Hey everyone,

Just trying to figure out, of the new "flex-type" wiper blades, which ones does everyone prefer?

Personally, I tried out the Rain-X Latitudes and was not impressed. I think for $18.99 that the blade should last a little longer. After about 4 months, I'm having issues with streaking, and having trouble seeing at night. I've also had problems with the blades skipping across the windshield while returning to resting position at highway speeds since day one.

Now, I've heard a lot of good things about the Bosch Icons, (it's also what they use on the company cars where I work). They seem great so far, but I'm kind of skeptic of long-term reliability because of the wipers I have right now. Especially at $20/wiper. I can't just shell out $40 every four or five months like a corporation can.

I'm thinking I may try refill blades, and try and get them to fit in my Latitudes before I go out and blow $40 on replacing the whole wiper. I've already tried cleaning the windshield with alcohol, etc. and it hasn't helped much.

Also, anyone notice a weird residue on their windshield from the graphite blades? I'm wondering if the graphite is having some kind of negative reaction with the actual Rain-X I treat my windshield with. Which seems as though it would be completely counter-productive, both products being from the same company, but it's possible I suppose.

Thoughts?

 

I just replaced my first set of rain x latitude blades after a year and a half of use with rain x blades again. I also replaced the drivers side 26" blade with a 28" blade i had to adjust the passenger side blade down a fraction of an inch because they interfered. But using the 28" blade got rid of the annoying triangle in between the passenger and drivers side blade.

 

My brother had that problem with the rain x blades on his Taurus. The springs in the wiper arms were not putting enough pressure down. Replaced the wiper arms and no more problems.

I have the rain x blades on my 07 since dec 08 and have not had any issues except for a torn blade on the passenger side last year during our ice storm in ky. The drivers side has been on there since 08 and works flawlessly.

 

Valeo Ultimate from TireRack $20 for 2 cant beat that and they are awesome, first set lasted over a year

Right now i have Goodyear ones that i bought from Costco and they are really good too.
was like $18 for a pair, we'll see how ling they last

 

i use rain x as well, but theyre smearing really badly, so bad that i can actually see better with raindrops on the windshield versus using the wipers. wipers are only a little over a year old so i dont know whats up, but for as often as i use them i dont really care

 

I agree about the rain x ones (not crazy about either). Sams has some that i want to try. I think they are about $18 a set.

 

my friend uses the bosch ones on his acura, haven't heard any complaints from him.

i however use the cheap anco wipers from wally world. haven't had any issues with streaking in almost a year. and, if they should start to go bad, whoop-tee-doo; another 10 bucks. not a bad deal imo.

 

Bosch Icon here. First set lasted me a little over a year. about 16months to be exact. After about 14 months they started skipping. Got another set and they are doing good

 

Hmmm...I never thought about the potential of having wiper arm issues. I do raise/lower my wiper arms quite frequently when I clean the dirt/bug guts/etc off the windshield.

I can see where this would start to take its toll on an 8-year old vehicle.

This crossed my mind after I posted this thread. When I bought the Latitudes, they didn't have 26" blades in stock, so I went with 24" blades. After posting, the thought of, "Well, what if the shortness of the driver's blade is the issue?" hit me. I guess this may be something worth experimenting with if I buy another set.

Also worth noting, is that the short passenger's side blade doesn't like to lay completely flush with the window. The outer edge seems to remain a bit lifted due to the fact that the blade is so short.

Did Anco start making flex-type blades? Or are you talking the rigid metal-type with the pivot points? I've used Anco's wipers before. They don't last very long in hot, southern summers. But I've never had any other complaints otherwise.

 

I run Rain X Latitude on the Rain X 'core' (which I actually had on my Jeep Cherokee - yeah, it's a good enough wiper that I yanked it off of my old vehicle and stuck it on the Maxima)...

But then I've used Rain X products for as long as I can remember...

*they should sponsor me or something, right*

 

I bought a pair of Valeo blades through TireRack.com a couple years ago, and they're still working great. I may or may not replace them this summer... 2 years seems like a long time for wiper blades.

And tirerack's "2 for 1" promo has been going on since they day they offered these blades. Order one side, and they send you the other side for free.

 

For $30 shipped, I think I'm going to give the Valeo blades a shot. I'd rather just drop $30 and be done than waste $10 cutting up inserts and finding out they don't work with the Latitudes.

I was looking at the PIAA Forza Hybrid wipers on TireRack. They look pretty neat, but I'm not really interested in dropping $65 on a pair of blades.

Reading reviews online, it looks as though Valeo's customer service is pretty good about replacing defective parts, as well. So for the money, they seem pretty worth it.

 

Icon blades here. I never pay full price, I usually buy blades several months before I need them. Auto Zone or Advanced autoparts, I check when they have them on sale, usually save a ton off the full price that way. Still expensive, but better then full price.

As far as longevity, they last around a year. I try to push that out during the dry season, I won't change the blades until it's getting wet all the time.

