[TheGSRGuy]

Spring is less than 2 months away, and I was rather bored today so I competely rewrote the All About Windshield Wipers article.

I've revamped the article to discuss when to replace, how to tell if you need a replacement, and even which wiper gimmicks to avoid. I suggest everyone take a quick look at it.

I hope you all find this useful, as wipers tend to be one of the most neglected but important safety items on cars today. Feel free to post up any questions on wipers in the forums.

 

[hpracing007]

interesting, my blades are the same ones that came with the car in 2000 and they still wipe okay

What's the good word on windshield wiper fluid? (something i personally never use cause it makes a mess)

 

[integrascoot]

I use the rain-x fluid, makes water bead off nicely. and i'm too lazy to do a good hand application of it in the winter time.

 

[TheGSRGuy]

Wiper fluid is wiper fluid. Just keep it full all the time. I buy the cheap **** from gas stations.

I only use it in the winter, in the summer I'd rather just spray some glass cleaner on a rag and wipe the window off.

 

[Newport_Teg]

Rain x wiper fluid is key in the winter to keep a bit of treatment on your glass. Blue stuff eats away at rainx and youll need your wipers more. In the summer I just put plain water in my resevoir so when I spray it wont eat away the rainx or wax from over spray, esp on the hatch lid.

 

[TheGSRGuy]

My article specifically recommends against using RainX on your windows...

 

[GiganticPrune]

when i apply rainX i dont even use my wiper blades unless im stuck at a light for a while

 

[WildoutWhiteGSR]

I fully understand what your saying about Rain-X decreases the ability for the wipers to work effectively, but I'm gonna have to slightly disagree.

Rain-X for me has worked flawlessly with my oem wipers, bosch micro edge excel wipers and now the flat oem wipers that come stock on newer bmws.

The only time rain-x has ever affected the wipers from doing there job has been, when they needed replacing anyways.

once I replaced them, everything worked well again.

The way, I've tested this, is during the summer, I would apply rain-x and drive until we would get a good rainy week. Then test the wipers out. Next I would use my windsheild stripper and take off all the rain-x and proceed to drive the rest of the week. I have done this about 3-4 times this past summer.

Now the wipers work really well for light rain or on and off rain, but when it's downpouring the integra's wipers are either too slow or too fast. Now with the rain-x during downpours it helps considerably a lot more and seeing during the downpour is greatly increased.

 

[WildoutWhiteGSR]

Oh yeah and the rain-x windsheild washer is utter crap.

 

[TheGSRGuy]

If you have good wiper blades and a clean window, you shouldn't have any trouble keeping the windshield clear of water. Arizona's monsoon rains are particularly nasty, and I've never had a problem.

This info on RainX is from indepdent testing. It's not like Bosch, Valeo, or Anco ganged up on RainX and rigged some test to prove it was a worthless product.

If you like RainX, then use it. I'm not here to lecture people, but rather, provide facts based on decades of testing from both wiper manufacturers and independent labs. Draw your own conclusions.