Windshield Wiper Arms...Same length??

[jrhone]

I keep looking at my windshield wiper arms and my passenger side wiper arm seems very long and the wiper blade extends. I keep thinking if that arm was shorter, it would be perfect.  Are there different wiper arm lengths available?

[Mike Self]

Factory wiper arms are the same length, differing only in that the driver's side has an airfoil and the passenger side doesn't.  

 

The problem isn't the arm, it's the Federal government.  Early cars--at least partway, if not all the way through the 1969 model year--came with 13" wiper blades--what the car was designed for (but the shorter blades aren't listed in the parts book). The Feds decided that those blades didn't cover enough glass (although I can see fine in the rain while driving my '69, which still has its 13" blades) so the factory fitted 15" blades, which overhang the curve of the windshield on the passenger side.  It's even worse if you fit 16" replacements. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it; neither the factory nor the Feds did, and the longer blades clean the windshield just fine.

 

mike

[jrhone]

I have 12" blades I think as I tried to find smaller and smaller blades and they still dont fit the curve,  I dont worry about it much...doesnt rain alot in SoCal.  Just wondering...

[Conserv]

Stock 15” wipers below: as Mike mentions above, there is a small — perhaps 1 1/2” — “cantilever” of the passenger-side blade, but only in the parked position.

 

I started my ‘02 life with a ‘70 (15” blades) and then moved to a ‘67 (13” blades). I missed the extra coverage provided by the 15” blades. But, then, I’ve always lived in places, the East Coast, where rain and snow are common.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[02Les]

The Touring has a longer wiper arm than the sedan (maybe 1" longer), but doubtful you have one of those. The rubber blades were available in 13", 15" & 16" lengths.

[socal73]

I know this is an old thread, but I have several sets of wiper arms and there are 2 lengths for both the driver and passenger side. Not sure which I should use on my 72. They do have the same part numbers. Maybe shorter arms and longer blades?

[Son of Marty]

One factor in selecting blade length is how tall are you from your butt to your eyes,  where your eyes look through the windshield, people with longer torso might like the longer blade, nothing IMHO is worse than having to duck to see through the wiper arc.