Winter wiper blades, anyone?

C

curmudge1

Member
Does anybody use winter wiper blades on their 4R? I found a nice description on how to change the rubber blade insert on the OEM wiper blades. And, as other posters have noted, the OEM wipers work well & seem to last a long time.

Last winter was overall not too bad for me (Northern NJ), one big snowstorm, and was the first winter for my 2012 TE 4R.

I always bought Anco winter blades for my Chevys - K1500/Blaze/Tahoe before, thinking about whether to do so for the 4Runner.

Any inputs from people who live in real snow country? Thanks.
 
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curmudge1 said:
Does anybody use winter wiper blades on their 4R? I found a nice description on how to change the rubber blade insert on the OEM wiper blades. And, as other posters have noted, the OEM wipers work well & seem to last a long time.

Last winter was overall not too bad for me (Northern NJ), one big snowstorm, and was the first winter for my 2012 TE 4R.

I always bought Anco winter blades for my Chevys - K1500/Blaze/Tahoe before, thinking about whether to do so for the 4Runner.

Any inputs from people who live in real snow country? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I live near a ski resort and we get several feet of snow a year. The OEM blades work just as well as the old winter blades with the boot around the metal hinges of the wiper.
 
The OEM blades work fine for me. I tend to change the inserts out at the beginning of winter each year since they're so cheap.
 
I've got that heated wiperblade windshield feature... but I'm in Florida so I haven't ever used it. And have no plans to. BTW, what's snow?
:rain:
 
I used to run winter wiper blades (with the protective covering over the metal frame) on my vehicles, but with the new beam construction of wiper blades now (keeping enough pressure on the windshield) I discontinued using winter blades when I had my 03 Limited.

Taking some time to clear any ice/snow build-up from the wipers, and giving them a little flex, is usually enough to keep them functioning just fine during most of our storms up here.

As stated by previous posters, a swap of the insert before the winter hits is a good practice. I'm also curious to see how this Windshield Wiper De-Icer feature works on my new-to-me 11 Limited (as I just got it this past May).
 
Bossman said:
I used to run winter wiper blades (with the protective covering over the metal frame) on my vehicles, but with the new beam construction of wiper blades now (keeping enough pressure on the windshield) I discontinued using winter blades when I had my 03 Limited.

Taking some time to clear any ice/snow build-up from the wipers, and giving them a little flex, is usually enough to keep them functioning just fine during most of our storms up here.

As stated by previous posters, a swap of the insert before the winter hits is a good practice. I'm also curious to see how this Windshield Wiper De-Icer feature works on my new-to-me 11 Limited (as I just got it this past May).
Click to expand...

I had similar issues. the best ones I have found are the cheap Motormaster units from Canadian Tire, they're fugly, but seem to work better than any of the more expensive ones.
 
I had mastered the roll-down-the-window-bump-intermittent-flip-the-wiper-on-the-high-pass-to-knock-off-the-ice technique, although I am getting rusty at it since this truck.

After three years, three summers and going on a fourth winter, I still have the OEM Sightline wipers that shipped with the truck, I have refilled them once so far.

They work great in Wasatch winter weather. I am sold on OEM's, I have bought a lot of different aftermarket wipers in the last 30 years and most all have been sh!t. None have ever had as good of windshield contact as the OEMs. Even worse the dry Utah summers most blades dry rot in a few months.

The OEM refills I installed last October are still in great shape.

I bought two sets of refill blades for all three wipers @~$6 each from CamelBack, they were cheap and took all of 10 minutes to replace the blades and reinstall.

Of course you can get a full set, one of each three wipers+blades for $54+shipping instead of 10 minutes and $18.

Here are the part numbers for the OEM refill blades if you are interested:
WIPER BLADE REFILL, RIGHT 85214-06130
WIPER BLADE REFILL, LEFT 85214-06140
WIPER BLADE REFILL, REAR 85214-42040
 
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The only annoyance with the OEM blades is the passenger one tends to ice up around the hinge causing it to lift off the windshield due to its curvature. I often get a slushy/icy blob 6" in diameter and it's very annoying and hard to avoid that happening. I know other owners have reported the same.
 
I was a big fan of Trico Winter blades, never had any troubles with them. Except last year when I tried ordering them all I got was old stock where the boot was already heavily oxidized and either split or fell apart trying to install. I ended up going getting another set of my summertime choice of Michelin Stealths, and they did a pretty good job. They were not as good as OEM, but were much better than any of those one piece armless things (which always lose contact near edges after 2 months). I'll be putting on a new set of the Stealth blades again this year.
 
jrandom said:
Here are the part numbers for the OEM refill blades if you are interested:
WIPER BLADE REFILL, RIGHT 85214-0E140
WIPER BLADE REFILL, LEFT 85214-06140
WIPER BLADE REFILL, REAR 85214-42040
Click to expand...

I found the refill for the left blade, but nothing for the right... Is that "E" supposed to be a "4" or "3"?
 
jrandom said:
Here are the part numbers for the OEM refill blades if you are interested:
WIPER BLADE REFILL, RIGHT 85214-06130
WIPER BLADE REFILL, LEFT 85214-06140
WIPER BLADE REFILL, REAR 85214-42040
Click to expand...

007Tacoma said:
I found the refill for the left blade, but nothing for the right... Is that "E" supposed to be a "4" or "3"?
Click to expand...

Found it! Thanks to yet another [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] thread...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...iper-blade-inserts-pictorial.html#post1596579

From the very first post...
100_4281_zpsdf4bbd3b.jpg~original
 
Just incase anyone is interested, I have found the TRICO Ice to be a good replacement for the OEM blades. Many years ago I tossed my OEM blades.......huge mistake. Went through 2 sets of Costco Goodyear blades which were total crap. I finally bit the bullet and got some OEM's from the dealership. Long story and 2 sets later, the OEM's would not sit properly on my windshield causing a massive swath to get no wiping action. I was very impressed with the TRICO blades on my other vehicle so I tried them on the 4Runner. Very Happy so far, and they lasted over a year in the Colorado sun on my other vehicle. If you have made the fatal error of tossing the original blades that came with the vehicle, check out the TRICO.
 
007Tacoma said:
I found the refill for the left blade, but nothing for the right... Is that "E" supposed to be a "4" or "3"?
Click to expand...

Sorry, no letters in Toyota parts numbers (for the most part), I should have double checked that was a straight copy/past from my camelback invoice.

Fixed the post, thanks :)
 
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