If when you turn on the windshield wipers, water stains remain on it, the snow is poorly cleaned in winter and the dirt from under the wheels of the cars when driving on the way - such wipers should be replaced with new ones. It is because of poor visibility that a large percentage of accidents happen.
Automobile wipers have various modifications, shapes and work surfaces, which often leads motorists into a stupor when acquiring these elements. This review will help you choose the right wiper blades or wiper kit as a whole, which is perfect for a particular car and will fully perform its functions.
Practice shows that drivers often try to install larger wipers on their cars to increase visibility.
The size of the wiper blades (let’s use Kalina for example) is able to fully clean the maximum area of the glass, their replacement (increase) is not necessary. And on cars of the Lanos family it is possible to install a larger janitor with 47.5 cm on a cleaner measuring 50 centimeters, however, this only applies to the cleaner on the driver's side. Carrying out such a “modification”, it is necessary to take into account the degree of divergence of the wipers at the moment of their rapprochement, since their engagement is possible.
Car wipers: types
By type of execution and application of the brush can be distinguished into the following:
- Wireframe.
- Frameless.
- Winter.
- Hybrid
Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Wireframe type
They are considered the most popular and common wipers.
They have a metal or plastic frame and are attached to the mechanism lever using a hook or bayonet connection. As a rule, experienced drivers recommend using them in the warm season. This is due to the fact that in winter, moisture gets into the grooves and openings of the frame and freezes, which leads to poor adhesion of the working surface of the wiper to the glass surface. This factor interferes with the normal operation of the mechanism.
Frameless type
They have a more modern look and are a brush with mounts on the edges and in its middle part. High-quality wiper blades of this design are made of rubber. Rubber perfectly tolerates severe temperature extremes and can last quite a long time. Mounting is carried out similarly to mounting frame wipers, but can be universal.
Winter type
This type of wipers is not widely used due to a number of features.
At too low temperatures, they creak strongly, but at high speeds, on the contrary, they are diverted by the wind stream from the glass, and they are not effective. The only plus in using them is riding in urban conditions at medium speeds.
Hybrid type
This species copes with its duties at any time of the year. The main thing in this matter is the acquisition of an original high-quality product, and not, for example, of Chinese origin.
How to determine the quality of the wipers
When purchasing a new set of wiper blades or their components, it is important to pay attention to the size of the wiper blades. For each car model, they can be different depending on the width and height of the windshield. It is not recommended to install products on the machine that do not meet the technical requirements. Often, the seller can tell you what size and model of cleaners can fit a car.
In this case, high-quality brushes must necessarily be of a uniform texture and color of the material. The working surface should be smooth, without burrs and microcracks. No need to hesitate to conduct a thorough inspection of the details of the wipers, since after acquiring those you may encounter their unsuitability.
Kit Life
To begin with, it is important to note that the work of wipers on a dry glass surface can accelerate the wear of the gum surface several times. The size of the wiper blades is directly related to the wear of the drive mechanism as a whole.
The larger the friction surface, the greater the load on the electric motor and lever drive. It may happen that even the most expensive wipers will become worthless in a very short time. Often this is due to their inclusion without the use of a glass washer system. In the winter, drivers include windshield wipers for “removing” snow with insufficient heating of the car and the glass itself, and as a result, the degree of wear of rubber bands increases.
To increase the service life of the working part of the wipers, it is necessary to periodically clean them from dust in the summer and ice in the winter. In this case, the factor of damage to the surface and the windshield itself will significantly decrease.
If the car wipers do not clean well and leave stains, then, on the advice of experienced drivers, they should be placed in a container with gasoline for ten to fifteen minutes and used in the future for some more time. This advice can help if acquiring new wipers is not possible in the near future.
As for the service life of the new product itself, it is 400 hours of work, provided the quality of the product. Lesser-known manufacturers give a guarantee of quality work within a hundred to two hundred hours, and then the brushes become unusable.
Wiper Blades Size
As a rule, a car is equipped with two wipers, but there are exceptions - on the contrary, only one or more than three. And even on the same car can be the use of various brushes.
The size of the wiper blades installed on the car, as a rule, is indicated in the service book, or you can independently measure them using a conventional tape measure. When there are three cleaners on the machine, their size can be: from the driver's side - 50 cm, from the passenger side - 45 cm, and the rear wiper - 30 cm. But all these indicators vary depending on the model. As a rule, cars with a hatchback and station wagon body are equipped with rear window cleaners, the glass areas of which are also different.
In order to increase the size of the wiper blades on your vehicle, first you need to measure the glass.
At the same time, the brushes themselves in working condition should not go beyond the glass and should not mesh with each other.
Practical tips
Most owners of domestic cars to one degree or another try to improve their cars on their own. The same applies to windshield wipers and rear windows. To increase the glass cleaning area, they are experimenting with installing larger glass cleaner brushes on the machine. It should be noted that such an improvement option is not always possible.
The size of the wiper blade ( including VAZ-2110 ) is equal to the following parameters: driver side - 510 millimeters, passenger side - 510 millimeters. In this case, it is possible to use one larger brush, by reducing the second, as a rule, from the passenger side.
As standard, the Lada Granta car provides for the installation of parts 60 cm and 41 cm in size for the driver and passenger seats, respectively. It is possible to change the sizes of wiper blades (“Grant” is no exception), but only on the passenger side.
The fact is that an increase in the wiper even by one centimeter from the driver’s side is impossible - it hurts the body. But on the passenger side, you can increase by as much as four centimeters. Now about what size of wiper blades is needed for domestic cars. Kalina and her janitor fit the size of Grantovsky. True, with only one difference, that a rear window wiper is installed on the hatchback with a size of 36 centimeters.
In imported cars, things are a little different. Here interchangeability has a wider range.
The standard size of the Lacetti wiper blades is: front left - 55 cm, right front - 48 cm, and rear (hatchback and station wagon) 45 and 35 centimeters, respectively. At the same time, it is possible to install custom sizes of cleaners, taking into account the area of the glasses and their ability to work in pairs.
As a rule, the prices for wipers vary from the degree of their configuration and manufacturer. Naturally, a complete set with holders and a work area will cost more than the purchase of rubber brushes alone. Basically, the price of a complete set ranges from twenty dollars to one hundred dollars, given that your car is a budget class and standard. But as already mentioned, it depends on the degree of configuration of the wiper itself. The usual replacement of rubber elements can cost ten dollars.