I also use car wax on the windows. If you use a real light application, and buff it off real good under cover (NOT IN THE SUN), there's never any buildup. And it lasts a lot longer then RainX...i can get 1-2 months out of wax, RainX seems like only a couple of weeks.

 

PIAA silicone inserts.

 

the cheap multi-point ones in the yellow package you get at walmart for 6 bucks. i live in Texas, so i know a thing or two about HOT weather, lol. anyway, they've worked great. out of the last 3 or 4 pairs, only 1 (one of the two wipers) has givin me trouble, one of the blades would get caught folded in one direction so it would skip in one way and glide smoothly the other. dunno how that happened, .

besides, i have a 95, my windshield is so sandblasted already i wouldn't notice a minor streak anyway, .

 

Bosch Evolution, best blades hands down IMO

 

I use the PIAA super sporza silicone w/ spoiler on the driver side and the super silicone on the passenger side. The silicone coating it leaves on the windshield really makes a difference and the spoiler keeps the blade on the windshield at high speeds. $40 + shipping on tirerack.

And to save a little cash down the road, you can get the silicone refills. But I have had mine for at least 2 years and they are still great.

 

Holy crap that's a sophisticated wiper!!!

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/...desprocess.jsp

 

These. I used them 3 years... 1 pair each year, 20 bucks a pair. Mated with Rain-X on the windshield, peferct swipes every time.

 

Bosch Icon ALL THE WAY, Never any rain x stuff, they leave a film on the window that sucks ***.

 

Thanks for all the input guys.

For right now, I've done as follows:

- I stripped the windshield of any sealants with Dawn dish soap followed by rubbing alcohol.

- I waxed it using Meguiar's Cleaner Wax versus using the normal Rain-X treatment.

- I cleaned the blades with alcohol, and then applied a light coating of Armor All to try and soften up the rubber.

However, when I run my hands along the blades, I can feel tiny imperfections in the rubber, so I'm assuming I've done about all I can and that the blades are indeed no good. We'll have to see how they perform next time it rains. If they still work sub-par, then I guess it'll be a new set of wipers for me.

 

I know this will look funny but I like to test products. I was at Target and saw a Michelin wiper blade that looked like a Bosch Icon, so I picked it up as it was for the driver's side. Good performance, quiet and looks great. Then I realized I bought the wrong passenger side wiper blade so I used that excuse to buy a Bosch Icon for the passenger side.

Got up to 70 on the highway and no wiper shuttering at all, just a clean back-forth wipe with no drama.

However, 20 dollars for the passenger Bosch Icon wiper is a bit pricey, as the Target Michelin wiper was reduced to 11 dollars!

 

Trico NeoForm wiper blades

 

So it's been decided. My wiper blades are, in fact, shot. Rained pretty good on the way to work yesterday morning, and I could actually see better with my wipers turned off.

Looks like it's time to start shopping. Hopefully it won't plan on raining much for a few more weeks here.

 

likely the worst thing you could do. Armor all is BAD from my experience.
Love the Icons. On my second set. Last at least a few years.

 

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Armor All myself. I just had it laying around, and I figured since the wipers were already FUBAR, I might as well just give it a shot and see what happens.

It sounds like a lot of people are really happy with the Icons. I may end up going with those. The Latitudes really let me down. I was disappointed that a product from such a renowned company didn't outlive the cheapo Wal-Mart blades I've used in the past.

 

just picked up a pair cheap on amazon...i had icons before this, and i honestly can't tell the difference between the two...trico for me from now on

 

whatever is cheap, it doesnt rain much here and the heat just ends up tearing up the blades either way so $3 per blade is good enough for me...

 

i have tried rain-x latitutes a couple of times, and have NEVER been happy with them.
Last set I got streaked during light rains, a month after installing them.
the set currently on my car, the cap on top of the drivers blade came off, so the blade would slide off partially when using them. last night, on the way home from work, I got pissed and used electrical tape to hold it in place. they also started streaking shortly after installing.
the cheap autozone-stocked ones have always worked better for me.

 

Michelin Weatherwise SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I was shocked. I had sooo many better results with Bosch Icons. F Michelin's wiper blade dept, I still love their tires but come on. What happened to their blades? all they do is chatter and don't wipe! after not even a a week to a month. I had Icons for 2 years then they started doing it but AFTER 2 years.

 

the dealer put on Bosch Icon's last August, so far so good even after a really harsh winter here in NY

 

So from what I've read, I'm thinking I'm going to pursue the Icons. We've got some bad weather coming up, and I haven't bothered replacing my blades yet. It's been nice, so it's been at the bottom of my list, which was kind of a mistake. But oh well.

I'm starting to think the heat has played a role in the Latitudes failing so early. Although, that still doesn't make complete sense, considering that they began streaking before the weather became warmer.

The only other thing I can figure is that maybe the icy windshield resulting from the few snowstorms we had tore the blades up when they ran across the rough ice.

I did notice, however, since it's warmed back up, that the blades have become increasingly brittle and stiff, though...

 

autozone.