I've noticed (especially with summer and hurricane season approaching) that my 14 month OEM blades are starting to streak pretty bad. What do you all recommend for the best/cost effective wiper blade. Can you guys confirm the size (I think it was like 22 driver/ and 16 passenger)?? Or something along those lines.

 

I have been REAL happy with the Rain-X ones I picked up at Wal-Mart. They weren't the cheapest available but they were oh-so-much better than OEM.

 

I have the PIAA Silicone wiper and they are unimpressive.

Also I believe they are 22"/18".

 

PIAAs are great

it puts a coat of rain-x for u. never need to apply rain-x again.

 

So one vote says PIAA's suck and the other says they are good?

 

I took off the OEM wipers at 2300 miles and put the PIAA silicone ones on. Day/night difference. They don't stutter across the windshield like the OEM ones did. They leave the window perfectly streak free and are silent. I also have them on my Armada and they are awesome on that too. Just be sure to read the packet that comes with them. You need to prep the windsheild before using them. The prep is similar to Rain-X.

 

I put on some Michelin wiper blades I bought at Wal-Mart. I like 'em.

 

tgenius, in all honesty I think you'll like anything better than the OEM blades. They're pretty appalling. They left a diagonal black line right in front of the driver's view when I had them on mine. I think I kept them for about 2 months before ripping them off.

 

Never had a problem with the OEMs. I clean them well when I wash the car - about weekly - and use rain-X. At normal speed the water leaves the windshield on its own so the wipers are usually at rest anyway.

On my truck I use the rain-X blades. The OEM Dodge blades came apart and the rain-X were the only ones available in the right size at the time so I went for it. They work very well, but again - with rain-X applied they are usually at rest.

Unless it's just POURING outside, I hit a couple of swipes as I sit at a light. By 30 mph the water is running up the windshield and over the car in nice fat beads.

 

My OEMs never streaked, never chattered, worked as well as can be, but it could be for two reasons:
1. I wash and clean at least every other month, just take a soapy rag and rub the wiperblade between thumb and forefinger, you will remove a ton of road dirt, grime and oxidized rubber.
2. I use Rain X, applied about twice a year. As Willikers said... once you hit 30mph, the water streaks right off... I hardly ever have my wipers on... so with such little use, they last quite a long time.

My OEMs lasted about 2 years before the driver's side blade tore while I was cleaning it. Got the mid-priced replacements from Discount (Advance) Auto.

The OEMs on my wife's Sequioa still work well and she uses her wipers much more I do... it's been 2 yrs, 8 mnths now. Toyota uses good stuff... their parts typically perform better than average.

 

My OEM's were better the the PIAA's I have now.

 

Maybe mine sucked because I'm in Texas and it's just too ****** HOT. The rubber perished pretty early on.

You gotta love the rain-x. Might as well take the wipers off with that stuff applied regularly

 

I've been using PIAAs for over a year/10K miles now and they are great!
I used to like Rain-X too, but after I installed PIAAs, not anymore.
Two reasons: 1. you have to aplly Rain-x pretty often to get best results, 2. it makes glass weaker and more prone to chips/cracks (according to a guy who repairs windshields).
PIAA has lots of info on their website that explains the concept of their silicon wipers. Read it and decide for yourself.

 

My '04 oem wipers fell apart at 15k mi.! I'm sure winter ice had something to do with it but, 15k mi., come on!? Since I was out of town and it was snowing like crazy I was forced to stop at a local auto parts store and buy what they had. Don't recall the refill name, but the big marketing hook was they were Teflon blades. Don't waste your $$ on 'em, they suck too.

 

Here's your solution:

1. Rain-X Wipers
2. Rain-X Washer Fluid

The washer fluid lays down Rain-X as it goes and the combo works wonders. No reapplication, no streaks, no problems.