Wiper Rants [Archive]

evlB9

12-18-2007, 02:24 PM

Every post that I have seen regarding the wiper issue have said about the same things..... THEY STINK!! Although I have not seen anything posted from 2008 owners. Maybe I have missed it.
I talked about this before and here is the follow up......

I have now totaly relpaced the origional wipers and arm on my '06 becca. I now have wiper arms from an '08 becca and drivers side wiper from an '08 becca.

The bad news is, it didn't totaly work how I wanted. The passenger side wiper you can purchase at any store (walmart, target etc) The drivers side on the other hand is still a Subaru specific wiper blade. The arm and hook are both slightly wider than the passenger arm. (GO FIGURE)
So, back to Subaru. Hopefully this will wipe better than the '06 set up. In the storm over the weekend my wife could see just fine out the passenger side. I was looking thru ice. I had not recieved the drivers side wiper blade yet.

Here are some photos...... I hope all of this help, but i probably made it more confusing. It was around $180.00 total, approx.

Magic Marker

12-18-2007, 11:09 PM

Yes, the 06-07 blades suck. So you bought 08 pass/ driver arms and only the passenger arms accept aftermarket blades and the driver side are still Subaru blade specific? That's very odd. Thanks for posting. I'm sure someone else will chime in.

njjuliano

12-19-2007, 06:48 AM

My experience so far has me wanting to change the passenger side. I have not seen challenges yet on the driver side, with minimal to zero flurry from last winter.

I'm still looking for any definitive replacement for this.

kmartin

12-19-2007, 07:07 PM

I have the the '06 Tribeca and was having problems with the wipers smearing, especially coming back down to the rest position. After researching and realizing the replacements were expensive Subaru-only parts, I opted to pull out the rubber inserts and reverse the direction on each one. They smear a bit going up now, but make a clean swipe coming back down. I am certain it has a lot to do with the desert heat warping the rubber, but it really did help, even if temporary. I haven't had problems with the arms themselves, though.

-Karen in AZ-

Magic Marker

12-19-2007, 08:56 PM

What makes the 06-07 arms not accept standard aftermarket blades?

Peaty

12-20-2007, 10:53 AM

It may take blades but the holder itself is unique. Today I picked up some Trico refills and I'm going to give it a shot tonight when the wife gets home with the B9. I got some what they call break-to-fit Wiper blade Refills PNs 47-600 and 47-800. The way the blade is held in is not the same as the OEM but it may work.

http://www.tricoproducts.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=492&location_id=67

I'll do a scoobymods page if I get them to work. Cost was about 7 bucks for the two refills per package.

Peaty

12-20-2007, 11:15 AM

I just took the blades out and had a closer look and I'm encouraged. The large blade is the exact same size as OEM 25.5" so there will be no need to cut it. The smaller blade (passenger side ?) will need to be modified to fit but there is a notch at the size needed to make it the same as OEM (19.5"). All that remains to be verified is: Will the fingers hold the slot loose enought to allow the blade to flex properly and will the way they have the blade secured in the holder work VS the way the OEM blades are held in. More later I suppose.

Peaty

12-20-2007, 04:02 PM

OK I just did the swap and it was super easy. I will post a thread in the proper sectoin after I mess with the photos I took and get the page up. So for about 15 bucks I have two sets of wiper blades. Trico is a good brand to IMHO

Magic Marker

12-20-2007, 04:39 PM

njjuliano

12-20-2007, 04:43 PM

That's great Peaty. Been skeptical with the blades since all the posts have been negative. Glad that we have other options outside of the stock.

Wonder why they made it more difficult for the aftermarkets? I've liked my Valeos, and tire rack has them buy1get1.

