Wiper Blade Replacements

Silverado4x4 · October 15, 2021

1 hour ago, todd308 said:

Just as an update, my conclusion basically is that of various wipers I've tried Bosh/Michelin/OEM the OEM ones seem to be the best over time. Not sure what the difference is but non-OEM ones quickly do the same thing I noticed in my OEM ones after about a year, they streak on the drivers side under where the arm attaches. If I replace with OEM they seem to be fine. Which is funny because in 35+ years of owning vehicles I've never had one where the OEM wipers were the best option.

I almost wonder if there's too much pressure on the wiper at the arm and it's wearing out/fatiguing the wiping edge there faster. Either way seems like it's not a bad idea to have a spare set of OEM wipers and an arm on hand.

Your 100% correct, I have been through the wiper blade replacement detail with just about all brands out there and the OEM was the best replacement and about the same price maybe a few dollars more as the others but OEM blades are cheaper in the long run. I can get about 1.5 to 2 years out of OEM blades where the others ill get about 6-8 months out of the aftermarket blades no matter what brand. Also the aftermarket blades you will get that flip flop sound when the wipers change direction, OEM you cant hear them.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Silverado4x4

Grumpy Bear · October 16, 2021

9 hours ago, Silverado4x4 said:

Your 100% correct, I have been through the wiper blade replacement detail with just about all brands out there and the OEM was the best replacement and about the same price maybe a few dollars more as the others but OEM blades are cheaper in the long run. I can get about 1.5 to 2 years out of OEM blades where the others ill get about 6-8 months out of the aftermarket blades no matter what brand. Also the aftermarket blades you will get that flip flop sound when the wipers change direction, OEM you cant hear them.

I've gotten 75K/3.25 years from each set of OEM Direct Fit OEM blades. What is not to love about that?

fastk9dad · October 16, 2021

On 4/24/2021 at 5:22 PM, GN2018 said:

When I had my ‘18 Silverado, I bought some Direct Fit blades from NAPA. They were crap. I returned them. Someone recommended the Trico wipers at NAPA so I tried those and was very happy with them. I think the OEM blades are probably best, but I haven’t found them for a discounted price yet. Now that I have my ‘21, I’ll try looking again. I like to have some on hand.

You can always get GM OE blades from Rock Auto:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=12532309&cc=3446624&pt=8852&jsn=812&jsn=812

todd308 · April 13, 2022

Bit of a necrothead but an update. My 21' also started streaking under the attachment point as we come out of winter, not quite as bad but significant. I don't think snow bent the arm because we had almost none this year, my truck is usually in the garage. Trying new OEM wiper blade to see if that fixes it, as a precaution since it was like $20 and it has helped others I also ordered a new wiper arm.

I haven't installed it yet, but the spring attachment looks interesting to me, it appears they just use a "C" style hook to connect the spring to the arm near the vehicle attachment. The spring seems super tight but not very stretched at rest. I wonder if what is happening is over time that "C" attachment is bending/lengthening a bit and weakening the effective spring tension. I don't think it would take much to change the wiper pressure significantly. If the new wiper blade alone doesn't fix the issue, it will be interesting to compare this new arm to the original to see if it's obviously stretched out. That or to play with the old "C" and add some tension back in and see if it fixes the issue.

Picture of the attachment and bent "C"

todd308 · September 14, 2022

As a further update it does appear to be due to the wiper arm itself, not the wiper blade. So when I replaced the wiper blade in spring it worked a bit better but not for long. Recently I replaced the wiper blade again (all wiper blades were the GM OEM version), it did not help, however when I replaced the wiper arm itself the issue is gone......for now.

I can only conclude that somehow the wiper arm is losing spring, or getting bent during use etc. One other thing I did is you can "clock" the wiper arm a bit if you want to make it not sweep quite as far out (less windshield curve) so I adjusted it so it stops about 1/2" sooner, however even when clocked at the same position as the original arm it cured the streaking issue.

Seems like the only answer is every spring to buy new OEM wipers, and a drivers replacement wiper arm for $15.