1966 wiper arm stripping problems

[Rust-O-Matic]

The original wiper arm/transmission linkage setup on my '66 was in pretty bad shape, so I recently replaced everything. New transmission arms and knurled shafts, as well as new wiper arms and blades from Classic Parts. Everything seemed to work great until I drove it in the rain today.

Once the windshield was wiped clean, the friction of the blades against the sorta-dry glass was enough to make the knurled transmission shafts start popping and rotating independently of the wiper arms, messing up the splines inside both new arms. I shut them off and popped them back down 3 or 4 clicks once I got where I was going. I used them very sparingly on the ride back home. So it looks like as long as the glass is wet, they work without popping/stripping. This isn't gonna cut it though.

I'm super bummed out now. I thought I finally had working wipers again. Has anybody else experienced this? Anybody know what I can do to fix it? The splines on the knurled transmission shafts appear to be ok. It looks like it is damaging the splines inside the wiper arms, like maybe they don't fit together real snug. I thought about using a little adhesive of some kind to hold them together better, but it would be a major pain to remove next time the cowl has to be removed.

[Rust-O-Matic]

No one has every seen anything like this before, or has any suggestions?

I don't know how I always seem to get so "lucky".

I attempted to put a piece of foil in between one of the knurled shafts and the wiper arm last night, to sort of... shim it up. It didn't go together very easy though, and I felt so ghetto I just gave up.

[65 C20]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

No one has every seen anything like this before, or has any suggestions?

I don't know how I always seem to get so "lucky".

I attempted to put a piece of foil in between one of the knurled shafts and the wiper arm last night, to sort of... shim it up. It didn't go together very easy though, and I felt so ghetto I just gave up.

I would contact the dealer that you got them from and ask them if anyone else has had this problem.
I am not sure if the slines on the shaft or wiper arms come in different sizes or spline count.
Gotta start somewhere. Sounds kind of odd if everything is new.
Also you are not the only "lucky" one out there.
I can only guess these parts come from off shore.
Cal.

[61K10]

Repo parts--call classic parts

[Rust-O-Matic]

Thanks guys. I sent Classic Parts an email this morning. I'll give them a call in a day or two if I don't hear back. I kinda like to get stuff in writing.

I am pretty sure the wiper arms' packaging was marked "Taiwan", so that could be part of the problem. Even so, I was still surprised they failed so quick.

[WOLFMANmike]

Rust O Matic from what i heard this is a problem with repop stuff you can get lucky sometimes but 99.9 % you always have problems so the new transmission arms are no different im sure .... when i did mine i went to a place here in CA that has a yard with nothing but 60 - 66 parts and was sold the used Original switch ( single speed ) and the transmission arms with both links and the screws that came with them for $ 60.00 and i gotta tell ya while $60.00 sounds like a high price to pay for used small parts like that ... it went on like butter nice and smooth & was well worth the Money ... after that the the only headache i had was getting the Repop stainless steel wiper arms to be aliened properly on the splines so that they went nice and low when shut off ... i got the stainless arms from Orange TruckParts oh and a good guy on here DPowers sent me a Switch that fixed my Alignment issues turned out i needed a 2 speed switch ... anyway DPowers is very Knowledgeable with this stuff and Org parts if you PM him im sure he can give you the right direction to go in Happy Truckin

[Rust-O-Matic]

$60 doesn't sound bad for transmission arms, considering I payed $100 for the reproductions I've got. Most of the salvage stuff we have here in the midwest is in fairly terrible shape, which is why I sprung for the new setup. The only thing wrong with my originals was the splined shafts/bushings (trunnions?) the wiper arms attach to were destroyed by the previous owner. If someone would start machining those little metal bushings and a slick way to attach them to the original transmission assemblies, they could make a fortune selling them to dummies like me.

I had the exact same problem getting my arms on in the correct position. Every time I thought I had it right, I'd flip the wipers on and the driver side would stop like 3" higher than the other. I finally got it right though, and now they stop just right... except they don't freakin' work when it's raining. Mine has the two speed wipers, for what it's worth.

I got ahold of the seller, who asked if I still had the packaging the arms came in. Gotta check the garage tonight. They said they might be able to try a pair from a different manufacturer if we could figure out which ones I currently have. I believe they were labeled "Counterpart". It looks like Goodmark makes the same arms. I wouldn't be surprised if they the exact same arms.

I think I'm gonna measure the splined shafts on the original transmission arms this evening too, and compare to the new ones to see if they are the same diameter.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

$60 doesn't sound bad for transmission arms, considering I payed $100 for the reproductions I've got. Most of the salvage stuff we have here in the midwest is in fairly terrible shape, which is why I sprung for the new setup. The only thing wrong with my originals was the splined shafts/bushings (trunnions?) the wiper arms attach to were destroyed by the previous owner. If someone would start machining those little metal bushings and a slick way to attach them to the original transmission assemblies, they could make a fortune selling them to dummies like me.

I had the exact same problem getting my arms on in the correct position. Every time I thought I had it right, I'd flip the wipers on and the driver side would stop like 3" higher than the other. I finally got it right though, and now they stop just right... except they don't freakin' work when it's raining. Mine has the two speed wipers, for what it's worth.

