Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/39393
BIG RIG BASICS JOHN BAXTER Clean swipe Frequently replace windshield wipers for an easy job that pays off with improved safety hile windshield wiper inserts can be replaced, most truck- ers replace the blade and bracket, which is much easier. The bracket that holds the blade straight often gets damaged while clearing the windshield in winter. Once it is bent, the blade will no longer lay flat against the windshield, so replacing it with every new blade makes sense. W 1 2 Ensure your parking brake is securely engaged. Use a small stepladder to support yourself on the driver's side of your truck while you work. Pull the arm away from the windshield and rotate it out- ward until it is past the spring detent and remains extended. 3 3 4 2 Turn the blade away from the arm until the end closer to where the arm connects at the cowl is pointing toward the wind- shield. This will allow you to access a clip in the next step to release the blade assembly. Use your thumb to depress the flat retaining clip where the center of the blade slides onto the wiper arm. Hold the clip snugly against the wiper arm with your left thumb, then slide the blade assembly toward the windshield end of the wiper arm with your other hand. This will allow you to separate the blade and its bracket COMBATING ICE Owner-operator Gordon Bow uses winter-style blades made by Trico and others. A rubber cover or boot surrounds the entire arm of these blades. "I use them because the rubber cover keeps ice from building up and making it impossible for them to clean the windshield." He always carries these with him because snow can show up unexpectedly. For anyone who runs far enough north to encounter snow a significant number of days a year, it makes sense to use these, except in summer. 28 TRUCKERS NEWS SEPTEMBER 2011 5 from the arm. 5 The curved end on the arm looks like this. This is the part into which the blade assembly's mounting part slides. Position the 4