Stripped windshield wiper

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Apr 20, 2022 | 08:49 AM

#31

RidgwaySD

Cargo Master

Joined: Jul 2021

Posts: 2,970

Likes: 2,407

From: Ridgway, CO

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToMang07

As will I, I've had vehicles from the 60's to modern and not a single one ever had a "fatigued spring" fail, including a few with over 300,000 miles.

I have seen many a moron who left theirs down rip them up from leaving the wipers on when we got a lot of snow or freezing rain tho.

Yeah, sure Tom, great story...

I on the other hand have been in lots of vehicles with compromised wipers because people made this mistake. Thinking that little spring doesn't fatigue when regularly hyper extended is funny to read about.

I am sure if you keep telling yourself it doesn't matter, it ought to work for you...LOL

Apr 20, 2022 | 08:57 AM

#32

ToMang07

Logistics Pro

Joined: May 2011

Posts: 4,832

Likes: 668

From: Maine

Quote:

Originally Posted by RidgwaySD

So other people go around flipping up your wipers? That's weird.

Or are you getting into a bunch of strangers' vehicles who all have compromised wipers because they admitted to you as you got in that they flip them up?

Talk about stories.

Apr 20, 2022 | 09:37 AM

#33

RidgwaySD

Cargo Master

Joined: Jul 2021

Posts: 2,970

Likes: 2,407

From: Ridgway, CO

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToMang07

Well the rest of the story is, I have owned over 100 vehicles since the mid eighties of all shapes and sizes. My father was in the car business for 30 years, I spent many years while in HS and college working at various dealerships on the lots. Going to auctions, driving literally thousands of cars. You can tell the ones who have had this done. Even with good blades, without that spring pressure the wipers do not clear the windshield.

It is SO simple, all you have to do is look at the mechanism in question to understand the flaw in bending a light spring over backwards and leaving it that way for periods of time. If you have not noticed the lack of performance after doing so, or replaced dozens of sets of arms with new to regain performance, I guess that's just you. My experience is that is absolutely makes a difference.

Apr 20, 2022 | 09:39 AM

#34

Split rims

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Mar 2021

Posts: 1,654

Likes: 1,340

It really doesn’t matter what you do with them. Wiper arms should not strip that easily, and obviously there is a problem with the design of this specific wiper arm.

Apr 20, 2022 | 01:39 PM

#35

willynilly

Cargo Master

Joined: Jan 2017

Posts: 2,254

Likes: 563

i didnt even know it was possible to strip out until this thread. wasnt aware of it but theres actually a puller tool for removing wiper arms . the better design vehicles must use a tapered splined shaft i suppose

Apr 20, 2022 | 05:31 PM

#36

kylant

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Sep 2016

Posts: 1,613

Likes: 156

Quote:

Originally Posted by willynilly

these simply have a lever that releases the arm.
i have had vehicles that are tapered fit with a bolt, and vehicles that are splined with a bolt

Apr 20, 2022 | 07:37 PM

#37

ibeb

Mountain Pass

Joined: Aug 2020

Posts: 200

Likes: 30

From: Spokane, WA

Notice from the recall site today, Ford is acknowledging the wipers are an issue and a recall is in the works.

Erik

Apr 20, 2022 | 11:04 PM

#38

willynilly

Cargo Master

Joined: Jan 2017

Posts: 2,254

Likes: 563

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylant

these simply have a lever that releases the arm.
i have had vehicles that are tapered fit with a bolt, and vehicles that are splined with a bolt

well i dont get it. is ford trying to reinvent the wheel here with some new fangled design ? stripped wiper arms seems unheard of on any other vehicle that im aware of.

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Apr 20, 2022 | 11:21 PM

#39

Y2KW57

Super Moderator

Joined: Dec 2011

Posts: 13,357

Likes: 6,145

Quote:

Originally Posted by National Inventors Hall of Fame

On a snowy day in 1902, National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Inductee Mary Anderson was riding in a streetcar in New York City and observed how frustrated the vehicle’s driver was becoming as he struggled to remove the snow from the windshield. Often, the man had to stick his head outside the window and even stop the vehicle entirely to clean the snow off himself.

When Anderson returned home to Birmingham, Alabama, she thought about how there had to be a more efficient way of cleaning a windshield than what she had witnessed on her trip to the Big Apple. She sat down and began to sketch out a design for a wiper blade that could be operated from inside the vehicle. After finalizing the details of her idea, she filed a patent application for her creation on June 18, 1903.

120 years of manufacturing and field experience making what amounts to billions of windshield wipers later (all cars and trucks manufactured world wide, multiplied by 2, and sometimes 3) ... it is somewhat of a puzzle how Ford managed to get this primitive safety feature wrong, especially on their flagship vehicle line.

Apr 20, 2022 | 11:26 PM

#40

ibeb

Mountain Pass

Joined: Aug 2020

Posts: 200

Likes: 30

From: Spokane, WA

Leave it to the bean counters. "What? We can make a wiper that just clips on? Well ****, that saves us two bolts per truck and the time it takes to install and torque properly. Done!"