Windshield Wipers and Arms

[Dick Simonis]

As we're packing up and getting ready to head out for the summer I found an item on my list that was overlooked.  

My wipers have a tendency to lift off the windshield in heavy rain and wind.  I appears that as the wipers pass the curve in the windshield they lose enough tension that wind gets under the blades and pushes them off the surface.  I do have the little add on springs but they don't do the trick so I'm looking for advice on new arms and blades.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dick

[Joel Ashley]

You may consider a slightly shorter wiper that may present less to the wind and retain more surface contact.  Ken at BCS recommended changing our wind sensitive blades to the Boomerang type a couple years ago, and they not only are more stable, they wipe much cleaner as well.  Granted, they changed the arms to a better quality version also.

Joel

[Dick Simonis]

Joel, thanks for the info.  I've been looking at the Boomarang blades but the attachment method is unclear.  My blades are a bolt through and 26 inch...is your newer model the same?

What arms did BCS recommend, I would mind changing those if I can figure out what to buy.

Dick

[Bill Sprague]

I've tried springs and airfoils.  Shorter blades have worked the best.  They are cheaper too!

[David T. Richelderfer]

Spend a few minutes before your trip to put RAINX on your windshield.  That stuff makes wipers almost obsolete.  At travel speed on the open road the rain drops will hit the windshield and be gone almost instantly.  Many times after a fresh application of RAINX I don't know it's raining until I see other vehicles with their wipers on.

This being said, I have not placed RAINX on my coach's windshield yet.  I regularly use it on the van - our daily driven vehicle.  I don't need a ladder to apply RAINX to the van, but of course a ladder would be required to reach up to the height of the arch of the coach's wipers.  Once applied, I try to not use the wipers except in downpours because the wipers will tend to "scratch" the RAINX rendering it less effective during the next rain.

[Larry Dedrick]

Dick:
        I purchased two new windshield arms from BCS and they are working fine. I couldn't believe how much tension was lost on the old wiper arms, significant difference. I am also a user of Rainx, works very, very well.
        The arms I purchased were the double arm, Mike at BCS can help you on that. Just make sure you specify a double arm, if thats the case.

                    Larry D.

[Joel Ashley]

Yours is quite a different coach than mine.  BCS installed AM brand arms that are single-armed and about 30" overall, and put 28" boomerang blades on them.  Seems like our old blades were quite a bit longer, and the new ones make much better contact overall.  The downside is that replacing arms and blades entotal was over $170 just for parts.  You may be able to do better.

The part nos. and description are 352-0125 ARM WIPER 28WET, and 23-6343 BLADE 28I BOOMA.  But I had difficulty looking those up online, so I think the part nos. may be BCS Parts specific.  If need be, you could call Monaco or BCS for info germane to your Patriot, Dick.  The shaft coming from the motor can vary, and you need to be sure you get arms with the correct mount fitting.  You might also look up AM Engineering and I'll bet they know which one you need, since motorhomes are one of their specialties.

In our case, Monaco had briefly changed to a different arm manufacturer during our coach's build, to save money I guess, and the quality just wasn't there.  I think the one they had been using previously or should have been using without interruption is AM, and that they are located in Jefferson near the midst of Oregon's old motorhome mecca.

As to Rain-X, I've tried it in the past on my cars, but it won't work unless you initially get the glass microscopically clean and don't contaminate the cleaning or application cloths when wiping nearby edges/seals.  I can agree that it does work, but has to be redone regularly.  I tried a similar Canadian product on the coach in 2012 while on a long trip, and it worked okay, but it takes a lot of product and is very time-consuming to clean thoroughly and apply properly.  It's not something I have time to do often enough, so I rely on quality wipers;  you should have those regardless of whether you chemically treat/microseal your windshield or not.

-Joel

[Dick Simonis]

Why is nothing simple?  I can't seem to find out if the Boomarange BB24 blades are J-Hook or bolt on, and I went looking for new arms and it seems there are several different motor pivots.  Looking at pics I think mine are a  tapered knurl so I said, OK let's just pull on off and take a look.   WRONG....after 14 years they are frozen tight and won't budge.

Crap...looks like an item for the BCS list.

[Joel Ashley]

My arms are J hook, and there is an adapter that the blades clip into the arms with.

Yes, I noted that there were different motor mounts involved, which is why I suggested a call to AM Engineering.  They may offer assistance in getting the old ones off.

One issue is the washer hose routing.  It can be tricky to get just right, and without pinching or restricting or popping the tube off a fitting anywhere during operation of the wiper.  I had to tweak mine a bit a few weeks after BCS put the new wipers on.

Joel