Ok, lets start by saying I'm kind of frugal...This means I had a hard time paying a lot of money for all new wiper linkage, when all that was wrong was $0.14 worth of plastic!
I recently up graded to 4Runner wiper arms, and they are soooooo nice. I found them a Toyota wrecking yard with all the misc hardware, including good blades for $30.00.
My wiper linkage was working all right, but when I installed the new arms I noticed there was a few inches of slop. I know the plastic bushings wear out/break, and you can maybe find them in AU with more in shipping than parts. So I decided to see if I could make a repair that was cost effective and an operation improvement.
What I did:
Pulling the linkage out a 60 is quite easy; remove the wiper arms, pull the plastic cowl trims, remove 2 bolts on each wiper spline drive mount, remove the 2 firewall access plates, unplug and loosen the wiper motor under the hood on the passenger firewall. At this point you can wiggle the wiper linkage out with the motor attached.
Make notes of how the drive arm on the motor points, and mark it. Same with how the linkage attaches to the motor, the center double drive mount and single drive mount. I took pictures and marked mine with masking tape.
Now the fun. I noticed first off how tight the wiper drive shafts were in the 2 mount plates. They were hard to turn and I think this is what wears out the plastic snap joints!
These are a pain to take apart, as they have a wire snap ring to secure the shaft in the mount body. I used small picks to spread them, and pliers to resize them on assembly.
When I removed the shafts, they were nearly dry and crusty with cheap factory grease. I cleaned the parts, lubed with waterproof grease and put them back together. Wow! They work like magic!
Do the same on the small brass pivots for the drivers side drive mounts. It makes a huge difference.
On the linkage plastic ends, on mine at least, the passenger side with big plastic ends were the loose parts, the drivers side small ends were tight and good. I just cleaned them and lubed with a silicone grease. These ends could be upgraded with 1/4" heims if needed.
The big ends were trash, so I decided to use 3/8" female heim joints. These move in teflon bearings and will last forever. I made a template for measurements and alignment by tracing the arms outline and pivot points.
I then cut off the existing linkage ends at a point where I had empty tubing. The reason I used female heims was so a threaded rod could be welded inside the arm to allow fine adjustment, with a lock nut to secure the heim. I also swedged the tubes around the bolts after I tacked them by heating the tube and using a vice to clamp it. Then finished welding them to the arm.
On the motor arm and center drive mount arm, I ground off the pivot head and welded shouldered bolts to attach the heim joints. I used a lock nut to secure the heims to the arms. I used the template to align and adjust the length of the arm.
I painted all the parts and reinstalled the linkage.
Wow...This was a great repair that will outlast the original parts. The wipers move effortlessly, smoothly and quietly!
What did this cost to do? The 2 heims and lock nuts were around $20 shipped from Speedway Motors, shouldered bolts were $4.00 at local hardware store, and I had the 2 3/8"-24 X 2" bolts on hand to weld in the arms. I had the paint, waterproof grease and silicone grease also.
So total cost was around $24.00 and it took about 1.5 hours. So a good value and I think an improvement over stock, as these will never wear out. Plus I use better grease on the wiper arm shafts than Mr. T does, so another upgrade. But this is another maintenance area in the future to keep smooth operation.
I ordered new wiper shaft rubbers and new cowl trims, but these are not needed unless they are bad, but what the hell.
I'll post some pictures I took of the process.
I know the linkages are available, but for how long? This was a good repair for when they are no more, or IMHO, an upgrade! I'll post a long term report after driving in the rain a few times. But I bet for snow, slush and heavy rain, this will be much better.
Good or bad linkage, I really think everyone should lube the wiper drive drive shafts, as mine were very hard to to turn. This alone is worth the trouble if your linkage is not too worn.
Enjoy the wipe!
NOTE: On the wiper shaft wire snap rings - I'm going to go to the HW store and see if I can find regular snap rings to fit in place of the wire rings. If I can, I would be an easy maintenance item in the future as you could take the shaft out and lube from the top and firewall access plates. I'll post this up if it works.
UPDATES:
I found that 7/16" mini snap rings from Ace Hardware appear to work for replacing the wire snap rings on the wiper shafts retainers. We'll see how they go and I'll post after a good test.
I also ran into a small issue with the motor side heim mount bolt I welded to the motor arm. I heard a faint ticking sound and discovered the bolt I welded to the motor drive arm was a touch long and was just kissing the inner air intake inside the cowl. I ground a little off the bolt and nut to clear.
To eliminate this problem, make sure the bolt/nut is no longer than the original stock pivot stud...Doh! I could of done this easily, but didn't measure it! Now the next guy knows.
I would also go down to 5/16" heims on the passenger side linkage. They are physically smaller than the 3/8" I used and would easily clear the cowl.
Next time I service my wipers, I am going to change the drivers side linkage to 1/4" heims. My plastic ends are tight currently, but it would be easier to install not having the plastic ends pop off the link pivots.
