Who was the Dumb Shit...

J

Jamies440

Divorced Bird
That invented those damn plastic wiper linkage bushings :confused: I was messing around with my 3/4 ton today getting the wiper arms re-clocked and testing them and all of a sudden the drivers arm quit moving. I'm like oh shit, I just stripped the spindle as usually the pass. arm quits if the bushings go. Nope, it was the bushing that held the linkage to the drivers side spindle.

So there I go, pulling the arms off AGAIN and then jerking the cowl, which was held in place by only 2 screws on each end (someone didnt replace the middle ones, okay by me, I hate getting to the middle ones.

Anyway I pulled the linkage out and checked the bushings. Two of em crumbled as soon as I wiggled the linkage around. One has been replaced, whoop de do! Still gotta replace two and they are a pain in the ass to install, no joke. This is one of my most hated jobs even though the linkage is out of the truck and accessable.

Any tips or tricks? Like I said its a dumb shit design for sure.
 
a little lube, I keep a little jar of vasoline around for shit like that, o rings etc...:naughty:

a socket that will cup the bushing on back and gentle even pressure from a water pump pliers. then use recommended lube when assembling the arms.
 
Hmmm guess I should check the one in my 87 ram....I did not know this was a problem or issue so I will give them a check up.
 
I feel your pain. Try doing the job on a Dart. Sucks! at least you will be cussing while your standing up.
 
I just replaced one on my waGOON. Took about 20 min, so some jobs aren't as much fun as others. :huh:
 
gunbunny said:
I feel your pain. Try doing the job on a Dart. Sucks! at least you will be cussing while your standing up.
Click to expand...

You ain't shittin'. '73 Sebring on the far left side I had to lay across the dam engine from the other side to get it, even then it was a bitch!
 
I'm thinking you MAY be able to get older wiper linkage setups that used brass bushings for some vehicles. For example, my 1970 valiant has a brass bushing setup. Though I have not tried, I strongly suspect it would bolt in place of the setup with the plastic dumbshit. I'm pretty sure that by 1972 they had cheaped out and gone to the plastic. A 1971 MAY have had the dumbshit, I dunno. I guess I'll have to check my newport sometime.

You're right though, that is some of the dumbest shit on the planet. Get this: You'd think a newer vehicle might be even worse, right? Well, a 2006 dodge truck has fucking HEIM JOINTS for the wiper linkage. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing when I was digging around that area of one. It's the strongest shit I can imagine for a wiper linkage.
 
Actually thats not a bad idea. That area under the cowl gets snow and shit under it and then bang, plastic bushing failure. Wonder what it would take to engineer some of those ends to work on my setup?
 
Well, what I meant was I wonder if the linkage setup off something old enough to have brass bushings might work. I'm guessing not directly, since the generation of truck you have came out in '72, and I'm pretty sure they had plasticized the shit by then. However, maybe the wiper linkage stayed pretty much the same from the generation of trucks before yours. It would be worth a look anyway. Never having to mess with those dumbass bushings again would be very nice.
 
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