Replacing the Windshield Wipers on your M-715

Tired of streaking wipers? Or did the PO remove the windshield wipers for you before you acquired your truck? Don't despair! As long as you have the original wiper arm assembly, you can actually get new wiper assemblies that can be made to fit your original wiper arms. Read on to see what to do.

First things first, remove your old wipers. This is done easily with a screwdriver used as a prybar to push off the wiper arms. It is amazingly simple to do. If yours are stuck, you may want to lift the wiper arm and push it in at the pivot point. What you are trying to do is remove any spring pressure so that the arm can come straight off the wiper motor. If you've removed wipers from your civilian FSJ, the concept is the same.

Next, head out to your local Checker Auto (or other auto parts place that carries Trico brand wiper blades.) You will want to get the 11 inch or 12 inch blade. I purchased two packages of eleven inch blades. They are marked "11-1" on the top. The "-1" denotes the type of attachment and is important to making the whole endeavor successful.

On the way home, stop at the hardware store and get two short #6-32 machine screws (aprox 1/2") and matching nuts. Don't get a countersunk screw. You want the bottom of the head to be flat.

Open up the package and flip out the center connector.

There is a pin and two side "prongs" that need to go.

The pin is easily snapped off with your fingers.

I used a small screwdriver to snap off the side prongs.

Your connector should now look like the above picture.

Drill out the wiper arm and the connector  to accept your #6 screw. I drilled the hole large enough so that the screw could slide freely.

The hole looks a lot bigger there than it really is, but you're not enlarging it too much. You "could"

use the original sized hole, but then the smaller nut wouldn't fit in nice and snug into the connector.

Here you can see how nicely the arm slides into the connector. The #6 nut will also fit nice and snug, too.

Now slide the screw through the "top" of the connector and attach

the wiper arm and nut so that the whole assembly looks like this:

See how the nut conveniently is captured in the bottom of the connector, making installation even easier than it already is.

Here is the assembled wiper arm and blade, ready to be re-installed onto your truck!

Adjust your wiper sweep for your preferences and push on the finished assembly.

The wiper arm still clears the blade assembly and now you've got new wipers.

With a little OD paint, very few people will notice that it's not stock.

All images and material Copyright 2005. Feel free to archive for personal use.