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Piston Slap: Finding the Right Wiper Blades Is Easier than You Think
Why Is This So Complicated writes:
Dear Sajeev,
The wiper blades on my 2018 Fiesta ST have begun to streak and skip. I figured the rubber has gotten old and hard, and it was time to shop for new ones. (I bought the car used and am not sure how old the wipers are.) I like the folks at the O’Reilly’s down the street from me, and I figured I’d check inventory online to prepare myself before going into the store.
Behold, confusion: Why is a single wiper blade $39.99? That seems ridiculous.
- Is there truly a difference in quality or construction between the $40 and the $20 option?
- How much should I be paying, anyway?
- What is a beam wiper?
- What about rubber versus silicone blades?
- What about the design itself, which sometimes looks solid and sometimes has crossmembers in it?
I live in Michigan, if climate matters.
Sajeev answers:
Climate, usage, and financial concerns all matter, and I thank you for this question. Considering some people just need wiper blades to wipe rainwater off a vintage/specialty vehicle, I suggest that styling also accounts for something in the equation. These new blades can look pretty odd on the older vehicles that many Hagerty readers own.
As the number of your questions suggests, this will not be a simple answer. Or perhaps it is, because you can scroll down to the “Clean Your Wiper Blades” subheading and likely solve your issue.
But if cleaning doesn’t work, let’s start with the lowest-hanging fruit: wiper blade designs.
The Three Styles of Wiper Blades
Replacement wiper blade designs generally fall into three categories:
- Frame wiper blades: We’ve seen this design for decades, with open holes everywhere that resemble a truss bridge. Frame wipers are cheap and effective, but that cost means many aren’t constructed from durable materials. Also, they are possibly less effective in extreme weather or at higher speeds.
- Beam wiper blades: These flat blades are popular in the aftermarket, though you rarely see them installed on a factory’s assembly line. Beams use sheetmetal under tension, with a spoiler shape to keep the rubber blade pressed against the glass. They are potentially quieter at speed, apply more even pressure to the glass, and do a great job clearing off snow. However they are usually the most expensive option.
- Hybrid wiper blades: Like a gasoline-electric Toyota Prius, the hybrid blade combines two different technologies: It looks like a frame blade but has an aerodynamic cover akin to the spoiler of a beam blade. They are generally mid-priced, and supposedly offer performance similar to a beam blade thanks to those engineered covers.
I have used all three designs over the years, so here are my hot takes:
- Frame wiper blades: They are cheap for a reason, as both the rubber and painted surfaces oxidize quickly. Perhaps higher quality frames (like the ones from Bosch?) do exist, but they smack up against other designs once the price raises to boost their quality.
- Beam wiper blades: This is a love/hate relationship, as the beam’s low profile mean its central mounting point sticks up like twin peaks at the base of the windshield. That’s fine if you need to remove snow at speed, or have a modern truck where you can’t see over the dashboard anyway. But it’s silly looking on a classic/specialty vehicle, because style counts for something.
- Hybrid wiper blades: Perhaps they won’t blow off snow and silence wind as well as the beams, but they are generally cheaper and give any car a modern, OEM look. Those aerodynamic covers also sneak in an integrated mount for the wiper arm, which means they sit nice and low to the glass.
So sign me up for the low-slung, hybrid wiper blades: On my Lincoln Mark VIII, they are so much shorter (in height, not length) than beam wipers that I had to bend the wiper arms down to ensure full contact with the windshield. I still have the beam wiper blades on the Cougar, but it will get hybrids the instant those beams start streaking.
But don’t leave just yet: We haven’t discussed materials, purchasing, or wiper maintenance!
Silicone or Rubber? Winter or … not Winter?
If I lived in a very snowy climate, beam wiper blades would be my choice. And if those climates went below 0-degrees on a regular basis, a winter-tuned beam wiper blade with its signature hard shell is the way to go. Winter wiper blades are generally tested to operate at below -10F, with Bosch claiming their units work at -20F.
One can infer that winter wiper blades are made of silicone, as this synthetic material handles colder weather better than rubber. But silicone is also marketed as longer lasting in windshield wipers, and odds are its chemical composition ensures that is true. Rubber tends to degrade quickly when exposed to UV light, and that isn’t a problem with silicone.
So you should buy silicone wiper blades, right? Not so fast.
Just Clean Your Wiper Blades!
Rubber wiper blades get thrown away far too quickly in our modern society. You will greatly extend the lifespan of a rubber wiper blade with nothing more than the application of isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel.