I recently up graded to 4Runner wiper arms, and they are soooooo nice. I found them a Toyota wrecking yard with all the misc hardware, including good blades for $30.00.
My wiper linkage was working all right, but when I installed the new arms I noticed there was a few inches of slop. I know the plastic bushings wear out/break, and you can maybe find them in AU with more in shipping than parts. So I decided to see if I could make a repair that was cost effective and an operation improvement.
What I did:
Pulling the linkage out a 60 is quite easy; remove the wiper arms, pull the plastic cowl trims, remove 2 bolts on each wiper spline drive mount, remove the 2 firewall access plates, unplug and loosen the wiper motor under the hood on the passenger firewall. At this point you can wiggle the wiper linkage out with the motor attached.
Make notes of how the drive arm on the motor points, and mark it. Same with how the linkage attaches to the motor, the center double drive mount and single drive mount. I took pictures and marked mine with masking tape.
Now the fun. I noticed first off how tight the wiper drive shafts were in the 2 mount plates. They were hard to turn and I think this is what wears out the plastic snap joints!
These are a pain to take apart, as they have a wire snap ring to secure the shaft in the mount body. I used small picks to spread them, and pliers to resize them on assembly.
When I removed the shafts, they were nearly dry and crusty with cheap factory grease. I cleaned the parts, lubed with waterproof grease and put them back together. Wow! They work like magic!
Do the same on the small brass pivots for the drivers side drive mounts. It makes a huge difference.
On the linkage plastic ends, on mine at least, the passenger side with big plastic ends were the loose parts, the drivers side small ends were tight and good. I just cleaned them and lubed with a silicone grease. These ends could be upgraded with 1/4" heims if needed.
The big ends were trash, so I decided to use 3/8" female heim joints. These move in teflon bearings and will last forever. I made a template for measurements and alignment by tracing the arms outline and pivot points.
I then cut off the existing linkage ends at a point where I had empty tubing. The reason I used female heims was so a threaded rod could be welded inside the arm to allow fine adjustment, with a lock nut to secure the heim. I also swedged the tubes around the bolts after I tacked them by heating the tube and using a vice to clamp it. Then finished welding them to the arm.
On the motor arm and center drive mount arm, I ground off the pivot head and welded shouldered bolts to attach the heim joints. I used a lock nut to secure the heims to the arms. I used the template to align and adjust the length of the arm.
I painted all the parts and reinstalled the linkage.
Wow...This was a great repair that will outlast the original parts. The wipers move effortlessly, smoothly and quietly!
What did this cost to do? The 2 heims and lock nuts were around $20 shipped from Speedway Motors, shouldered bolts were $4.00 at local hardware store, and I had the 2 3/8"-24 X 2" bolts on hand to weld in the arms. I had the paint, waterproof grease and silicone grease also.
So total cost was around $24.00 and it took about 1.5 hours. So a good value and I think an improvement over stock, as these will never wear out. Plus I use better grease on the wiper arm shafts than Mr. T does, so another upgrade. But this is another maintenance area in the future to keep smooth operation.
I ordered new wiper shaft rubbers and new cowl trims, but these are not needed unless they are bad, but what the hell.
I'll post some pictures I took of the process.
I know the linkages are available, but for how long? This was a good repair for when they are no more, or IMHO, an upgrade! I'll post a long term report after driving in the rain a few times. But I bet for snow, slush and heavy rain, this will be much better.
Good or bad linkage, I really think everyone should lube the wiper drive drive shafts, as mine were very hard to to turn. This alone is worth the trouble if your linkage is not too worn.
Enjoy the wipe!
NOTE: On the wiper shaft wire snap rings - I'm going to go to the HW store and see if I can find regular snap rings to fit in place of the wire rings. If I can, I would be an easy maintenance item in the future as you could take the shaft out and lube from the top and firewall access plates. I'll post this up if it works.
UPDATES:
I found that 7/16" mini snap rings from Ace Hardware appear to work for replacing the wire snap rings on the wiper shafts retainers. We'll see how they go and I'll post after a good test.
I also ran into a small issue with the motor side heim mount bolt I welded to the motor arm. I heard a faint ticking sound and discovered the bolt I welded to the motor drive arm was a touch long and was just kissing the inner air intake inside the cowl. I ground a little off the bolt and nut to clear.
To eliminate this problem, make sure the bolt/nut is no longer than the original stock pivot stud...Doh! I could of done this easily, but didn't measure it! Now the next guy knows.
I would also go down to 5/16" heims on the passenger side linkage. They are physically smaller than the 3/8" I used and would easily clear the cowl.
Next time I service my wipers, I am going to change the drivers side linkage to 1/4" heims. My plastic ends are tight currently, but it would be easier to install not having the plastic ends pop off the link pivots.
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