I just purchased a set of Michilen Radius wiper blades from wally mart for about 30$. Per the book at the store for my 03, it states 24inch for driver side and 18inch for passenger side.

Installation was easy and I had plenty of testing time this morning and yesterday.

I soaked the windshield with windex first and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
This along with some tough wiping virtualy eliminates all streaks/water marks/ect from windshield + it smells nice.

anyway the passenger side is perfect If I sat on that side I would be proud.

Driver side is different, As it wipes up it cleans perfect but on the way down there is a 6sq inch area right in the middle that seems to go untouched.
This only happends on the way down.

I stopped the blade in that spot and inspected. It appears the arm does not have enough "down force" to push the middle 4inches flush with the windshield.

Anybody have experience with these blades?

Do you think it might help if I go with a 22inch blade?

thanks!

Yup, I know what the prob. is.

Does is look like this?


I found that the end of the wiper closest to the pivot point of the wiper (near the base of the windshield when the wiper is upright) is too big. There are big plastic end pieces that push up on the wiper arm, not allowing it to push the center of the blade down. Removing them allows the wiper arm to push the blade down correctly, providing for perfect clearing.

can you show a pic of the "end pieces" Im having same issue

mind does that when it SUPER COLD outside. say below freezing..
and works like a charm if it's warmer.. i always thought that it was the blade rubber hardening due to the cold, but u might ahve something here

i thought about getting a set of these but they seem kind of pricey. my original oem ones have cleaned great for the last 20 months ago. except the passenger side started chattering on the way down just a couple of weeks ago.

thanks for the replies!

That is excactly what happend. Thanks for the pic as well. I'll see if I can find those plastic endpieces.

Update.....

looking at the wiper I can see 2 plastic endcaps.

I took them off and experimented but did not work.

Took off long deflector on each side but did not work iether.

Maybe if I took it completely apart and manually bend it in the other direction it should work.

Do the ones they sell at sams have this same issue? anybody know?

thanks!

Bending the blades will only make it worse; I've tried several times. Our wipers are very low-clearance. Mine barely clear with the end caps missing.

I don't have any pics of the end caps. If you look at the blade, it should be very obvious. If you REALLY need me to take a pic, PM me

thanks again, I know what your talking about but thats just not going to work for me, today it rain all day so I pulled over and put the old "cheap" one on and it seamed like magic... all clear with an additional streak or 2

I'll take them back.......

Does anyone know of a decent replacement similar or better than that of the michilens? One I could possibly get local here in houston,tx?

thanks!

BOSCH work fine on mine

Zombie thread

I KNOW WHAT THE DEALIO IS!!!!

The coupe needs a 24" blade on the driver side and the stupid thing at Walmart tells you 24" - I know because this happened to me last year..

The sedan needs a 22" blade on the driver side - which is why the 24" doesnt fit quite right..


edit: wtf - this is from 2 years ago... rotf

I was just going to say....

Sedan

22" driver's side
18" Passenger side

Coupe is 24" drivers, but parts stores sometimes have the sedan @ 24" too...it's wrong

^Not on mine. Drive's me freaking nuts
And they're the correct 22" driver's side.
Danny (thescreensavers) said his do the same thing.

I guess I need to PM mass and see if he remembers the exact fix, I can't figure it out.

Which Bosch? The Icons 22" and 18" worked great on mine for years. Trico seem to work fine too.