Peaty

12-20-2007, 04:52 PM

Almost done with the pics, have to stop for dinner. The way the arm holds the blade assembly is funky. Not like anything I've seen before. But these look like a very good option. I have a few more pics to edit then I'll start the write up. Should be done later tonight. I think these will be a good option in general for any of the scoobys which is good. It just depends on the width of the top of the rubber the 600 and 800 denote the width. 800 = 8mm and 600 = 6mm seems the drivers side is a little wider than the passengers, longer too.

evlB9

12-20-2007, 06:50 PM

Peaty,
Great job as usual..... Keep us posted on how they work in snow and rain. Your option is much cheaper than mine. I still have yet to be in any snow with my set up. I'll keep everyone posted as well.

Magic Marker

11-30-2008, 07:08 AM

Bringing it up from the dead.

So the OEM blades still suck on our 07. They don't last long and began to smear/ skip. I had them replaced under warranty yesterday. I'll let you know how long these last. When the warranty is over, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Has anyone officially got 08 arms to work on 06-07 yet?

kmartin

11-30-2008, 08:49 AM

Just a quick update...after nearly a year this trick seems to have worked very well. I just pulled the inserts and reversed them. No smearing, and they seemed to have re-formed to the windshield just fine. I have no need to replace these in the near future (knock on wood :-).

-Karen-

I have the the '06 Tribeca and was having problems with the wipers smearing, especially coming back down to the rest position. After researching and realizing the replacements were expensive Subaru-only parts, I opted to pull out the rubber inserts and reverse the direction on each one. They smear a bit going up now, but make a clean swipe coming back down. I am certain it has a lot to do with the desert heat warping the rubber, but it really did help, even if temporary. I haven't had problems with the arms themselves, though.

-Karen in AZ-

Brien

12-04-2008, 04:22 PM

We have an '08 and haven't had any problems with our blades. They're silent and with no streaks. Although, I wish the controls were a little simpler to use. I always have to look to figure out how to operate the rear one.

snork

12-05-2008, 05:45 AM

Brien...your lucky with your 08 as Subaru added a "standard" wiper arm assembly which you can easily replace the wiper part. The 06-07 have this non-standard arm wiper assembly. The friggin things cost ~$30 from Subaru to replace the whole assembly, and you can't even buy off the shelf inserts b/c the lengths are non-standard too!:censored: :mad:

Peaty

12-05-2008, 06:55 AM

MNSteve

01-15-2009, 01:11 PM

The only ones that can be applied are on the passenger side. The drivers side has the "wing" built right into the blade assembly. Plus the arm is just a bit wider so a winter blade assembly won't fit.

Additionally, the rear arm assembly is different so the winter blade assembly just won't work.

I don't know what Subaru was thinking when they designed the wiper arms:confused:. When driving in certain snowy conditions the blades get snow turning to ice and then the blades don't clear very well. Then you have to stop and clear the ice from the blade mechanism.:mad:

On my '98 OBW, winter blades work just great. But this winter it has sat in the garage during the snow storms.

B9LTD83

01-15-2009, 10:08 PM

does anyone have the part numbers and the relative cost for wiper arms? I thought about buying the arms from a Porche Cayenne... the dimensions appear to be the same...

MNSteve

01-16-2009, 07:42 AM

does anyone have the part numbers and the relative cost for wiper arms? I thought about buying the arms from a Porche Cayenne... the dimensions appear to be the same...

Can't "eyeball" these wiper arms :( You should measure very carefully (voice of experience).

HB_Dad

01-31-2009, 07:21 PM

Weird, on my '06, I simply bought some RainX wiper blades of the correct length and slid the rubber out. I used the metal guides on th old stock blades to be sure it was a perfect fit. It still sucks to have to toss the rest of the arm simply because the '06 isn't compatible with "universal" wiper blade connectors!

Rotorflyr

07-14-2009, 10:46 AM

I realize this thread has been inactive for a while but was wondering if anyone had successfully replaced the wiper arm assembly on the 06-07's?

I see the 08' Tribeca drivers side arm doesn't take "standard" replacements (any change to the 09?) but was thinking there has to be something out there that will work such as the mentioned Cayenne? (or other x-over, suv, mini-van...etc?)

