Change wipers when windshield gets streaky
There’s just no excuse for not seeing clearly, writes Lorraine Sommerfeld.
If you wear glasses, take them off. Dunk them in a puddle, shake ’ n bake them with some road grit, scrape away what you can with your glove, and then put them back on. That’s the view too many people believe is good enough to have through the windshield of their car. Add glaring sun or torrential rain and you’ll see that all those airbags and traction control can’t save you if you can’t see where you’re going.
I was recently in Terrace, B. C., standing in drizzling rain a couple of hours before sunrise. Nestled in the mountains in the northern part of the province, it is that rain that Terrace is famous for. What better place to talk windshield wipers?
Canadian Tire thought the same thing, so they kitted out 1,000 cars with new Bosch Icon wiper blades.
It’s part of a new program called Tested for Life, and they’ll be getting feedback from real people using products in everyday settings. It’s a good place to prove how important one of the most easily overlooked parts of your car really is.
Too many of us only give our wiper blades a second thought when we’ve already put too many kilometres on them. Bad streaking, gapping at the ends, chattering at higher speeds, chips or the dreaded tear; we ignore the warning signs until we finally can’t.
The Canadian Tire service manager in Terrace Bay, Tim Wiebe, explains that wiper blades are made of rubber compounds. They perform and wear and react to temperatures and conditions in ways similar to tires.
You’ll find two basic types on the market today: the traditional metal frame with a spring assembly connecting to the rubber that contacts the windshield, and the sleeker, frameless beam blades that feature embedded springs creating evenly distributed continuous contact with the windshield.
There is a difference in price. Frame blades start under 15 bucks ( and in some, you can just change the blade part), and those Icons come in at around 25. You’ll find blades outside of both those price points, but for general consumers, this is the choice they’ll be making
Replacing blades can seem overwhelming when you’re faced with dozens of sizes and many makes, but a shop can quickly steer you to the proper size for your car, as can a quick Google search. You should replace your wiper blades every six months, regardless of which type you buy. There have been studies that show people wait up to three years; If you can’t remember when you last changed them, you’re due.
With spring finally getting here, the roads are covered with a long winter’s worth of detritus that will be spewed up from the car ahead of you, and things like highway lines have faded. The last thing you need is any part of your field of vision further compromised.
Wiebe points out jamming away with an ice scraper is probably the fastest way to destroy either design; he advocates standing the blades up when snow or ice is a threat, allowing you to clear your windshield as well as to prevent the blades from freezing in place.
Consider too that he sees many wiper motors fried when someone starts up a car with the wipers engaged and they jam against ice they can’t break through.
Back in Terrace, I watched as homeowners opened front doors that morning to see red cloth bags at the foot of their driveways tied to a couple of white balloons. As they crossed their rain soaked driveways to discover what it was, it became evident we were in the right place with the right presents.
The sun hadn’t made an appearance yet when Dave Reniero peered into the bag at three sets of new Bosch blades, a huge grin on his face.
“I actually change all my blades out twice a year; I always need them,” he said, adding it’s still too easy to procrastinate. This is great though, because it’s one of those things that’s easy to procrastinate over,” he said.
The teams had worked into the early morning hours matching blade sizes with vehicles in the driveways, resulting in a customized fit in most cases.
Margaret Durando crossed the street to retrieve a neighbour’s freebies, telling me they were away.
“When we saw what was going on, my husband told me to go steal theirs,” she said with a laugh. You probably won’t wake up to free wiper blades on your lawn, but remember they’re a safety feature not an afterthought. Spend a few bucks; stay safe.