The windshield wipers on Loretta's motorhome have been a hassle. It's 1995 GM chassis sported old school wipers. Back in the day you replaced the squeegee part with refills. The arms were permanent. During recent travels, however, we found that availability of refills varied between slim and none. What to do.
A couple years ago she actually found some. The length was correct. Width and depth of the grooves was close enough. Nothing a little splaying and pinching couldn't solve. Then one of them lost it's keeper while driving in rain one day. The squeegee tried escaping but we stopped in time to recapture it. A small zip tie solved that problem. And the fix was repeated on the other side a while later. Otherwise, they worked.
Until they started degrading. Last time we tried replacing the wiper blades we hit a wall on refills. It seems modern vehicles have evolved a system of replacing the whole blade. An up side is compatibility across makes and models. All you need is the length. Replacement is plug and play. You don't even need pliers. However! Your vehicle needs to conform to the apparently now modern, universal standard connection mechanism on the end of the wiper arm.
Since the '95 didn't conform I decided it was time for an upgrade. A nearby junkyard (ahem, gently used parts emporium) provided me with donor parts from a defunct Aerostar. I don't know if it was found on road dead. Or retired following an expected history of fix or repair daily. Just don't tell the GM motorhome they came off a Ford. Just our little secret - okay?
Being universal and all it didn't really matter what make and model vehicle got pilfered for the project. Just as long as the business end was universal. I measured carefully. Then chopped off just that useful end bit. It was quick work for my grinder. Then the project got a little dicier.
The plan was to just drill a couple holes of the right size in the right places and attach the universal ends with screws. Of course the thicker arms needed longer screws. Ace couldn't match the thread. I decided to oversize the holes slightly. To compensate for weaker stainless screws long enough to work.
That was a fine plan except for two things. First, turns out the donor arms were case hardened. That wasn't good for some drill bits. Once I got 'em drilled I discovered the screw heads interfered. I didn't see that coming. So I returned the stainless hardware and got out the welder. Followed by some cleanup grinding and rattle black to make 'em look purdy. Here's a before and after comparison of the old and new blades with close ups of attachment.
Here's a bonus pic to illustrate anatomy of the prosthetic procedure.
Speaking of bonuses, here's another. I scored these wiper blades on clearance. Woot!
But wait. There's more. The motorhome sits the vast majority of the time. Its wipers never get a chance to wear out. Exposure (UV?) while sitting is what kills them. So rather than throw away the little blades that came with my donor arms (wait for it) why not leave those blades on the rig for long periods between travels? I know, genius, right?
Another project done. Not the way I expected. Better. Plus I got to weld. Final bonus.
