Technical Wiper Blades

[TheCROW]

Hey All, just a question about wipers...
On my Brava, ever since I bought it I have one wiper blade bigger than the other, I mean in length.
The drivers side one is bigger.
When I changed them, the guy replaced them with brand new Bosch ones and also those have one bigger than the other.

I know this might sound silly but do all Brava/os have this?
Can I replace them and put two of the same size? what size blades do you recommend?
Thanks.

 

[jug]

most cars have a bigger blade on the driver's side as standard, and you only get the spolier on the driver's wiper too. as you probably know i have a symettry fetish so i always replace the passenger side one with a driver's side wiper from the same car. i guess your SX wont have a wiper spoiler on either wiper, maybe you should fit a pair of HLX driver's side wipers.

 

[TheCROW]

Thanks Jug, as always
If I want to replace the passenger side's wiper, do I have to get the whole arm (metal rod with a spring below) or just the wiper itself? You know the one that snaps into the arm?

 

[jug]

if all you want to do is increase the length of the passenger side wiper you can just buy a new wiper blade, and leave the standard arm in place. if you want the spolier type you need to remove the whole arm from a donor car.

 

[TheCROW]

Cool, thanks.
I'll keep my eyes open for spoiler arms when I go to scrappies...

 

[TheCROW]

Hey Jug, guess what, while I was doing some shopping on the week end I saw some wipers spoilers that you can attach to any wiper arm There were two sizes and they cost about 4 euros the pair there were even two colors, silver or black ...
I'm gonna go again and buy them just after I take my wiper arms measurments to see which size to buy.
So I guess I won' t need to change the arm afterall
One question though, if I put them and replace the passenger blade with a larger one, will this affect the motor in any way? I mean will this put more pressure on it or anything like that?
Thanks

 

[jug]

the wiper motor has high torque, it wont even notice the difference a longer wiper blade will make, or a couple of spoilers, even at high speed. dont worry about it

 

[TheCROW]

Thanks Jug...
One more question; Besides the look what's the use of wiper spoilers?

 

[jug]

when travelling at high speed the wipers dont clear the windscreen very well because the force of air going over the windscreen allows the wiper blade to skip across the surface leaving water on the glass. adding a spoiler will force the blade against the glass more firmly when travelling at speed so it can still clear the water away. they really make a difference, i couldn't imagine not having them.

 

[JoskeJTD]

Anyone tried the new generation wipers yet. Valeo make them as do a company called classic which have fitments for the Bravo. The Valeo ones are called X-trm silencio. They are flat and have none of the mechanical bits a conventional wiper has, its sleek design reduces air noise and it design wipes the glass perfectly as it has over 1000 pressure points. They look fancy in the flesh. I rememeber seeing a wear indicator on them aswell.

My brother has them on his Alfa 2.4JTD and thinks they are awesome.

 

[TheCROW]

Wooow how cool is that!!!!
It's about time they did a revolution in the world of wipers
They must cost a fortune though, that is if they are available everywhere

 

[jug]

Anyone tried the new generation wipers yet. Valeo make them as do a company called classic which have fitments for the Bravo. The Valeo ones are called X-trm silencio. They are flat and have none of the mechanical bits a conventional wiper has, its sleek design reduces air noise and it design wipes the glass perfectly as it has over 1000 pressure points. They look fancy in the flesh. I rememeber seeing a wear indicator on them aswell.

My brother has them on his Alfa 2.4JTD and thinks they are awesome.

my company car has them (2001 passat), they work perfectly for about 5 minutes and then they have millions of steaks. they get changed 3 times as often as the service guide recommends, yet they still dont last. i hate them. the only good feature is that they are one big spoiler so they actually work better at high speed, unlike most other wipers.