This morning, a forum post came up on the Binder Bulletin with wiper arm information, which reminded me of a Scout story from years ago:
When I was in college, I borrowed my roommate’s Traveller to drive myself and two friends to D.C. to attend an evening seminar at the Smithsonian. On the way down, it began to snow, and it was at that point (late for the seminar, we were doing 65mph on I-295 in late January) that the wiper motor died. We found some string in his parts bin in the back and tied it to each of the wiper arms, then ran it through the butterfly windows so that my passenger could pull it back and forth, effectively cleaning off the windshield. We made it to the seminar and drove it home like that, too.
Now, at the risk of drawing the ire of anyone over on the Binder Bulletin, I’m going to repost some of the information I’ve found useful here, with a direct link and attribution. (I’m not casting aspersions on the admins of that great site, but I’ve found that information residing in web forums tends to disappear or move unexpectedly, usually at the point when I need it).
(1) If you still have the stock wiper arms, then there are only a few sources for replacements, but apparently NAPA has their 11 inch “Classic” wiper blades which should be an OEM replacement. I didn’t go that direction because I like more variety in wipers.
(2) If you want to use commonly available wiper blades, you can install ANCO replacement wiper arms.Â
ANCO Part: 41-02 (Passenger Side Wiper Arm)
ANCO Part: 41-03 (Driver Side Wiper Arm)
The previous owner may have already installed these for you. You probably have ANCO replacements if the wiper arms have small gray friction discs at the end that allow you to adjust the blade angle.
Once you install the ANCO arms you should be able to use them with most after market blades.
I believe OEM blades are 11″, but I like to use 13″ heavy duty winter blades for better durability and coverage. The ANCO 30-13 13″ Winter Blades work pretty well.
Here are some sources for Wipers/Arms:
NAPA: http://www.napaonline.com Classic Blades. Not cheap, but if you’re staying stock it’s a good source.
RockAuto: http://www.rockauto.com Has the ANCO wiper arms and blades at competitive prices. Arms: $9.05, Blades $4.55 as of 01/19/09. This only issue with them is they ship from all over creation and sometimes the shipping can get out of hand for small orders of obscure products.Â
Given how old my wipers look, and how hard it is to source parts for Scouts, this is great information. I used to have two spare pairs of Anco blades in my old parts bin, so I’ll have to restock. Luckily, I have a spare windshield with a wiper motor still attached and all the linkage up to the wiper blades.
Update: The Binder Bulletin went down for maintenance only a few hours after I wrote this.
Update 25 Jan 2009: I just got a friendly email from the original author of the forum post, who added this new information (and kindly passed it along to me):
- If you just want to use 11 inch wipers (the original length from IH), most manufacturers blades should work with the ANCO arms including (no suprise) the ANCO 3011 (11 inch winter wiper blade).
- If you like the increased coverage of the 13 inch blades (and who doesn’t), then you can’t use any old blade. In particular the ANCO 13 inch blades were problem. The blades themselves are high quality, but the two connectors that come with them are (a) a direct connect for baton-style arms and (b) a quick connector for baton and possibly other arms. The problem is that you can’t use the regular connector because the baton jack on the connector is too shallow which prevents the ANCO baton from clicking in. The quick connector is fine, but it makes the total arm length too long and the tip of the ANCO blade then exceeds the windshield height when sweeping.
- Two 13 inch blades use connectors of the correct length are the Trico 37-111 and the Duralast 13″ winter blade from Autozone. While the Trico seems to be a fine blade it doesn’t have an adapter for the 5mm bayonet of the smaller ANCO arm (the passenger side).
- That leaves the Duralast 13″ winter blades I found at Autozone which come with both 7mm and 5mm bayonet connectors. The Duralasts look almost exactly like the ANCOs, but they have blue instead of red tips on the end. They’re made in China (if that matters to you.)
So the current out-of-the-box score is:
- For 13″ Blades and ANCO Arms you’ll probably need to use the Duralast 13″ Winter blades from AutoZone. No quick connects, but they’re the right length and have both 5 and 7mm conectors. A decent compromise.
- For 11″ Blades and ANCO Arms the ANCO 3011 11″ Winter Blades are well-constructed, look good and the connector options are excellent. Their bayonet connector is 7mm, but they comes with 5mm adapters. They have quick connectors for swapping them out and their bayonet sockets can be easily unlocked from the ANCO bayonet should the need arise. The bayonet lugs on the Trico and Duralast are difficult to remove, doubly so since there aren’t any quick disconnect options.
