for, when it comes to wiper blades, and you're better off to buy genuine or "name brands" such as Trico - and to ensure that you have the correct width, length and fit.

Cheers, Ron.

Ever since my mk2 cortina had a problem with the blades I have only ever used genuine blades in all of my vehicles since, I sometimes have a guillt problem and buy after merket wipers but after a few months I go and get the genuine ones a bit dearer but definitely last lonmger and no more squeeking and groaning [from wife], We have owned about thirty fourby fours in thirty nine years of marriage, and I now own a nissan Pathfinder ti 550. hope that helps.

Following suggestion installed genuine Bosch blades on my 2007 Prado.

They are excellent, and cover full windscreen.

Also replaced the wiper jets with those intended for the Hi Luxe and they give an enormous coverage rather than the squirt from the genuine.

Here is a link which might be of interest
Pradopoint link on wiper blades

Pedro

Hi again Gang,

Thanks for all the feedback, will try a few things and see how l go.

Have tried a few things that have been said, but still have a few to go.

Thanks again.

David Will