On my 1997 Suzuki Carry dd51t the passenger side wiper blade rubber rotted off, and while measureing found that wiper blades are 14 inch passenger side, 16 inch on driver's side. I moved the 16 inch to passanger side and replaced driver's side with 18 inch. Adding 1 inch to each end of wiper gives a much larger swept area on windshield. As I am over six feet tall, does a great job of swipping the windshield with no interfearance, and I can see through the windshield without slouching.
larger wipers Not saying that our trucks are in the same league as Fiats, but did that on an X1/9 once and the motor proceeded to burn up due to the increase in resistance. I know it sounds stupid, but just a thought. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Christmas......
nothing special about the windshield wipers... most come with an adapter kit and you just have to pick the right piece that matches your wiper arms.
As a new truck owner, I searched for wiper blade info and saw this thread. It is pretty old as the last post was over 12 years ago but the trucks are still the same. You don’t have to pay the exorbitant prices for stock wiper blades. I used Trico “Exact Fit” line from my local auto parts store. $12 a pop – see picture below and they “Exactly Fit” no adapter or modification needed. I noticed that both existing wiper blades as received from importer were identical in length (stock or aftermarket japan?) and around 18”. The LH wiper (passenger side) was too long as it was riding up and over the windshield rubber at the bottom corner about a half and inch. I put a 17” blade on the passenger side (still needed to trim about a 1/8” off the rubber blade at outside edge so it wouldn’t strike windshield gasket) and 18” on the driver side. Anyway, new wipers and is identical to stock (or at least as imported). OBTW just because these vehicles are from Japan don’t assume they are winterized; it doesn’t freeze all over Japan (ex. Kagoshima). My washer didn’t work because the fluid in reservoir was a solid block of blue ice! Warmed it up and put in some Prestone concentrate washer fluid booster to lower the freeze point (washer works 4.0 now).
Ya some of the earlier trucks had a very conservative sweep, I added an inch or more on each side to my old DB51T. They got it better on the later trucks, winter blades in the stock length (400mm) for my DA63T just fit... a hair longer than the normal summer blades for some reason. Standard 'J' mounts anyhow... get whatever works best.
Speaking of wipers, does anyone have any tips as to why my wipers chatter so much on the upsweep? The blades are new, and I did increase the tension a bit so they press a bit harder onto the glass.
Sorry. Couldn’t resist that one. Actually I’ve found that the standard “old fashioned “ looking blades work the best. Beam blades just seem to jump all over the place. Thinking they may be better suited to a windshield with more of a curve.
It helps... Did you replace the whole thing or just the rubbers? The blades themselves develop play over time, contributing to chatter and other mischief. Also, in my experience all brands are not created equal. Maybe try something different. Finally, your windshield might be slightly gooped up. Take some mild rubbing compound to it and give it a good buff-out.
Thanks for the tip Ronin. - I have been using a product called "invisible glass" to clean the windshield, but your thought about buffing it out a bit is a good one. When the weather warms up, I think I might try a bit of baking soda for a buffing agent. After all, the glass is not new, and has quite a bit of very tiny pit marks in it anyway - so not much risk of making it worse.- And I did replace the whole thing - blade and all, not just the rubber.
With age, they will take a definite 'set' off to one side as they stay in one position after being parked when turned off. This will cause them to chatter going one way and not the other. Fred
Never thought of that either Fred. - - Maybe my blades are angled wrong. I mioght try to twist the actuating arm a bit.