CK5
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Square body wiper systems SUCK! Can it be fixed?
- Thread starter shady
- Start date
You proved my theory.
They are designed to run 14"
That gives you plenty of vision, you don't need the whole windshield to be clean to drive safely.
You are putting more strain on a design that is marginal.
I don't have snow here and there are a couple of cars I had I used 1" longer blades to cover more of the windshield but my suburban goes to the mountains in the snow so it has stock size wipets.
It said 16" on the little machine when I bought em
It's not just snow I'm talking about though. I've had 41 vehicles, and the squarebodies had the worst wiper systems of any of them hands down. Rain or whatever. Theyre slow, weak, don't clear more than a small portion of the window, etc.
It sounds like others think the same. I kind of figured that with thousands of these out there, someone would have devised a way to make them better. And that if there was a place to find said fix, it'd be here.
Which is why I made the thread lol. It sounds like people have looked into the slow windows, weak lights, dim dash lights, and many other common issues... But just lived with sub par wipers.
Surprises me is all
It's not just snow I'm talking about though. I've had 41 vehicles, and the squarebodies had the worst wiper systems of any of them hands down. Rain or whatever. Theyre slow, weak, don't clear more than a small portion of the window, etc.
It sounds like others think the same. I kind of figured that with thousands of these out there, someone would have devised a way to make them better. And that if there was a place to find said fix, it'd be here.
Which is why I made the thread lol. It sounds like people have looked into the slow windows, weak lights, dim dash lights, and many other common issues... But just lived with sub par wipers.
Surprises me is all
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I went the easy way, I removed the wipers and put rain x.It said 16" on the little machine when I bought em
It's not just snow I'm talking about though. I've had 41 vehicles, and the squarebodies had the worst wiper systems of any of them hands down. Rain or whatever. Theyre slow, weak, don't clear more than a small portion of the window, etc.
It sounds like others think the same. I kind of figured that with thousands of these out there, someone would have devised a way to make them better. And that if there was a place to find said fix, it'd be here.
Which is why I made the thread lol. It sounds like people have looked into the slow windows, weak lights, dim dash lights, and many other common issues... But just lived with sub par wipers.
Surprises is all
I have no idea how it does with snow, should work tjough, but for rain, you don't need to see the wipers in your face making you dizzy and the noise, lets not forget the noise.
Rain-x works wonders on mine. I even take the rag that I did the glass with and rub the wiper blades down with it. They tend to glide better over the glass. Usually in the rain with rain-x on the glass I rarely have to even turn them on. Snow is a different animal though. I try not to clear the window with the blades if it's covered up. I'll brush it off. Still if I'm driving in a good snowstorm I'll get build up of snow/crud that as long as I keep the blades moving they keep up with it. But at that point I've had the blades do the same thing as my S10 or Trailblazer in that they streak like mad when a chunk freezes to the blade itself.
Watching to see if a simple fix comes up.
Watching to see if a simple fix comes up.
I still struggle with this on my freightliner when I drive in the snow.
I have to stop when that happens and tap the blades to break up the ice.
I did for a while adjust the blades to come all the way to the bottom edge so when I put it on hi, it would hit hard and break up the ice, but I had to change the blades earlier because it was getting damaged from constant hitting a a rough surface
One of the reasons I want to beef em up is mud. Thick chunky mud. I do plan on putting a high capacity/pressure washer system on it. But chugging down a level B road in Iowa after a good couple days or rain will leave you with fist size chunks of mud raining down on you for the duration of the road. My old 3/4 ton burb, and big block half ton had a lot of issues with keeping the window clean on these roads. I prefer NOT to wheel like that. But it's what I got.
From what I've gathered on this site, few people here do mud. So I used snow because it does the same thing kind of. And I won't even use washer fluid with rain x or (repellant) in it lol. I hate the stuff like crazy. I don't know if it's because of gravel road dust or what, but it's always turned into a streaky mess when I tried using it.
From what I've gathered on this site, few people here do mud. So I used snow because it does the same thing kind of. And I won't even use washer fluid with rain x or (repellant) in it lol. I hate the stuff like crazy. I don't know if it's because of gravel road dust or what, but it's always turned into a streaky mess when I tried using it.