Isopropyl alcohol is fantastic at removing oxidation, leaving a residue-free surface on a rubber wiper blade. You can also wet-sand a rubber blade with a moistened piece of 1000+ grit sandpaper, and I find the act as therapeutic as polishing a heavily oxidized paint job. (I have done both, but the isopropyl might be easier and more consistent in cleaning, especially if you don’t have fine grit sandpaper lying around.)
When both cleaning and sanding fail to solve the problem, that’s when you need to buy the blade of your choice.
But where do you buy them?
Proper Planning Prevents Pilfering (of Your) Paper
Many folks buy wiper blades when it’s too late to save any money, because we don’t know they are bad until we’re stuck in a downpour. (I used to be guilty of this, too.) I remember a local retailer once told me they prayed for bad weather, because both their wiper blade sales and their corporate performance metrics go through the roof.
While places like Walmart are likely a few dollars cheaper, the local parts store makes bank on blades for good reason. It’s the same reason prepared meals (like sushi) are generally close to both the entrance and the produce section of your local grocery store: Put the high-margin, impulse buys next to the low-margin stuff the customer absolutely needs. That’s fine, but you have a better option for your wallet.
Take a quick look at wiper prices for this reader’s Fiesta, both in person and on Rock Auto. Clearly, some retailers are banking on wiper blades being an impulse buy for desperate consumers. One particular auto parts store I visited offered bonus cash and a free gift if you buy their overpriced beam wiper blades. What a deal!
Conclusion: This Is Easier Than You Think
Readers of this series know to check your oil or tire pressure on a regular basis (either from the gauge cluster, or the old-fashioned way), and that’s the best time to check your wiper blades. Here’s what I recommend:
- Clean the blades first with isopropyl alcohol and a towel.
- Test to see if they still provide streak and chatter-free operation. If so, you are done!
- If not, visit a purely online retailer like RockAuto immediately, and buy new blades there.
- Consolidate multiple parts purchases into a single shipment to save shipping. (Last month I bought wipers along with spark plugs, resulting in a 60–70 percent discount over a retail purchase.)
- I recommend hybrid wiper blades for the vast majority of motorists, but the nicest, winter-friendly beam wiper blades come in handy for many readers. And they are downright affordable if you buy them online.
I’d like to think I covered every base, but I know better. Something has been missed. So I hand it off to you, dear reader of Hagerty Media. Tell us what you think of windshield wiper replacements in modern times in the comments below!
Have a question you’d like answered on Piston Slap? Send your queries to pistonslap@hagerty.com—give us as much detail as possible so we can help! Keep in mind this is a weekly column, so if you need an expedited answer, please tell me in your email.
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The truss blade is just the old style and they can look a bit odd on new cars.
The Hybrid is more a capped version of the truss. It look more like the flat or beam as it is called here.
The Flat or Beamed is what most modern cars come with today. They are more aero and cleaner looking. They work just as well as any of the others. Most will mount low as the new car arms are made for them.
They also will not ice up.
Then the winter blades are rubber covered truss that are often reinforced to prevent bending and icing over.
With wipers often you get what you pay for. Often if they are really cheap they can be less quality rubber. But that does not mean you need to pay a lot more. Stick to a quality brand and version.
I have found at least in my area the OE blades last the longest for me. I get a discount on them so they are not expensive. But where you live and where your car is stored can limit life. Sun damage is what kills most wipers so sunny hot areas and outside storage is a problem.
In cases of rear wipers often you may have to go to the dealer to get a replacement since there are so many rear blades and most stores do not carry them. Do not forget it or it will scar the glass and be even more expensive to repair.
I still use truss on my old cars but my new it is all beam. They even come with a bit of a spoiler look to them. At speed they do help with clearing water.
It is best to stick with what came with the car as that is what it was designed for. Also make sure the glass is oil and grease free with a good cleaning. This will help more than anything.
I have recently bought two new silicone wiper blades which are absolutely fantastic. They were cheap in comparison to the dealer supplied blades that don’t last 2 years. These Chinese blades each have two wiping edges so the windscreen actually gets wiped twice with every stroke. The result is just like having had a new screen fitted!!
Go to Costco. Nice blades for $11 each
Or Walmart. They have had Michelin branded blades, Bosch I believe and a few others. I don’t recall ever spending more than $10 for blades. Maybe things have changed. I tend to get OEM inserts as long as the price was reasonable.
Yes, Walmart.
The price varies based on the style and brand, but not the length. Whether they are 16 inches for the short windshields on older cars, or the 28” for a minivan, the price is the same for all lengths.
And you’re probably at Walmart anyway buying the synthetic oil and filter anyway.
