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I've looked high and low and no one sells wiper blade refills. All I find come with the blade and the wiper arm frame as an assembly. I think it's because folks are inept at changing them.
Due their unavailability, it was time to address the issue because the stock blades are torn and basically don't do anything except smear a mixture of dirt and moisture all over the windshield.
I picked up two sets of wiper arms from late 80s F-trucks. One set for the '70 LBB and one set for the 4WD '73 War Machine. I prefer the pin mount style because it is a matter of prying up on the clip and popping them off the pin. Easy. Btw, thanks to FTE member Tbear for the inspiration: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14050329
The hardest part is removing the spring and hinge clip. I came up with this contraption to hook onto the spring and using the wiper arm to lever and get the clip to unhook. There is an amazing about of tension!! The wood spacers are to avoid marring the wiper arm base.
Below is spring and clip... assembled and disassembled. After removal of the spring, drill out the rivet with a 1/8-inch bit.
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With a 16-inch blade, 2.75 inches needs to be removed from the arm to locate the spring in its original location. The left hash mark is where the thin arm projects out of the housing and the right mark becomes the butt end.
Drill a 1/8-inch hole near the butt end for the spring. Then install it in a vise and replicate the bend for the spring to clear the housing. Install the arm back into the housing, align it with the hash mark, and use a Sharpie to mark the arm through the housing's original rivet hole and drill a 1/8-inch hole.
Holding the arm tight to the housing, install a rivet from the front side. Use a steel rivet because it will be under an immense amount of shear force. Now install the spring and hinge clip using a facsimile of the contraption above... I lever the arm to pull the spring and, with the hinge clip loosely dangling, guide the clip over the hinge affixed to the housing.
Sand, prime, and paint! I made two sets.. one for each truck. The LBB gets the silver pair. The metal spoiler came from a BMW and it's riveted to the arm. Yes, it clears the wiper blade - barely, but it clears.
Thanks... 'glad to contribute to the brotherhoods of Bumps and Dents.
It took about an hour using various methods to figure out how to pull that spring enough to unhinge that danged clip. That was alot of head scratching!!!! In fact, me thinks I got a bald spot!!
That's good work as always, HIO. Did you try NAPA for wiper refills? I bought two sets just a few months ago from my local store. Of course, it's possible the refills have been discontinued since then.
Ford Pickup Ford Pickup Truck Windshield Wiper Blade Refills - 15 Long - Universal Type Replacement - F100 Thru F500 I see carpenter carries them,but your right( with blade attachment)
I remembered this morning, my friend that has the NAPA store told me that for some reason the refills for '73 to '79 are listed as obsolete, but '65 to '72 are listed. They are the same blade. So, if you go into a store, ask for refills for a '65 to '72 Ford F-series.
I remembered this morning, my friend that has the NAPA store told me that for some reason the refills for '73 to '79 are listed as obsolete, but '65 to '72 are listed. They are the same blade.
In 10 minutes I can walk or bike to four auto parts stores from my house and none of them carry refills. it's stupid that no one carries refills. The nearest NAPA is about 10 miles away... two towns over.
....And dealer mark ups for consumable parts are even stoopider.
I've been buying Trico refill blades for many years from Summit racing.
At $3-$4 it's hardly worth the trouble to do anything else for the time being.
I normally just tack them onto an order when I need a few extra bucks to get free shipping.
Nice how to for those that want another option tho, personally I prefer my stock wiper arms (they are so shiney!).
Thanks Espy... Bookmarked your thread post as another option. Say, I was sooo close to heading up to your PnP this morning then decided against it since the pickins were slim. I'll catch you around next time.
Originally Posted by DeepRoots
I've been buying Trico refill blades for many years from Summit racing.
At $3-$4 it's hardly worth the trouble to do anything else for the time being.
I normally just tack them onto an order when I need a few extra bucks to get free shipping.
Nice how to for those that want another option tho, personally I prefer my stock wiper arms (they are so shiney!).
Good to know.. But I can be forgetful and would rather just get them locally.... and "shiney" isn't exactly appropriate for the 73.
09-06-2015, 10:25 PM