Now that you spit it out, I can help you.
I have headlight washers from an old Subaru 4x4 I had, they are better than the typical windshield wipers squirters.
They blast with high pressure and big flow of water.
They are made to clear mud from headlights when you splash mud on them.
Install these on your hood pointed at your windshield to help wash them quick and the wipers will do the rest.
Rain x will still help by making the windshield non stick.
I got them from a 81 Subaru 4x4, when Subarus came in both 2wd and 4x4.
And don't use fluid with rain x, do the rain x treatment to the windshield.
The rain x treatment is what I tried the first couple times... It was 20 year ago so not sure if it changed. But I just didn't like the stuff.
I'm planning on running copper tube up to the cowl from a passenger side gas tank, useing a high pressure/flow fuel pump, and 4 pressure washer tips mounted in 'T's on the cowl. But that still won't be enough. It will be far better than stock. But the wipers still have to move chunks. I'll try just the washers for a bit and see how bad it is. And go from there I guess.
I spent many of white knuckle trips, not being able to see through more than a few spots here and there on the windshield. But unable to stop without getting stuck, and hoping like crazy I'm staying on the road or at least correct line. But I was younger, dumber, and didn't have kids with me mudding then. Now I want to be able to SEE lol.
I'm planning on running copper tube up to the cowl from a passenger side gas tank, useing a high pressure/flow fuel pump, and 4 pressure washer tips mounted in 'T's on the cowl. But that still won't be enough. It will be far better than stock. But the wipers still have to move chunks. I'll try just the washers for a bit and see how bad it is. And go from there I guess.
I spent many of white knuckle trips, not being able to see through more than a few spots here and there on the windshield. But unable to stop without getting stuck, and hoping like crazy I'm staying on the road or at least correct line. But I was younger, dumber, and didn't have kids with me mudding then. Now I want to be able to SEE lol.
I've never been that impressed with any of the wipers on my GM cars and trucks,but not really disgusted with any of them either..
(One exception was my '56 Pickup with vacuum wipers,all vacuum wipers in general are worthless pretty much though.)
The delay wipers on my '79 C-10 were a pain,they liked to come on for no reason at times by themselves,like when you stepped on the brakes,,but they worked OK otherwise..(delay was pretty much useless ,there was a wide gap in the settings,either too often,or not often enough,so I rarely used that feature)..
The square body wipers are sufficient in stock form for daily driving in the rain,in snowy or muddy conditions I can see them not being up to par,they do tend to stall easily and the high speed ,and you cant let much snow build up on them--the older trucks like my '72 K5 and '81 G-10 van used the same wiper motor that was bigger and more powerful that most of the later square bodies that had the squared off motor--I have a wiper motor from a '73 K-10 that has a large round housing motor that was pretty torquey,but I do not know if it would swap into any other year square body or if its a one or two year only deal..
The wiper transmission as Sweet K30 mentioned often gets neglected and never lubed,I have speeded up my wipers and eliminated squeaks by oiling the linkage pivot points and the ball stud at the motor..
They are probably designed to fail at the linkages if they jam up with snow or mud to prevent the motor and blade arm splines from damage,or have the motor stall out before it harms anything else..
I have used Rain-X and similar treatments and in my opinion they do help some,it makes ice and snow slide off better,but it also does increase smearing when it rains enough to have to activate the wipers,it tends to make the blades chatter too,in my experience..
I think with mud you'll need a much larger capacity windshield washer,with a larger tank and higher pressure and volume pump,to flush the mud away..one of my shop teachers in school rigged up a 5 gallon bucket and a bilge pump in his P-30 step van based camper he built,to wash off the windshield better than the wimpy stock setup..
I think in winter a setup like that with de-icer windshield washer fluid would eliminate a lot of ice scraping in the mornings..
(One exception was my '56 Pickup with vacuum wipers,all vacuum wipers in general are worthless pretty much though.)
