Alright story time: yesterday I was out working when a big rainstorm rolled in. I quickly got my stuff together and got into my truck (64 f100). Recently I've noticed that my passenger side windshield wiper has become lose and swings farther than it used to. About 3 minutes down the road the passenger side catches on the weather stripping and both wipers immediately stop. I flipped the switch a few times and the wipers came loose but got caught on the weather stripping a few seconds later. A 20 minute drive turned into almost an hour event with no windshield wipers while trying to drive through flooded back roads in a massive downpour.

Anybody know how to fix this? It rains a lot in the early summer here and this is my daily so I need to get started quickly

 

What size wipers are you using? The originals were only 13". You can get by with 14s but it sounds like you have 15s or even 16s.

 

I have 15 inch wipers but I have been running them for two years with no issues until yesterday

 

Maybe you just need to replace them. It sounds like they're sliding up and off to make contact with the trim.

 

The actual wiper arm has progressively gotten loose over the past few months. The blades are fine but the arm itself has loosened and I can't figure out how to tighten it

 

You used the term "swings farther than it used to". Can you tell what portion is swinging farther? It's not a complex system. But, it might be getting some play in the linkage under the dash - the bars that connect the motor to the wiper shafts - or maybe a clip underneath there that holds the links to the shaft came undone on the one side?

I'd turn the wipers off - shut the truck off - and try to move the wiper arm yourself from the outside and see if you can determine where any looseness might be coming from. You might need a helper while one works the outside slightly - while the other watches and feels from the inside.

All the pieces would include

Motor
Arms (linkage under dash) and clips
Shaft assembly
Wiper Arms
Wiper Blades

The shaft assembly can wear out over time and *might* allow one blade to travel further than it should.

Any issues with the Motor should affect both sides - one would think - so I'd start after the motor unless it is obviously loose where it is bolted to the firewall or something like that.

Chad

P.S. It could be the shaft and/or wiper arm serrations, too. Once they wear out then about all you can do is replace.

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