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by Matt Adams For many people changing the wiper blades is second nature, and once you do it once you'll know how forever. However for many people who had never before changed wiper blades, or only changed blades on older vehicles (which required a lot of pulling and grunting) then you might at first be confused by the newly re-designed wiper blades (once you know how, they are super-easy to do!). I am using PIAA Wiper blades. These are a new product from PIAA that is designed with silicone impregnated in to the rubber, to leave a slight layer on your windshield, kind of like rain-x that you never have to apply. "Normal" wiper blades will have far fewer steps, but since I've seen many people begin to start installing the PIAA's, I'll go into detail on the extra steps required for the PIAA blades. First things first, its always a good idea to turn off the car, take the key out, and turn the windshield wipers to off. This is just an extra precaution to make sure they don't accidentally come on while doing your work. Without the blade on the metal wiper arm could easily snap back and scratch or much worse crack your windshield. In order to remove the blade, fold the wiper arm out so it is in the sprung position, so it won't be touching the windshield. If you look at where the wiper meets the wiper arm you will see a little tab that you can push down on. While pressing the tab, pull the wiper blade down towards the vehicle (see picture attached) and it will come off. Most wiper blades will come with a variety of converters to make sure that you can use it with your given wiper arm. For the PIAA wiper blades, you will use the C1 converter. Push this over the pin, then insert the blade at an angle over the wiper arm. if you wish to have the words "PIAA" and "silicone" facing the right way, you may want to only insert the connector loosely and test, so if it is upside down it will be easy to correct. Before putting the blade back to the windshield, it's also always a good idea to clean off your windshield of any debris. This isn't required so much for "generic" wipers but because the first few times you run your PIAA's will be among the most important, be sure to do a good job of getting everything you can off. After removing any obvious debris, dirt and dust, PIAA includes a a special cleaning compound wipe (picture enclosed), which is basically a sheet coated with rubbing alcohol, to get off any fine elements you cannot see. If your installing a non-PIAA wiper, this isn't nearly as important. Be sure to use this solvent immediately after opening or it will dry out. After rubbing the windshield with the cleaning solution, wait 10 minutes then clean off you windshield again using only a dry or slightly wet cotton towel. This will remove most of the rubbing alcohol from the windshield and any more debris along with it. The packet of cleaning solvent that is included with the PIAA wiper blades PIAA recommends running your wiper blades for 5 minutes at medium-hi speed after thoroughly cleaning the windshield. This will leave behind its first layer of silicone. Performing the 5 minute "dry wipe" to leave the initial layer of silicone. Typical life expectancy of any wiper blade is anywhere from 6-18 months depending on conditions. PIAA recommends replacing the blades after one year, but I've been told they will last longer then one year. They also recommend running them on a dry, clean windshield once every other month or so to ensure that there is a good layer of silicone on the windshield to refract the rain. This Frame has opened up into a New Window |