The delay wipers on my '79 C-10 were a pain,they liked to come on for no reason at times by themselves,like when you stepped on the brakes,,but they worked OK otherwise..(delay was pretty much useless ,there was a wide gap in the settings,either too often,or not often enough,so I rarely used that feature)..
The square body wipers are sufficient in stock form for daily driving in the rain,in snowy or muddy conditions I can see them not being up to par,they do tend to stall easily and the high speed ,and you cant let much snow build up on them--the older trucks like my '72 K5 and '81 G-10 van used the same wiper motor that was bigger and more powerful that most of the later square bodies that had the squared off motor--I have a wiper motor from a '73 K-10 that has a large round housing motor that was pretty torquey,but I do not know if it would swap into any other year square body or if its a one or two year only deal..
The wiper transmission as Sweet K30 mentioned often gets neglected and never lubed,I have speeded up my wipers and eliminated squeaks by oiling the linkage pivot points and the ball stud at the motor..
They are probably designed to fail at the linkages if they jam up with snow or mud to prevent the motor and blade arm splines from damage,or have the motor stall out before it harms anything else..
I have used Rain-X and similar treatments and in my opinion they do help some,it makes ice and snow slide off better,but it also does increase smearing when it rains enough to have to activate the wipers,it tends to make the blades chatter too,in my experience..
I think with mud you'll need a much larger capacity windshield washer,with a larger tank and higher pressure and volume pump,to flush the mud away..one of my shop teachers in school rigged up a 5 gallon bucket and a bilge pump in his P-30 step van based camper he built,to wash off the windshield better than the wimpy stock setup..
I think in winter a setup like that with de-icer windshield washer fluid would eliminate a lot of ice scraping in the mornings..
Besides for the wiper linkage problem mentioned, I think the wiper motor ground wire could be a factor as well. The wiper motor ground wire goes from the wiper motor to the wiper switch, the wiper switch to the ignition switch, and then uses the same ground that the ignition switch uses for its ground. If a direct ground wire from the wiper motor to ground where used, it might improve the performance of the wiper motor.
There's 5 wires on my motor, I have the factory harness plugs and about 3" of wire for all 5.........
Does anyone know what wire does what ?
My harness from the firewall out is entirely different. It has the old style plugs.
Does anyone know what wire does what ?
My harness from the firewall out is entirely different. It has the old style plugs.
OK so not off topic, not the same problem but on the topic of washer systems...
Mt buddy n I both have cc Silverados,mine an 84 and his an 86 or so.
We both have the standard washers in the crown but identical whisper arms with washers where the rubber hose is cut off right near the cowl. Not sure if they're factory or not but a coincidence maybe? Neither of us had time to look into it yet to see if there's hose locations but does anyone have dual washers?
Mt buddy n I both have cc Silverados,mine an 84 and his an 86 or so.
We both have the standard washers in the crown but identical whisper arms with washers where the rubber hose is cut off right near the cowl. Not sure if they're factory or not but a coincidence maybe? Neither of us had time to look into it yet to see if there's hose locations but does anyone have dual washers?
What year is yours? Is the motor round or kinda square?
Plugs are for the round one, the one I got is the squared one.
The cab is an 86. The chassis and harness that plugs into the firewall are from the mid to late 70's. Will the old round style motor bolt into my newer cab? That would save SOME headache.... But my column switch is for intermittent wipers, so I have no idea how well the wiring would match up new to old. That's why I was thinking just race wire it and be done. It's just a play truck with almost NO on road driving
From what I understand the two motors use different switches. The round motor grounds both the ground inputs for low and just high ground for high speed. Around 78 or so they went to a permanent magnet motor that only uses one ground for either high or low. Low ground for low and switches over to high ground for high. Let me find my notes and I'll tell you what plug is what.
There should be a ground strap on one of the wiper motor mounting bolts. Usually it's brass that gets painted with the motor.
Stock for our squares is 16", and it's really common to run 18's to get a little more coverage. I would think the issue is mechanical as well as electrical. None of the linkage ever gets lubed for 35 years...and people wonder why they don't work worth a crap.
Shady, have you disconnected the motor and run the linkage by hand?
