L-body Wiper Blades + Wiper Blade Arms - Looking for an alternative

I have an 86 shelby charger with two wiper related problems:


-First off the little small tab at the end of the wiper arm that grabs the plastic wiper mounting attachment seems to always fall off or be extremely loose. I'm thinking it may be the wiper brand, are there any better brands that will "work" better on these types of arms??

Or are there any different turbo dodge cars that have the more modern "U-shaped" mounting that will work? (I believe I tried a daytona arm one and the hood would hit the wiper arm as it sticks out a bit too


-Secondly at the wiper motor to arm mounting I have been finding that the splines are quite worn causing the wiper arm to strip inside when turning them on. Are there replacements available or should I just be looking for a good used set?


Its been somewhat frustrating not being able to drive the car with a drop of rain in the forecast lol.

Thanks
Steve M.

Hey Steve,

I've found that 90% of the blades sold don't have suitable clips to attach the blades for the older bayonet style arms; I ended up finding a few clips at the junkyard and kept them after replacing the 'blade' portion of the wiper. Currently I'm using the Bosch Evolution blades, with the clips from some older blades. Seems to work fairly well.

I've also searched for the modern hook style of arms, but I don't know of any which are small enough for use on an L-body; your best bet would be to have the hook welded onto the arm and make a custom style arm.

The end of the arm is only cast aluminum which is pretty soft and I suppose can get chewed up as you're experiencing. Dorman doesn't make anything aftermarket for the arms as the car is too old and Anco offers a replacement arm (part number 41-03) but I've heard they're not too great. I think your best bet is a good used set, although as you no doubt know, finding a pair is the difficult part.

Cheers, TheCanadian

Edit: I found this for sale thread; you could check and see if he still has the wiper arms... http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...Parts-For-Sale

How's the omni going?

Yeah I think I'll take a trip to the jyard one day to grab a few clips, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for a wiper transmission assembly

I'll look at/measure the ones on my Escort, they have the U-clip. Van ones (1st gen) were still available from the dealers last I checked but at 30 or 40 a pop, they have the right splined end on I think, but might be too long, although you could use them to build a custom, might not even need welding, just neat use of small bolts/screws or rivets. Propane torch is recommended to get 'em off the splines cleanly at wreckers.

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------

Oh, I had one strip out the splines on the van ages ago, and got some thin "mechanics wire" cut a couple of short pieces and crossed it over the hub then forced the arm back on, clipped off the bits of wire in the way of the nut, and tightened it up real hard, been fine since. Mind you that was the passenger side, which was never as hard to keep tight as the drivers side is. (Got a replacement for that one, which stripped worse).... one thing to remember though is always to free the blades from any ice on the screen in the winter, if you forget and flip then on when they're frozen down, or get lazy and try to shove too much snow out of the way with them, that's when they strip or move on the spline.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CDNTurboZ

How's the omni going?

Yeah I think I'll take a trip to the jyard one day to grab a few clips, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for a wiper transmission assembly

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Le Turbo Omni is still in pieces lol. Ran her at Gimli last year (best was 14.9 sec!) and promptly blew the head gasket. She got a proper forged rebuild last summer - Wiesco pistons, T2 rods, forged crank and a ported head, along with a valve job. I hope to reassemble her this Spring, along with front mount Isuzu intercooler. I'll keep you posted on the progress :) Until then, it's life as usual; perpetually broke college student.

You still going to school too? lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RoadWarrior222

I'll look at/measure the ones on my Escort, they have the U-clip. Van ones (1st gen) were still available from the dealers last I checked but at 30 or 40 a pop, they have the right splined end on I think, but might be too long, although you could use them to build a custom, might not even need welding, just neat use of small bolts/screws or rivets. Propane torch is recommended to get 'em off the splines cleanly at wreckers.

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------

Oh, I had one strip out the splines on the van ages ago, and got some thin "mechanics wire" cut a couple of short pieces and crossed it over the hub then forced the arm back on, clipped off the bits of wire in the way of the nut, and tightened it up real hard, been fine since. Mind you that was the passenger side, which was never as hard to keep tight as the drivers side is. (Got a replacement for that one, which stripped worse).... one thing to remember though is always to free the blades from any ice on the screen in the winter, if you forget and flip then on when they're frozen down, or get lazy and try to shove too much snow out of the way with them, that's when they strip or move on the spline.

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Van ones are available through advance auto for a whopping 12 bucks a piece, helped a lot with high speed(55mph) lift lol. They are pin style though.


They aren't really splines, more like teeth that dig into the arm. If you have one strip, just take a wire brush to the teeth and clean the chunks of aluminum out and just re tighten. New arms just have a smooth taper.