Magic Marker

07-15-2009, 06:47 AM

I guess we're all just plagued by the wiper issue. The B9 is in for service today, so I asked them to swap out the blades. She's still under warranty, so at least it's still free.

snork

07-15-2009, 06:28 PM

I don't think there's any sort of good replacement wiper arm solution.

But I also thought I'd share my recurring issue with the passenger side wiper. The little metal ribs that keep the inserts straight/flat on the glass keep popping out of the track on the insert about 5" from the end of the wiper. After checking it out a few times, I noticed that the "D-channels" on the wiper arm itself which hold the wiper insert are spaced a little farther than usual in the last segment which makes the rib prone to slipping out of it's track and causing the rubber insert to curl over and cause streaking.

Long story short...if your getting uneven wiper contact on the windshield, check to make sure the metal ribs are properly inserted into their respective grooves on both sides of the wiper inserts.

gato

08-30-2009, 05:54 PM

Great instructions, very helpful, work perfectly, done it in 20 minutes
Thanks

becaboy008

09-07-2009, 08:54 AM

Hi
i have a B9 2006 and i'm looking for replacment arm to convert the B with standard arm for Standrad blade.
right now i have a standrd arm in the driver side.
when i buy the B9 it was a used car and the arm was remplace.

i'll try to find a picture of both arm who came with the B9 in 2006

Best Regards

SimonD

09-08-2009, 03:35 AM

Wow. You get wiper blades replaced under warranty? I'm sure they'd be considered as consumables over here and would not be replaced unless they fell apart.
I generally change wiper blades annually anyway. I've been using PIAA blades on the Impreza and Tribeca for the last few years and have been impressed with their performance. The right hand drive cars have the same problem with replacement arms as in the US so I have taken to replacing blades only. They only take a couple of minutes to change so no real problem.
This is the UK site:
http://www.piaa.co.uk/wipers/wipers.asp

There is a link to a US supplier in there somewhere.

SimonD

09-08-2009, 03:40 AM

There is no mention of a Tribeca fitment in there but I just order the 26" and 20" blades only. They fit just fine. The screen coating works well too but you need to be doing at least 65/70mph for it to be effective.

El Lungo

11-30-2009, 02:05 PM

I'm glad to see all the good and thoughtful advice here about the wipers...I'm at the end of my rope with my '06 Tribeca wipers...I've just replaced the originals and they've probably got 20 hours of use and the noise on a wet windshield is horrendous...love everything else about my Tribeca except for those wipers...

agam

01-29-2010, 11:47 AM

just buy some refills instead of the whole wiper.. its significantly cheaper.

HankScorpio

02-06-2010, 12:06 PM

Snork, did you look at my link that shows how to put in aftermarket blades?

http://www.sb9t.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440

It's really simple and inexpensive.

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8727

I replaced ours about a year ago (almost to the day) and they have been working fine ever since.

Peaty, what you referring to are called "refills".

"Blades" are the assembly that holds the rubber refill and attaches to the "arm".

The "arm" is the part that is spring loaded and attaches to the vehicle.

As far as I know there are still no options to replace the blades on 06-07 Tribecas on the stock arms. Using 2008 arms only seems to get standard size blades on the passenger side.

msrsti

05-18-2010, 11:53 AM

I have not had any issues with the wipers on our 2006 B9.

I apply Rain-x to the windshield and it makes a huge improvement, especially in really heavy rain and snow and it seems to stop the blades from squeaking in light rain too.

jamesdz

11-03-2010, 08:15 AM

Hello just joined forum... I have a 2009 Limited.. looking for advice on replacing the wiper blade on driver side.. I replaced pass. side with rainx latitude no problem but as most of you know the hook on arm of driver side is much wider than std.

2nd question: has anyone heard of an aftermarket power lift for the rear gate modification? or if it could be done?

thanks

James