Finding inserts are getting harder to find. Retailers would rather have you purchase a complete wiper than just refills
Buy your spare set of wiper blades now. Keep them in the trunk. When you need to swap them, go buy the next set for the trunk.
If you don’t want to invest like that… but have taken off a worn but not dead set of wipers, keep them around. Sometimes you have 1 good wiper, so replace both and keep the good one as a spare (this works better on older cars that used 2 of the same wiper).
Brings up a point: why DO we sometimes have one good wiper? Both work at the same rate and do the same job. Unless something specifically damages one, why don’t they wear out equally?
My bet is that it’s the curvature of the glass. On my E-100, for example, the blade on the passenger side is resting on a curved section of the windshield and that on the driver’s side is resting mostly on flat glass.
I considered that, and it does make some sense. However, although I’ve not made a detailed record to provide data points, I’m quite certain that I’ve had driver’s-side failures as well as passenger-side. And since I’ve been driving since the late 1950s, I’m talking about all sorts of shapes and sizes and curvatures of windshields – including purely flat ones on semi trucks of the ’70s.
On second thought, maybe one of the arms applies more pressure than the other one?
That is a possibility that I’d not considered. Again, as I say, I’ve not done a study that would indicate one reason over any others – it just seems that it’s a somewhat random occurrence.
My experience is that one fails before the other, but not the same one each time. This of course is on the same car.
My experience is also that OEM, original part number, blades last the longest. I typically get two or three times the use as compared to universal fit blades.
When you go to the dealer, insisted on the O.E. part, not the manufacturer’s universal fit blades. The universals seem to last only as long as aftermarket blades, just at a premium price.
Sometimes its just the blade position against the glass that changes as the rubber gets older. Wipers are just squeegees and the steel arms are easy to twist a few degrees with a 4″ Crescent or a Leatherman multitool. It’s quick and may work until it stops raining and you can get to a Parts shop for a new blade. To address your question, the whole assembly is cheap and has multiple pieces that fit together rather loosely, with no adjustment possible- except the wiper angle.
One can be out of the sun, tucked under the lip of the hood near the windshield. The other can be outside in the sun without that extra inch of protection and not covered by the lip of the hood. Direct sunlight definitely degrades them more quickly.
I pay 10 bucks a pair for Michelin wiper blades from a store call Ocean State Job Lot and I bought beam blades for another vehicle last year from Amazon for 11 bucks a pair with the brand name 5 Plus . Before that I bought the lowest priced blades from Wallyworld which were Michelin at around 7.50 apiece . With today’s runaway inflation wiper blades are still one of the less costly things you can buy for your vehicle .
Wait until wiper flu starts driving the prices up
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!
Or just change them once a year. Most areas the blades are good for a year with UV exposure. They are not expensive and expendable.
Rain X Advantedge Silicone blades are expensive, but they are the best. They are impregnated with Rain X which is activated by taking a dozen swipes on a clean, dry windshield when you install them. But why would you install them yourself when Advance, O’Reilly, or Auto Zone will do it for you? Advance offers a warranty program that allows you to replace the blades on a regular basis for a small charge, not sure about the others.
Why buy from brick & mortar when you can get it cheaper online? In my experience (20 years in auto parts retail) there is a surprising number of people who haven’t a clue as to how to install a wiper blade. Couple that with the “Don’t fix it until it’s dangerous” attitude most drivers wait until it’s pouring down rain. In the dark. And 33 degrees outside.
Definitely do the isopropyl alcohol maintenance to extend the life. Don’t bother with the conventional blades. They have 5-6 pressure points that lead to streaking. and pack in ice and snow. They should only be used on restorations.
It’s not Rain-X in the silicone, it’s the silicone itself. I’ve used PIAA, Silblades and Rain-X blades over the years and they all make the water bead. In fact, Rain-X is relatively new to the silicone blade market.
Now that we’re on the subject, what happened to refills? A cheapskate old man I know has never had a frame fail but is forced to keep buying them when really only the consumable wiping edge goes bad. I think/I mean he thinks it’s just a profit raising tactic.
Asking for a friend, right? 😉
Yeah. I’m sticking with that….
Trick makes them for a few cars. I still have the original frames on my 93 Miata. I’ve just refilled them every time. About $10 for a pair of refills at O’Reilly.
*Trico
Thanks for the clue Jerry, I’ll look for them there.
The old refills were not held as firmly in place in the frame, which in my experience led to poor performance. Old frames would also loosen at the attachment point, also reducing performance.
