wiper blades - rain-x, bosch, others ???

[97tbird]

So, i am going to try some new wiper blades as the ones on my wife's Elantra (driver's side) is not doing its job anymore...probably time to replace both anyway.

So which brand works best?
There's a lot of noise online about the Rain-x Latitude and Bosch Icons, which are frameless, but then there are some bad reviews, too...

my concern is mainly rain, not much snow/ice.

Then again the "regular" Rain-X weather beater was rated best by consumer ratings...

the Latitudes are kinda pricey, too...

I need to get them like now, and don't have time to go to the dealer, and don't want to wait that long till the next OC appt.

any ideas/advice?

 

[Johnny]

I use the Rain-X Latitudes on all of my cars and love them. Won't use anything else. I change them about once a year.

 

[CourierDriver]

bought one rainx and one azone standard brand, cant tell the difference , except the standard was under 6 bucks,,works for me and both are quiet, go figure

 

[ThirdeYe]

I have had the best luck with Rain-X Weatherbeaters. The Bosch Icons I'm using now are decent, but they have a lot of lift when going over 45mph. They also don't touch very well on the corner of the blades. My original pair of Weatherbeaters lasted me 2 years and still worked great but started to make a lot of chattering noise. I'm not a fan of regular Ancos or Anco Winter Blades. I haven't tried the Rain-X Latitudes but I'm tempted to try those after my Bosch Icons to see how they do. Regular Michelin premium wiper blades seem to work pretty good, and I've had great luck with the cheap-o Pylon blades you buy at Wal-Mart as well.

 

[bodeh6]

Valeo Gen2 are very quite. Michelin Radius were horrible.

 

[dailydriver]

If you are a Costco member, they have U.S. made, Goodyear 'beam-type' frameless blades which were only $7.00 each for my car (in 24" size). Probably even less $$ for the Elantra's size!

Also (I know you don't have time to mail order, but) Tire Rack has a BOGO on the Valeo beam blades.

 

[97tbird]

Great tips, guys - even if i can't use some of the ideas right now, I sure will look at this thread in the future.

For now, I am thinking the Latitudes seem like overkill, and I think i might get the Weatherbeaters from Rain-X. This week's gonna be full of rain so I will post my impressions pretty soon...

 

[Panzerman]

I bought Rain X last year and this year, I just bought the cheap $3.47 Pylons and you know what, they are just about as good. I already put Michelins on my wife car or I would have bought Pylons for it too.

 

[97tbird]

how much do the weatherbeaters run? I can't find any prices on the rainx site.

 

[97tbird]

I found something interesting: I've always thought the Motorcraft blades on my Tbird are great, and it looks like they're made by Valeo.

Btw, found this online: (I think this is the CR report):

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

I echo Johnny's assessment: Rain-X and nothing else. They work well.

 

[RedByrd]

I've put the Rain-x Weatherbeaters on, both blades cost me less than $20 at Advance Auto Parts. I also got a nice pair of Trico's there that are nice but more expensive.

The way I see it, wiper blades are cheap, available, and take all of three minutes to put on. No need to go to a lot of expense or stress over a part that easy to replace.

 

[PandaBear]

I was looking for just the rubber blade only and couldn't find them anymore, or have to actually pay more than just the whole assembly of the blade. Most of the time I notice the blade assembly at the joint and hook wear out before the blade rubber itself.

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: RedByrd

The way I see it, wiper blades are cheap, available, and take all of three minutes to put on. No need to go to a lot of expense or stress over a part that easy to replace.


true;
OT: Hey there from another fellow Tbird owner

and you're from NC too ??? where in NC?

mine is a 97 4.6L w/ sport package; do you also have the 4.6? I also use MC 5w-30 oil but FL 820S filter. have around 140k miles on mine now...

btw, the Motorcraft blades on my Tbird are great! I hear Valeo makes them

 

[97tbird]

got the Rain-X Weatherbeaters - cost about $20 at AAP - they installed it, too.
rained on the way, so got to test them a bit - seems very quiet and wipes nice and clean - of course they're new.

We'll see how they hold up over time...

Overall, i think I might need to change wiper blades more often.

 

[Big_Ed]

And why is it almost always the driver's side wiper blade that goes bad first? Same thing if the washer fluid squirters get frozen. The driver's side is the last one to thaw out!

 

[97tbird]

LOL -yeah I notice that, too! what the heck?
Only thing that's different on this Elantra's driver's side is that the blade is a 20" while the pass. side is a 18".

On my Tbird, I think both are 22"

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
I use the Rain-X Latitudes on all of my cars and love them. Won't use anything else. I change them about once a year.


Same here. Now have them on both cars and they are doing great. Well worth the cost. IMMVHO.

 

[labman]

I think Anco has a rebate on now.

 

[mrkdk]

I cant tell the differents between house brand wiper and name brand.