I got ahold of the seller, who asked if I still had the packaging the arms came in. Gotta check the garage tonight. They said they might be able to try a pair from a different manufacturer if we could figure out which ones I currently have. I believe they were labeled "Counterpart". It looks like Goodmark makes the same arms. I wouldn't be surprised if they the exact same arms.

I think I'm gonna measure the splined shafts on the original transmission arms this evening too, and compare to the new ones to see if they are the same diameter.

the good mark ones will be the same thing China made repops try asking Dpowers on here he can get you moving in the right direction im sure

[Rust-O-Matic]

Originally Posted by WOLFMANmike

the good mark ones will be the same thing China made repops try asking Dpowers on here he can get you moving in the right direction im sure

My thoughts exactly on the Goodmark parts. I will definitely get in touch with Dpowers if the seller can't come up with anything helpful. Sounds like he's the guy I shoulda talked to in the first place!

I popped the arms off the truck tonight and took a couple pics of the new splined transmission shafts vs the original one. I know this cheesy $2 plastic caliper isn't exactly a precision measuring device, but they appear to be almost identical in diameter. Makes me think either the tolerance of the arm is too high, or the quality of the metal they are made from is so poor the splines just can't hold on. The former is my guess.

[Rust-O-Matic]

I finally got around to getting my wiper woes worked out, and thought I'd give you guys an update.

Classic Parts was very cool about the problem, and sent me a new pair of reproduction arms for free. Unfortunately they were just as sloppy as the first set. So I took the entire setup back off (repro transmission linkage, arms, etc.) and returned it to them in person. The guy behind the counter was just as surprised as I was about the poor fit. It might also be worth mentioning the guy I dealt with was Joe. He was great, and very helpful. There's another guy named Josh that works there that is an arrogant, argumentative toolbox. I don't say this to be spiteful, but to warn my fellow 60-66ers not to let that guy ruin your outlook on the entire company if you are unfortunate enough to deal with him.

I then got ahold of DPowers here on the forum, who sent me a set of original linkage and wiper arms in decent shape for a very reasonable price. I cleaned/stripped/painted the linkage and put everything back together. Everything appears to work like a champ now, with no more stripping issues.

So I still don't know if it was the repro arms or the repro linkage (or both) that caused the problem, but the original parts are the solution.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

I finally got around to getting my wiper woes worked out, and thought I'd give you guys an update.

Classic Parts was very cool about the problem, and sent me a new pair of reproduction arms for free. Unfortunately they were just as sloppy as the first set. So I took the entire setup back off (repro transmission linkage, arms, etc.) and returned it to them in person. The guy behind the counter was just as surprised as I was about the poor fit. It might also be worth mentioning the guy I dealt with was Joe. He was great, and very helpful. There's another guy named Josh that works there that is an arrogant, argumentative toolbox. I don't say this to be spiteful, but to warn my fellow 60-66ers not to let that guy ruin your outlook on the entire company if you are unfortunate enough to deal with him.

I then got ahold of DPowers here on the forum, who sent me a set of original linkage and wiper arms in decent shape for a very reasonable price. I cleaned/stripped/painted the linkage and put everything back together. Everything appears to work like a champ now, with no more stripping issues.

So I still don't know if it was the repro arms or the repro linkage (or both) that caused the problem, but the original parts are the solution.

Awesome ...see i knew DPowers could fix ya up glad your up and running now happy truckin brother

[Rust-O-Matic]

Thanks! Without your help I wouldn't have even known to contact DPowers.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

Thanks! Without your help I wouldn't have even known to contact DPowers.

No prob brother thats what we are here for . To help eachother out

[DPowers]

Glad to assist and that you got them working.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by DPowers

Glad to assist and that you got them working.

Yeah DPowers your the man ! Brother

[Rust-O-Matic]

Glad to assist and that you got them working.

I appreciate it very much! As Wolfman said, you are the man!

Funny side note: A couple friends were standing around the driveway when I was testing the final assembly, and one of them says "ok, now turn 'em on high". I replied, "that is high, here's low". She looked puzzled and said, "must not have rained as much in the '60s". Ha! Cracked me up.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

I appreciate it very much! As Wolfman said, you are the man!

Funny side note: A couple friends were standing around the driveway when I was testing the final assembly, and one of them says "ok, now turn 'em on high". I replied, "that is high, here's low". She looked puzzled and said, "must not have rained as much in the '60s". Ha! Cracked me up.

Lol

[GMDad]

I was able to use my original linkage but I wanted shiny new arms where the rivets on them rusted in less than a year and the spring tension got weal. Kept an eye out at swap meets and wrecking yards and found a set of nice used ones that cleaned up and we could use. Also kept the used blades and replaced the refills so the blades sit nice on it now.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by GMDad

I was able to use my original linkage but I wanted shiny new arms where the rivets on them rusted in less than a year and the spring tension got weal. Kept an eye out at swap meets and wrecking yards and found a set of nice used ones that cleaned up and we could use. Also kept the used blades and replaced the refills so the blades sit nice on it now.

Yeah oem parts really are the best way to go

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by Rust-O-Matic

I appreciate it very much! As Wolfman said, you are the man!

Funny side note: A couple friends were standing around the driveway when I was testing the final assembly, and one of them says "ok, now turn 'em on high". I replied, "that is high, here's low". She looked puzzled and said, "must not have rained as much in the '60s". Ha! Cracked me up.

that's funny!!!!!