I was told by someone that raising the wipers off the windshield and leaving them there would ruin the springs so that they would not press against the windshield when using, is this true?

 

These are springs that are tempered to handle that temporary stretch. They are made to open for changing blades, washing the windshield, etc.

If your premise was true, cars would sit on the bump stops after their springs sagged because they were used...but they don't.

Nothing to be concerned about, just use newer, quality blades and all will be well.

 

I have new blades, but hubby yells when I leave them up when the snow and ice are coming down and I put them up to help when I clear the windshield. So does this really ruin the springs or were they made for this too? thanks, never heard anyone else tell me this so I am wondering about it.

 

It does not ruin the springs. The wiper arms are made to lift up and the springs are designed for that range of motion. However, I do find the practice of raising wipers to be kind of silly and with mild risk. Since you're raising them in anticipation of a storm, the conditions of the storm such as heavy snow and possibly wind, could cause the wiper arm to slap down on the windshield, breaking the wiper. It is just as easy to avoid this risk and lift the wiper when you go to clear the windshield.

 

I recommend motorcraft blades... Way better than anything else and cheap on amazon. That being said I would simply cover your blades and windshield to address the icing issues.

 

thanks, the storms are so bad here, the ice builds up and it's all one can do to open the doors to start the car, 3 times this last 2 weeks, I cleaned the windshield off, and before I could finish cleaning the other windows the snow was over an inch on the windshield again, not to mention the ice that took forever to melt, below zero here for 2 weeks.

 

I have seen folks put a small tarp over the wind shield when it gets bad out.

 

Yup... Heavy duty canvas tarp to avoid tears.