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Wipers are usually sold in pairs, just like shock absorbers are.
The effectiveness of a particular brand is dependant on the rubber used in the blade AND the design of it.
When you say one is "not working properly " what do you mean ? Is it skipping, not making full contact with the glass or... ?
One of the factors that many drivers seem to miss is the amount of spring tension in the wiper arm. The spring is what keeps the wiper in contact with the glass. In a car with a few years of use behind it.. the wiper spring may be weak. A weak wiper spring usually equals a poor performance when it rains.
A few general points about the care and use of windshield wipers. If it starts to rain,,, wait a couple of minutes before you turn them on. Why ? Dry wipers really wear fast, even if it is only few minutes of nearly dry use. If you live in a place that gets winter ice and snow, be careful about how you move the blades with your hand, before scraping the windshield. Pulling on a blade that is frozen to the glass will sometimes break off a portion of the edge. That results in a portion of the glass not being cleared.
There is a considerable difference in the quality and design of wiper blades. There is nothing wrong with getting two different ones, they do not need to match, you just need to realize the cheaper one will not work as well or last as long at the better ones. In my experience Bosch Icon blades are the uncontested best. However they are crazy expensive. I use an Icon ont he drivers side and a Bosch Evolution on the passenger side. It simply is not as critical to have the passenger side crystal clear.
There is a higher end RainX blade that works great too, but does not hold up as well as the ICON.
On the other hand, my son waits for a sale, buys the cheapest store brand wiper blades for $2 each and just changes them out a lot. He brings them back as soon as they get bad and they give him new ones. Most blades work pretty well when they are new. But some stop working in only a few days and never work as well as the better ones. Sometimes those cheap ones just fold up on the first use. It may be a PIA to stop at Autozone weekly or monthly for new blades, but for him it is on his way, so it really is not much of a hassle, and he does nto have $60 for ICONS.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SVTLightning
I have never seen wipers sold as a pair.
Many cars don't have the same size wiper blade on each side so what good is a pair of them lol
Same here, they are always sold individually. I also find the Bosch to be the best. I once tried Michelin and they were awful. In our climate we need to replace them annually.
Would be impractical to sell them in pairs as driver and passenger side are usually different sizes and the number of combos for different cars would be exponential.
Would be impractical to sell them in pairs as driver and passenger side are usually different sizes and the number of combos for different cars would be exponential.
They could be sold in pairs with one of each size. But they are not. I think in part because they do not always wear evenly. Seems like they should since they are both wiping the same windshield at the same speed every time, but they don't - not always.
I am glad they do not. It would be hard to fork over $75 - $80 + after tax for wiper blades. At least buying them one at a time, they do not seem so outrageous. Plus as I mentioned, I often do not pay the premium for the passenger side. I might not buy Icon if I had to buy a pair. Even when they have sales, (buy one get one half off), I put one Icon on the drivers side and save the other one and then do the same with a pair of evolution.
Many cars don't have the same size wiper blade on each side so what good is a pair of them lol
I recall it back in the day.. But that was back before you had two different sized blades.. When it was more normal for a vehicle to have both wiper blades the same size. And it was generally the cheap-o blades that would be sold in a pair.
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