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Front wipers that stand up?

SonicCougar99

SonicCougar99

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Williams, AZ
I've had other vehicles before that you can lift up the wiper blades and they stay up to either clean the windshield better or lift them up when there's snow/ice so the wipers aren't stuck to the windshield. My 1989 XJ has springs in the wiper arms that hold it down to the windshield and won't let them stand on their own. Are there wiper arms from another model that I can swap over that will let me do this? Winter has finally arrived and having the wipers not stuck to my windshield when there's snow/ice would be a huge help. Thanks!
 
Every XJ wiper arm I have seen won't stand up. However, there is a tab you can pull out when it is in the lifted position to lock it there. However, when that tab is pulled the arm can be pulled off the stud. They are usually so corroded to the stud that it still takes some force.
 
Well, my 90 arms are aftermarket, and if you lift them up there is a little "tab" or "lever" that you can pull out and it will hold the wipers up--in fact, the arms will pull off when in that position.

If you need a picture let me know.

I'm fairly certain (?) that they are from NAPA part no. BK 8195833, because my XJ's prior owner had removed the arms and lost them.
 
cruiser54 said:
Do you want them to just stay up off the windshield a bit like the stock ones do or are you looking for Viagra style arms?
Click to expand...

Those "Viagra" arms are a pain--you have to wait a whole hour before they raise up, and then sometimes they stay up for more than four hours!
 
I just want them to stand up so that when there is a rain/snow/ice storm coming in overnight (I live at an elevation that a lot of storms start off briefly as rain, then switch to snow), my wipers aren't frozen to the windshield the next morning when I need to go to work.
 
Then use what you got. Lift the blade up a bit. Slide the little tang out horizontally at the pivot and let go of the wiper arm.

Know what else works well? Cut down an old shower curtain and put it over your windshield with the wipers holding it down at the bottom and a coupla magnets holding it to the roof.
 
cruiser54 said:
Then use what you got. Lift the blade up a bit. Slide the little tang out horizontally at the pivot and let go of the wiper arm.

Know what else works well? Cut down an old shower curtain and put it over your windshield with the wipers holding it down at the bottom and a coupla magnets holding it to the roof.
Click to expand...

Old beach towels make excellent windshield covers.
 
cruiser54 said:
Then use what you got. Lift the blade up a bit. Slide the little tang out horizontally at the pivot and let go of the wiper arm.

Know what else works well? Cut down an old shower curtain and put it over your windshield with the wipers holding it down at the bottom and a coupla magnets holding it to the roof.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I've had my XJ for nearly 4 years and I never knew about this. Just went and looked at my wipers, found the tab, and that's exactly what I was looking for, thanks! Next round of snow is forecast for later this week so I will be sure to use this technique and won't have to deal with frozen wipers.
 
SonicCougar99 said:
I can't believe I've had my XJ for nearly 4 years and I never knew about this. Just went and looked at my wipers, found the tab, and that's exactly what I was looking for, thanks! Next round of snow is forecast for later this week so I will be sure to use this technique and won't have to deal with frozen wipers.
Click to expand...


Looks like no precipitatoin in the forecast for 10 days. You guys always get hit harder than we do though.
 
Yeah the forecast shows a storm system coming in Thursday night, but the precip amounts are fluctuating with each computer model run so they're not sure how much we will get. I personally use the National Weather Service (weather.gov/flagstaff for me) for my weather forecasts. Either way, now that I know how to do this with the wipers, it will definitely be a help.
 
Just thought of something. Sounds like you are looking for something to "offset" the blades from the windshield. Buy a "water noodle" and cut it as needed and place underneath the blades. Or something similar, of course.
 
This might sound nuts, but what's worked for me in the past is letting the truck warm up before I need to leave and leaving the defrost on during that time. Melts the ice on the windshield AND unsticks the wiper blades both in one fell swoop.
 
Noticed last night that the rear wiper arm on my '01 is not spring loaded. Could you find a couple of them in the junkyard and fab them to work? They are considerably shorter and only hold a 14 inch blade, but maybe the "inards" could be swapped over.
 
Does anyone actually prop their wipers up like this? I tried it the other night since we were getting freezing rain. The next day, the entire wiper arms, including the release tabs, were encased in ice. While the Jeep warmed up and the defroster cleared the windshield, I was chipping ice off the tabs and arms just to get them to touch the windshield again. I saw no benefit to this, at all. I'd have rather started the Jeep 5 minutes earlier than stand out there banging away at the wipers.

Just my two cents...
 
Cottontail said:
Noticed last night that the rear wiper arm on my '01 is not spring loaded. Could you find a couple of them in the junkyard and fab them to work? They are considerably shorter and only hold a 14 inch blade, but maybe the "inards" could be swapped over.
Click to expand...

You rear wiper should be spring loaded. It helps keep pressure against the glass. You might want to look for a wiper arm off an XJ that is spring loaded. IIRC, the XJ rear blade is like 12".

If you have problems with your wiper blades freezing to the windshield get silicone blades.
 
Talyn said:
You rear wiper should be spring loaded. It helps keep pressure against the glass. You might want to look for a wiper arm off an XJ that is spring loaded.
Click to expand...

My 2004 WJ has a spring loaded rear wiper. My '96 ZJ and '01 XJ don't.
 
Every Jeep I owned had a rear spring loaded wiper arm (stock and aftermarket). My current 95 ZJ (non flapper glass), 97 ZJ (flapper glass) and 2000 XJ all do. I don't see how it would hold the blade to the glass if it didn't.
 
hubs97xj said:
Does anyone actually prop their wipers up like this? I tried it the other night since we were getting freezing rain. The next day, the entire wiper arms, including the release tabs, were encased in ice. While the Jeep warmed up and the defroster cleared the windshield, I was chipping ice off the tabs and arms just to get them to touch the windshield again. I saw no benefit to this, at all. I'd have rather started the Jeep 5 minutes earlier than stand out there banging away at the wipers.

Just my two cents...
Click to expand...

I don't, I use a nylon windshield cover that has magnets sewn inside the top edge to stick to the roof and "wings" that you can close inside the front doors to secure it from blowing off.

My wife uses old beach towels on her windshield, and puts the towel under the wipers to hold it in place.
 
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