Wiper blades upgrade

H

Harry

Well-known user
Jul 13, 2008
228
4
A while back replaced rear wiper with the new FLAT type as that was a special offer and no complaints on that score. Need new front blades, even though second set of Bosch top of the range, didn't last long and now fraying an squeaking and I have a new windscreen as well and don't want it scratched,never really satisfied with them anyway.So I need to replace again....thinking, ~ only thinking of switching to flat blades for front.....any comments out there as to whether worth the effort.

I have used Halfords/Bosch/Unipart,you name them, I have tried them over the years and always on the look out for low noise, clean sweep and something that last longer than 6 months.:oops:
 
I have the flat blades on the front and back wipers, have used them on both my cougars.. never had any problems.. got them from eBay, Can't remember what i paid for them but i did not get the cheapest ones.. but thinking about it they are probably all the same..
 
I had Bosch flats front and rear Harry. They lasted about two months at the front when they seperated and went directly into the bin. The rear one is still ok though it gets very little use in comparison. The best wipers i've ever had are on the car now and i've had them for about 4 years with a gap in use of said two months when i put them back on again. They cost me £1 from a bargain bin at one of my local auto-parts shops, and they are colour coded :)
 
Thanks Al, I will experiment , so will give the flat blade caper a whirl anyway. Rather hacked off with Bosch as you tend to associate the brand with a kind of "quality" ethos..not always so. Anyway, will give a report back on this in a later post. As winter moves in I have prepared the cat for the worst of the Scottish winters and I am pretty picky about visibility issues and always have as clean a screen and side and rear windows as much as possible.Can't abide noisy useless wiper blades !
 
Got flat Bosch blades on the Galaxy - it comes like that from the factory. Just had to change my first one (had the car for a good few years now) no idea how long they'd been on before that but they've lasted ages.
 
Has anyone else found with flat blades that you get a band maybe 4 inches wide right under the wiper arm mount that just doesn't wipe properly? I've got that with the S-Type and also my dad's MX-5 before that. It's a bit annoying. In general I quite like them for winter as they don't freeze into the "parked" shape and miss most of the windscreen when driving!
 
jamie_duff said:
Has anyone else found with flat blades that you get a band maybe 4 inches wide right under the wiper arm mount that just doesn't wipe properly? I've got that with the S-Type and also my dad's MX-5 before that. It's a bit annoying. In general I quite like them for winter as they don't freeze into the "parked" shape and miss most of the windscreen when driving!
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Are they original to the car? The galaxy comes with them out of the factory and they seem to work better for it. I did read about them being matched to the profile of the screen, whereas the cougar screen and other are probably a little more cureved than the galaxy. They don't miss any of the screen on the galaxy but do freeze on until the heated screen melts them. The galaxy also has odd operating wipere where they don't follow each other like a normal car - instead they go in opposite directions so they end up vertical one at either side of the window
 
jamie_duff said:
Has anyone else found with flat blades that you get a band maybe 4 inches wide right under the wiper arm mount that just doesn't wipe properly? I've got that with the S-Type and also my dad's MX-5 before that. It's a bit annoying. In general I quite like them for winter as they don't freeze into the "parked" shape and miss most of the windscreen when driving!
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Yes Jamie, I did have the same problem when i first put the wipers on, I bent the wiper arm up a little , and i do mean a little so there was not so much pressure just under the arm mount and they have been fine since.. :)
 
I have cheap flat ones from eBay on front and do around 16000 miles minimum been on car for year and a bit with no problems at all I think the pair was £16-17.

JJ
 
I use a multi edge wiper blade on all my cars. First blade removed the majority of the water, second blade squeegees the remainder. Found these to be far superior to a single edge blade.

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Change them about every 6 months. Once they get dry and don't 'flip' anymore they don't wipe the glass properly. Being exposed to the elements kills the rubber.

I also use Rain-X on the glass so rarely need to use the wipers. Only in the heaviest of downpours.
 
K10wN said:
I use a multi edge wiper blade on all my cars. First blade removed the majority of the water, second blade squeegees the remainder. Found these to be far superior to a single edge blade.

View attachment 2523

Change them about every 6 months. Once they get dry and don't 'flip' anymore they don't wipe the glass properly. Being exposed to the elements kills the rubber.

I also use Rain-X on the glass so rarely need to use the wipers. Only in the heaviest of downpours.
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Good call - it does help if you use Rain-X on your windscreens. I have flat blades both front and rear on the Coug - been on for over 2 years now and no worries at all. I also have the same blades on the front and rear of my Mondy - that too is fine.
 
From our local Kirkie outlet with our discount Paul ?
Interesting....must try this Rainex stuff as well.
 
New flat blades fitted and so far results are impressive..Quieter, no judder/squeaks, no streaks, looks quite modern, will wait and see how this goes...Thanks all for feedback and advice.
 
I use Tesco flat blades on both of our cars. They're about £6 per blade, work very very well and seem to last around a year before any drop off in performance.
 
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