Yay! Finally! I buy the Bosch brand winter beams for my 04 Tahoe winter whip. I use RainX washer fluid. I live in Fargo, ND, where winter is a very real thing. The Bosch blades say they’re good to -25°F, but I’ve used them for decades at -35/-40°F with zero issues, zero chatter, complete wipe.
Hear me now: the blades you buy for winter are going to interact with the snow/ice buildup while parked. Facts. The Bosch blades have no snag points, my brush rides right over them every time. Even with 3+ FEET of accumulation. Yes, this is Fargo, land of windy winter. I never consider anything that makes my life easier “overpriced”, these are $30 a pop. Well worth it at -35°F, with 50mph of driving wind-chill. And cuz silicone, no matter the temp, they never freeze to the glass. Ever. I don’t bother to “stand up” my wipers when winter parked cuz no reason. One less thing to worry about.
I use the generic DuraLast blades spring/summer/fall, but Bosch owns winter.
And the nice AutoZone people change them for me at no charge (I could, but why?).
The Tahoe has a relatively vertical windshield, and the wipers park exactly where the defroster is most intense, so I’m always good in the winter. Well, the Tahoe is; as I age I’m finding winter a LOT less fun😁.
I used to get the Michelin blades at Costco (normally $10, sometimes on sale for $7). But I always hated the frustrating origami of having to get the blades to fit. Some of their installation processes require taking of parts and *reversing* their installation, depending on the wiper arm style. But no matter which style, the connection always seemed questionable, and more than once, the blade detached during a test after installation.
Upon recommendation by Consumer Reports, I decided to try the Rain-X Latitude 2-in-1 blades ($16.50 each at Amazon). The installation process was very easy, and when the blades were attached with a reassuringly solid click, I knew they were locked in. The Rain-X treatment in the blades helps the water bead up. Now, my next task is to convince Costco to ditch the inferior Michelins and stock the Rain-X blades instead. 🙂
At the risk of sounding grumpy…
I can certainly appreciate someone taking an interest in their car and having to start somewhere. It’s great that they can ask questions here and get them answered by a helpful community.
Having said that…
Changing wiper blades is one step above washing a car or pumping gas on the difficulty level. Is it really worthy of a procedural article on a site that promotes the collector car hobby?
Never mind. I guess I really am grumpy.
Everyone has to start somewhere and asking questions to the internet is the easiest starting point these days. It does seem like a strange article, but it’s bound to help people!
Couple of thoughts. I clean the blades with Rain-X on a paper towel whenever I treat the glass. Do a couple of passes until the paper is clean. Never tried alky, but I use what’s handy. A pair of new blades are kept in the storage area (‘trunk’, except they are wagons). Old blades go back there for emergency until I get more new ones stowed. I have used Bosch for years – is Icon something new, or something I missed?
What happened to the old inserts/replacement type?? I want these for old classic cars. The new ones replace the complete unit and look stupid on classic cars.
Once a blade rubber starts to chatter and streak across the wet windshield, its time to replace. My success to just clean old blades and treat a windshield with rainx is short lived, maybe only a few rains. Hardened rubber ain’t coming back, and is one reason why winter cold often sees more blade replacing. I like the silicone blades, smooth and pliable in the cold. Cleaning the oxidation off should be done often as a maintenance as well decontaminating the glass. Road tar spatter, tree sap and a very old and pitted windshield all contribute to blade wear. I worked at an airport, jet fuel film was everywhere so frequent cleaning was necessary. I’ve used alcohol to wipe the blades clean, then a wipe of silicone. Using a glass treatment like RainX (silicone based) or a ceramic coating helps a lot smoothing out the wiper action. Again, this needs to be applied with regularity. In that information video, I’d shy away from spraying WD40 all over the cowl. That’s going to stink up the interior once the blower is turned on. There are dropper lube dispensers or a dab of lithium would be ideal to get at the pivot but a Water Displacement petrol-based spray is not only going to wash away but if left or broadly sprayed, chances are it will migrate and it will break it down any rubber seals over time. Beside that, wiper blades that sit a long time (like door/window seals) and need a bit of attention and protection. I wipe silicone on door seals after a car wash couple times a year, especially before winter freeze. Nix the WD 40, so many influencer people claim miracles and post up so many corny uses for this stinky spray oil. Sure, it’s a slick surfactant but there’s always something better and safer.
Why not get manufactures to sell the simple slide-in silicone or rubber vanes that fit OEM arms–have you noticed how simple and easily the working edge can be removed and returned to extend the edge life and add the cleanings to make them last longer, with less concerns about pressures, etc. Imagine the cost savings!
Don’t replace the wiper blades (frames and rubber element). You only need to replace the rubber blade refill on most cars (Honda, Acura, Ford and others.