Wiper Blades

[teacher]

Eventually everything wears out, thus I am not surprised that the wiper blades on my 2008 Tuscany need to be replaced. I have discovered the hard way that the 31 inch blades are not available in general supply chains. Damon has told me I need to order them special. I have done so and will be hit with a $95 charge for two of them plus shipping to the campground I am at. This is awful for this old boy. Because I had to switch just the blade material from the pass side to the driver side I know that the rubber(silicone or whatever) blade is refillable in the wiper bracket. Does anyone know where to find the blade material alone at a reasonable price so that we can see out the window during moisture events? I would love to carry spare blades but not at $100 a set.

[Danorske]

Originally Posted by teacher

Eventually everything wears out, thus I am not surprised that the wiper blades on my 2008 Tuscany need to be replaced. I have discovered the hard way that the 31 inch blades are not available in general supply chains. Damon has told me I need to order them special. I have done so and will be hit with a $95 charge for two of them plus shipping to the campground I am at. This is awful for this old boy. Because I had to switch just the blade material from the pass side to the driver side I know that the rubber(silicone or whatever) blade is refillable in the wiper bracket. Does anyone know where to find the blade material alone at a reasonable price so that we can see out the window during moisture events? I would love to carry spare blades but not at $100 a set.

You might try using 30"ers from WalMart or any supply store. You'd be surprised that you won't miss that inch.
Just a thought.
Ron

[jcthorne]

I bought new 28" full wiper kits from PPL. Still $65 for the pair, but now I can use readily available 28" refill kits from the auto supply for $10 next year. Until 32" blades become common place, buying replacement full arms for $100 a year just is not practical. I saved the old 32" arms, just in case the 32" refills ever become available. I often wondered why the blade material is not availalbe in bulk for cut to fit applications. Its just extruded rubber and the arms do not need to be replaced every year, just the blade.

[lllkrob]

You might give these folks a try, they have them in stock.


https://www.makariosrv.com/products/...lades-TV8.html

[doc]

Ray, take a look at the WalMart. Take one of your blades with you to compare. I was able to avoid high-dollar from the manufacturer when we had the Itasca a few years back. Used my Dremel tool to grind down a rivet that was the only thing different in the two. Don't know that it will work on a Damon, but chances are there is something close that will work

[powerboatr]

i picked up a pair in December at camping world
if i remember correctly they were not to pricey, but still to much

i can of agree with trying 30" next time at wally world for a lot less dineros


i would be happy if mine just stopped trying to fall off going down the road

[BigSkyBob]

I originally had 32" blades that went south so I purchased 30" blades that I found at a local RV store. They must have been made in Chinese prison camp #9 because they lasted a year. I always have my wiper blades covered and use 303 on them several times a year. This spring coming back from Vegas we hit some bad snow storms and the blades loaded up with ice and wouldn't hardly touch the windshield. I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and purchased a set of 28" Rain-X blades that are impregnated with silicone so snow and ice won't stick to the rubber. Haven't tried them in the snow yet but they work great in the rain. I can hardly tell the difference in the 28" as opposed to the 32" so I'll use these until Rain-X comes up with 30 or 32" blades. I paid 40 bucks for the pair at O'Reilly's.

[KC1BUD]

Originally Posted by teacher

Eventually everything wears out, thus I am not surprised that the wiper blades on my 2008 Tuscany need to be replaced. I have discovered the hard way that the 31 inch blades are not available in general supply chains. Damon has told me I need to order them special. I have done so and will be hit with a $95 charge for two of them plus shipping to the campground I am at. This is awful for this old boy. Because I had to switch just the blade material from the pass side to the driver side I know that the rubber(silicone or whatever) blade is refillable in the wiper bracket. Does anyone know where to find the blade material alone at a reasonable price so that we can see out the window during moisture events? I would love to carry spare blades but not at $100 a set.

We just replaced the wiper blades on my F-I-L's Winnebago, I know what you say things just don't seem to last anymore. Of course the Winnie is 35 years old and this was the first time they were replaced in 35 years.

P.S.
That is him on the right in my avatar picture. He just turned 88 this month and was tickled to get a push lawnmower for his birthday.

[teacher]

I have now received and installed the golden blades. Of course, no rain yet. The contributions that folks have given all aim at how to reduce the price to pay for an entire new blade arm. IIIkrob has the link to an RV dealer that charge $32+ to the same thing I paid $47 or so for. Better but not what I am looking for. Wally Worlds that I can find have no 30 inch units. 28" is the max but even those are in the $22 or higher price range. Still too high in my mind to simply replace a 32 inch strip of rubber, silicone/rubber compound or some other blend of extruded wiper material. It is a simple matter to exchange that material. Chrysler used to sell the rubber strips alone as replacements for back window blades on minivans. Where is this stuff available? Anybody with any ideas. Clearly it is not a common occurrence because not a single one of us has yet to bring up the real solution. We are all talking about switching to cheaper, easier to find blade arm refills rather than the real solution to the pricey issue.

I have tried some google searches to no avail. Does anybody know anyone in the auto parts industry who can really solve the issue? One person we spoke to said that the Parts stores probably have the rubber "in the back" but won't try to sell it unless you ask specifically. I have not found that but perhaps it is true someplace. I would sure like that someplace.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

[Barrier2]

I replaced my OEM 32" blades with a set of 28" blades from Walmart. The 2'' top and bottom is not missed. They have a few manufacturers from $9-$15 or so just choose a set with the correct width for your arms. You may have to modify a bit but at a saving of $65 or so it is worth it.Camping World wanted $42 each total of $84 for the pair.
I also bought a set of Goodyear super premium Assurance Blades at Costco for $7.99 each as a spare.
There is another advantage the gear mechanism, arm and motor is not stressed as much with these blades.
Just what I did on my 2001 Dynasty and it worked for me.
Robert

[jcthorne]

Originally Posted by teacher

I have now received and installed the golden blades. Of course, no rain yet. The contributions that folks have given all aim at how to reduce the price to pay for an entire new blade arm. IIIkrob has the link to an RV dealer that charge $32+ to the same thing I paid $47 or so for. Better but not what I am looking for. Wally Worlds that I can find have no 30 inch units. 28" is the max but even those are in the $22 or higher price range. Still too high in my mind to simply replace a 32 inch strip of rubber, silicone/rubber compound or some other blend of extruded wiper material. It is a simple matter to exchange that material. Chrysler used to sell the rubber strips alone as replacements for back window blades on minivans. Where is this stuff available? Anybody with any ideas. Clearly it is not a common occurrence because not a single one of us has yet to bring up the real solution. We are all talking about switching to cheaper, easier to find blade arm refills rather than the real solution to the pricey issue.

I have tried some google searches to no avail. Does anybody know anyone in the auto parts industry who can really solve the issue? One person we spoke to said that the Parts stores probably have the rubber "in the back" but won't try to sell it unless you ask specifically. I have not found that but perhaps it is true someplace. I would sure like that someplace.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

What I suggested and what I did was to replace the 32" blades with the correct j-hook mount 28" blades ONCE. After that the simple rubber refills are available for about $8 a PAIR at the auto supply stores. AutoZone and Advance both carry them.

The large J-Hook mounts that Damon uses are not available at Wally World but only from a few RV and Truck outlets and are EXPENSIVE as a result as you have found.