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Hey guys I'm didn't know what forum was most appropriate for this question.
What windsheild wipers do you guys prefer? I used to love Bosch because they would last for a long time without streaking, I bought some not long ago and they are streaking like crazy. I am leaning towards the idea that it's just a bad batch but... you never know.
I have set of Trico Teflon winter blades on my Ranger. I put them on there almost two years ago, when my mother traded in the Explorer they'd been on for probably a year or so. They aren't great anymore, but they're still pretty good.
The only complaint I have, and I believe it's more the truck than the blades (and perhaps the fact that they're the winter blades), is that in heavy wind on the highway, they'll lift off the windshield more readily than other cars seem to.
I'm very impressed with the Motorcraft blades on my father's Focus, too. They were put on two or three years ago, and still work great. The little yellow "time to change" indicator popped up within 6 months of installing them, though...
*I don't run through the carwash, but I've been told that if you do, it's common for the spray-on wax to get on the wiper blades and make them streak. A little rubbing alchohol on a cotton ball will freshen them up.
I prefer ANCO and Trico. Haven't had much luck with any Bosch automotive product.
I use plain old fashioned rubber wipers. My experience with the "teflon" blades is that often the teflon is just a strip at the edge of the blade. This strip peels off after a year or two and then the blade is useless.
If you live where it is dry much of the year, one trick you can do if you are cheap is when you buy new blades, just use them in the rainy season. Keep you old blades and use them in summer. That way the new blades don't get sun beaten and last a lot longer.
I also like to use RainX since this often means I don't need to use the blades at all or until the glass gets road scum. The blades also wipe better on RainX in my opinion. Don't use RainX if you have automatic rain sensing wipers.
From what I have seen over the years the condition of the windshield and wear in the wiper arms has more to do with streaking than the blade type. New wiper arms on a new windshield seem to last a long time. Beyond that things go downhill.
Our '97 Olds Silly minivan has probably the industrys worst wipers. (along with the other long snoot GM minivans...) These wipers nearly drove the wife to homicide, and so rather than suffer that fate, I tried the higher dollar Bosch blades. Problem S-O-L-V-E-D. Unbelieveable.