[rcreger]

What is the secret to getting the wiper arms off? My wipers work but I want to get the cover off the cabin air intake because it is so clogged with leaves I am barely getting any air circulation from the vents and it is definitely hurting my AC performance.

 

[mike_wiz]

I had the same problem and the great people here gave me the advice to get 'em...Now I'll try remember how I got it

There is a SMALL clip at the base of the arm that holds the arm in place

I used a VERY SMALL screwdriver to pry this clip up and at the same time pull out on the arm

I think this is how I did it but my memory could be clouded by the obsenities that were flying out of my mouth when I was trying to get this done

mike

 

[Guest]

I had to take mine off last summer and it is the biggest PITA I have ever had on my truck. I ended up pulling that little clip entirely off just to get it out of the way. There was so much corrosion between the aluminum wiper arm and the steel shaft that the clip wasn't doing anything at all to hold the arm on, it was the friction between the two alone that was doing it. After about 2 or 3 days of messing with them off and on I got out my Dremel tool. Used the Dremel tool to grind off the rivet heads at the pivot point in the arm then used a small punch to knock out the rivet shaft (watch your fingers!). This allowed me to separate the long part of the arm from the small piece still on the shaft. The best benefit was being able to remove the spring tension, that made work a lot easier. After all this I still had to use pry bars, big screwdrivers, blocks of wood and who knows what else just to get these things loosened up enough to pull off. Those f%@kers were on there tight!!!! Reassembling the pieces of the arms back together and hooking up the springs wasn't too bad but you will have to use a vise because the springs are pretty damn stiff. Since I had ground off the rivet heads I had to figure out some way of fixing the pivot to hold it all together. Ended up just using a small diameter bolt in place of the original rivet. Worked great! Oh yeah, don't forget to liberally apply lube to both the arm and shaft before puttin' 'em back on. I don't really recommend anyone else doing it the way I did unless you just can't get the arms off any other way. What I did was pretty brutal but it did work and I was rapidly running out of options. Good luck on yours!

Eric

 

[79STEPSIDE4x4]

yeah very fun on my 83 Ramcharger i had to take them off once to change Wiper bushing HOLYCRAPOLA i swear there was no release pin or anything on the wiper assembley the arms had a few nice scratches on em!

 

[Guest]

One other thing I just thought of doing is to NOT attempt to remove the arms from the shafts. Since the main reason the arms need to be removed is to allow the cowl grill to be removed so you can do the real work, why not modify the cowl grill so it can be removed in sections? Take the screws out of the cowl at the firewall. The take a hacksaw, tin snips, sawzall, cutoff wheel, or what ever and carefully cut across tre cowl in 4 places. This would give you independently removable sections on the left side, right side, and center between the wipers, and a small section still remaining around each wiper shaft. Probably have to drill a few new holes to add a few more screws on the firewall to hold the cowl sections down. Might even be able to get away with just 2 cuts, each one inline with the wiper shafts. That would give you 3 sections total and the entire cowl could be removed, even around the shafts. Then, you could do just about any maintenance or repair you wanted to without having to remove the arms. Boy, I wish I had thought of this last year. I may have to do it to my truck anyway, hafta take a look tomorrow and see. If anybody's interested I'll do mine just for grins and take some pictures fer yall to see.

Eric

 

[bigblue]

you can get a special tool thats ment for the job. still a real [email protected]# though. one company that makes is lisle the part # is 65750 makes the job a little easyier. cost about 10-15$

 

[i1lusion]

Okay guys, there is a trick to it, we used to use it when replacing windshields.
First pop the little clip
Now, where the arm is spring loaded and pivots up(so you can wash under the wiper)...with the wiper in its normal position...push down on this pivot point( the opposite way, towards the windshield). The arm should pop right off. You can put a towel under the wiper over the glass, if you're worried about the windshield. We did this on many cars and never damaged one windshield. Hope this helps
Oh and use a glove so you dont catch any skin in the joint...it hurts

 

[SansDodge75]

All I needed was two screwdrivers and a whole lot of patience.

 

[rcreger]

All I needed was two screwdrivers and a whole lot of patience.

I never saw any clips on mine. I was able to get them off this afternoon using 2 screw drivers. One to actually pry upward while using the other to support it.

From the looks of things the previous owner had removed them sometime in the past and scratched the paint pretty bad.

After I got done cleaning a shitload of debris from under the cowl I hit the cowl with some primer to cover the scratches for now so the rust won't get any worse than it already is.

One thing no one mentioned was getting the cowl back on without wearing your patience thin. That took a few tries before I finally got it.

 

[bronco1]

What is the secret to getting the wiper arms off? Â My wipers work but I want to get the cover off the cabin air intake because it is so clogged with leaves I am barely getting any air circulation from the vents and it is definitely hurting my AC performance.

I had to pull out mine from a 1985, and the secret is in pulling them slowly straight out. No screw holding them. Good luck

 

[Sparky McShakerton]

Another thing,you might want to consider getting wiper arms from a 89-93 model,they're much easier to remove. all you have to do is pull the wiper blade away from the windshield,pull up on the little tab,and the wiper arm will be released. I have them on my '87,as well as my '79.

 

[Dr Splunk]

I ended up having the hood up, standing on my bench and reaching over the engine and using a crow bar with a yanking motion rather than a prying motion. After 2 or 3 yanks, they fly of

 

[barley wilkerson]

ah... windshield wiper arms.    my passenger side wiper arm socket is stripped and came off again in the rain last night.

does anyone have any good leads on where to get replacement wiper arms that actually fit and don't cost an arm and a leg? Every search i've tried comes up with results which do NOT include our trucks once you actually click on the links. i've checked all the yokel shops, rockauto, jc whitney, and even a few other random online places. The one that comes up most is from dorman, specifically for dodge caravan rear windows... if anybody knows if THAT ONE will really fit i'll get it...

 

[dodge82273]

yes they stick on tight otherwize they slip see above post , odd ly to remove them I usually lift arm, look for tab at the base , pry tab away from base , that opens the retainer if you have it opened all the way you should be able to let the wiper go and it should stay up off the glass  , now while pulling up on the arm's socket end wiggle the blade end toward glass and away from glass , often they pop off when pushing blade end  toward the glass. blade arms from 1993 International  " S series"  trucks fit , and they  use the newer style blades . They can be bought at the International dealer.

 

[barley wilkerson]

Mighty Clear 42812(21-0596-2) wiper arms fit just about perfectly with the 18 inch Anco blades i purchased. Will check out the international s series if my other one doesn't show up. Thanks.

 

[barley wilkerson]

in case anybody needs to know, those mighty clear wiper arms are a great fit, yes, but need the tension adjusted as they don't press the wiper blade onto the glass as tight as they should. They come with extra notches to tighten the springs but are on the loosest one out of the package. i think the tightest one would be best with the anco blades i have...