Did this ever happen to you - rear 12 inch 4Runner wiper blade won't fit?

Even though I almost never use the rear window 12-inch wipers, the old one was falling apart so I went to Amazon to get a new one and after filling in the car make model and year, it said this would fit.

But it's not even close to the original Toyota P/N 85242.35001 wiper arm.
There's no way to fit the new plastic arm onto the old metal arm.

So I removed the insert alone and tried to make it fit and it fits perfectly.
Except.

Except it slides off on BOTH ends.
How do you lock down the wiper insert?

Better yet, for next time, WHERE do you get your wiper blades?
I noticed there's a 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, etc.

What does that mean?
Which wiper blade letter after the 12 is for the 97 base 4Runner anyway?

Attached Images

     

Its been several years back, and like you, hardly ever use the rear blade. But I ended up going to AutoZone/Advance, IDK, and bought just the insert. And if I remember correctly, it was a trim to fit kinda deal. I don't remember having any issue mounting it or it being a problem at all.

If I cant find one to properly fit. I just buy one off of Toyota as they are mostly less then $20 bucks and perfectly fit every time. :-)

The dealership. I’ve had this same thing happen twice before with different Amazon offerings. The Toyota ones are <$20, last forever and fit every time. UV and heat wear mine down faster than any amount of usage

This is what I use


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the OEM rear wiper blade I got from Amazon several years ago for my '99 SR5. No Issues.

Amazon.com

This is the OEM rear wiper blade I got from Amazon several years ago for my '99 SR5. No Issues.

Amazon.com

i just use the stock blade, but I remember that there was a time that anco made an adapter to convert the screw on to the hook style.

I can see this happening. It seems many wiper blade company's measurements are off. Got a few sets of front wiper blades that all were sold as the same dimensions and some were longer or shorter.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I'm gonna return the 12 inch wiper blade I got and I will get one of the others that were suggested.

All I really need is the insert as the arm is steel and bolted on with two bolts.

But I don't know HOW they can make the inserts which have to clip on (which is easy) but stay on (which means they need something on each end to stop them from slipping off).

You'll notice I arranged that with the pins (which I cut flush with wire clips in the original photo - and then I glued the ends on - which probably wasn't a good idea) so the insert won't slip off.

But if Toyota sells the correct inserts which won't slip off, that's what I'll get.
Thanks.

Attached Images