Scientific Geek Advisory! Hydro and Force Vector Dynamics Shuddering/Skipping Wiper Blades/Arms Fix
or simply..
Fix your windshield wipers the right way.
This issue has been bugging me forever. Whether or not I have new wiper blades installed (well, more so with a set that has been used for about 3 months) I get that annoying shuddering/skipping squeal as the driver and passenger wipers come back down my windshield.
I was mentioning to a friend I was looking into the idea of using some Subi blades as some have done and he and I came up with a really great theory that I just put to the test.
Here goes..
I've been a bit lazy lately and often times will take advantage of a spray wash. As you accumulate a bunch of visits you eventually get a freebie car wash and spray wax, the kind you get to have your rig driven/pulled through after they look at you funny for doing it with an off-road truck.
What happens if you look closely is the front wide roller brush comes up the hood and windshield pulling from the bottom towards the driver as it passes over, then, as it makes a return or secondary trip, it reverses direction then pulling from the bottom towards the front of the truck, away from the driver.
What this does is in normal fashion, acts just like the wind would at speed, pushing down on the arms and blades actually making the force of the contact increase making the blades clean more efficiently.
Now the contrary, when the roller brush reverses direction it negates that force and actually allows the wiper arms and blades to be pulled out from the windshield and cowl twisting the angle the blades operate best at out of alignment.
Basically the roller brush's fingers then start to catch on the arm twisting it away from the angle of optimized placement causing (you guessed it by now ,right?) the wipers to work less efficiently and make that annoying chattering/shuddering/skipping squeal that can leave an entire section uncleared impairing your ability to see the road.
Here's the fix..
Place a large beach towel under the wiper arm and over the windshield to protect it.
Take a small crescent wrench and grab onto the 3mm thick section of the end of the wiper arm, about an inch away from where it inserts into the stamped steel portion that makes up the main arm.
Carefully apply force and twist into the windshield (put your left arm out straight in front of you and twist your fist to the right to get a visual of what I mean). As you do this the force vector angle will change on the wiper arm, but more importantly, on the sweep angle the wiper blade then operates on.
Repeat as needed to the passenger wiper arm (use the method of your arm as an example as above, but make it your right arm twisting to the left as the direction needed).
Remove the beach towel.
Grab a hose and spray down your hood and windshield and then keying up your accessory power or ignition to just before starting, turn on the wipers, go out and spray the hood and windshield and monitor how well it all works now.
You might need to fine tune it all a little bit, I also recommend running things on intermittent (if equipped) and high. I also recommend finding an opportunity to take your vehicle out for a spin where there is little chance of traffic and pedestrians or an opportunity to loose visibility and test things out on an actual drive that will have wind resistance happening so you know how well tuned the blades are now so you can't blame me for your screwing things up.
Happy Driving this Rainy Season!
or simply..
Fix your windshield wipers the right way.
This issue has been bugging me forever. Whether or not I have new wiper blades installed (well, more so with a set that has been used for about 3 months) I get that annoying shuddering/skipping squeal as the driver and passenger wipers come back down my windshield.
I was mentioning to a friend I was looking into the idea of using some Subi blades as some have done and he and I came up with a really great theory that I just put to the test.
Here goes..
I've been a bit lazy lately and often times will take advantage of a spray wash. As you accumulate a bunch of visits you eventually get a freebie car wash and spray wax, the kind you get to have your rig driven/pulled through after they look at you funny for doing it with an off-road truck.
What happens if you look closely is the front wide roller brush comes up the hood and windshield pulling from the bottom towards the driver as it passes over, then, as it makes a return or secondary trip, it reverses direction then pulling from the bottom towards the front of the truck, away from the driver.
What this does is in normal fashion, acts just like the wind would at speed, pushing down on the arms and blades actually making the force of the contact increase making the blades clean more efficiently.
Now the contrary, when the roller brush reverses direction it negates that force and actually allows the wiper arms and blades to be pulled out from the windshield and cowl twisting the angle the blades operate best at out of alignment.
Basically the roller brush's fingers then start to catch on the arm twisting it away from the angle of optimized placement causing (you guessed it by now ,right?) the wipers to work less efficiently and make that annoying chattering/shuddering/skipping squeal that can leave an entire section uncleared impairing your ability to see the road.
Here's the fix..
Place a large beach towel under the wiper arm and over the windshield to protect it.
Take a small crescent wrench and grab onto the 3mm thick section of the end of the wiper arm, about an inch away from where it inserts into the stamped steel portion that makes up the main arm.
Carefully apply force and twist into the windshield (put your left arm out straight in front of you and twist your fist to the right to get a visual of what I mean). As you do this the force vector angle will change on the wiper arm, but more importantly, on the sweep angle the wiper blade then operates on.
Repeat as needed to the passenger wiper arm (use the method of your arm as an example as above, but make it your right arm twisting to the left as the direction needed).
Remove the beach towel.
Grab a hose and spray down your hood and windshield and then keying up your accessory power or ignition to just before starting, turn on the wipers, go out and spray the hood and windshield and monitor how well it all works now.
You might need to fine tune it all a little bit, I also recommend running things on intermittent (if equipped) and high. I also recommend finding an opportunity to take your vehicle out for a spin where there is little chance of traffic and pedestrians or an opportunity to loose visibility and test things out on an actual drive that will have wind resistance happening so you know how well tuned the blades are now so you can't blame me for your screwing things up.
Happy Driving this Rainy Season!
Last edited:
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