Wiper efficiency?

[aluncm]

Both my old 4 door and now, my new traveller has wipers that 'skid over the windscreen' so do not take a lot of rain away. We all know they're not the greatest of wipers but how can I get them to stay 'firmer' on the screen?

[stuffedpike20]

Both my old 4 door and now, my new traveller has wipers that 'skid over the windscreen' so do not take a lot of rain away. We all know they're not the greatest of wipers but how can I get them to stay 'firmer' on the screen?

I think 'wiper efficiency' is an oxymoron....like 'military intelligence'.
I asked on here some years ago if anyone knew where I could get some clip on vanes that catch the wind when you are driving, and push the wiper blades onto the screen.
I was ridiculed for asking. People compared them with furry dice, and go-faster stripes etc.But I had a minor with weak wiper arm springs in the 80's ,so I fitted some of those vanes...and they worked brilliantly.
I still don't know where to get some from though.

[King Kenny]

I have not had a decent set of wiper blades for years, both for my Traveller and for the Mrs's modern car. I think that they make them without proper rubber nowadays. In the past I used to buy one 20inch blade and cut it in half and rethread my old arms.

[myoldjalopy]

Try bending the wiper arms a bit so that the wipers are pushed against the screen more firmly?

[Bill_qaz]

If you google wiper aerofoil there are lots of options

[stuffedpike20]

The ones you could get in the 80's had three square 'fins' each and clipped perfectly onto the upper part of the wiper arm.
They really did work.

[geoberni]

I bet any Minor 1000 has wipers at least 100% more effective than flat screen MM/Series II ones.
They are probably no improvement over the wipers on a 1920s vehicle; wobbling around on their rubber peg..
.

20260913_161403.jpg (842.73 KiB) Viewed 3309 times

[exlkrs]

Bend the arms. Rubber blade has better contact with the screen then.

[svenedin]

Bend the arms. Rubber blade has better contact with the screen then.

Yes. Spray some water on the screen, operate the wipers. Work out what’s going on with the contact patch on the screen and bend both wiper arm and wiper blade as needed. Takes repeated bends. A bit tedious. Maybe 10 minutes per side but makes a huge difference.

S

[exlkrs]

Bend the arms. Rubber blade has better contact with the screen then.

Yes. Spray some water on the screen, operate the wipers. Work out what’s going on with the contact patch on the screen and bend both wiper arm and wiper blade as needed. Takes repeated bends. A bit tedious. Maybe 10 minutes per side but makes a huge difference.

S

That's exactly what we did at the dealerships when they were new!

[aluncm]

Gosh I'm not the only one. I'll try the bending arm thing I guess given no other thoughts!

Thanks

[Wes]

I've done the bending arm thing but still poor. I'm surprised after all these years on one has made a better blade/rubber profile that's still in keeping with the period look.

[svenedin]

I've done the bending arm thing but still poor. I'm surprised after all these years on one has made a better blade/rubber profile that's still in keeping with the period look.

It's not just the arm you need to bend. You have to bend the metal blade holder as well. Otherwise there tends to be only contact in the middle of the blade.

Stephen

[philthehill]

Fit arms which have spring tensioners. For my 1957 Minor I can use Landrover Series wiper arms.
In reference to the wiper windage attachment above - here is my Minor fitted with them attached to the wiper arms and they did work even at low speed.

img031.jpg (1.26 MiB) Viewed 1766 times

[stuffedpike20]

Fit arms which have spring tensioners. For my 1957 Minor I can use Landrover Series wiper arms.
In reference to the wiper windage attachment above - here is my Minor fitted with them attached to the wiper arms and they did work even at low speed.
img031.jpg

TAHNK YOU PHIL !

[philthehill]

Here is a modern version for the Minor and others:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202428565691 ... R9Lt3vaTaA

Also available in black:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206171455624 ... 65P8CTNGEZ

[stuffedpike20]

Expensive.
If only we could find one of the originals, and then a 3D printer.......

[59Elva]

Not sure what £31 buys you over there but it sounds pricey in comparison to dollars here. A bit of bent tin. I can picture one guy with simple tooling banging these out in his garage or more likely contracting them out to China. Maybe the cost of low volume manufacturing.

[Bill_qaz]

Or tension springs for £1.25

Screenshot_20260913-140214_Samsung Browser.jpg (66.31 KiB) Viewed 551 times