Windshield Wipers

[LarrBeard]

Well, I found another interesting characteristic of old Jeep Trucks, Sedan Deliveries and Station Wagons this weekend. We were at a parade on Saturday and as luck would have it, it started to rain. It wasn’t very raining very hard, the kids ran under trees or sat under umbrellas, but out in the street we got wet.

I started the wipers, (vacuum of course), and got a good slow flip-flap rhythm set up. Then, after about five minutes, “CLACK-FLUMP” the passenger side wiper departed the knurled pivot. No big deal, just stop and retrieve the wiper and arm, get a little wet and get on with throwing Tootsie Rolls to the kids. After all, my wife didn’t need to see how to drive out her side.

After I got home and dried off a bit, I went out to the truck barn to look at things. After poking and peeking a bit, I see the problem, but I don’t have a solution as yet. On the driver’s side, the wiper swings clockwise through about a 110-degree arc. It stops at the bottom of the windshield molding and then just short of the windshield center post. But, on the passenger’s side, the counterclockwise arc is more like 115 degrees - a wider arc anyway. Every time the passenger wiper flip-flaps, it hits the center post with a pretty good whack. If I back it off the center post, it whacks the molding at the bottom.

This in turn dislodges the wiper arm from the knurled post and actually wears the knurls off. If you look on page 285 of this year’s KWAS catalog, you see a diagram of that wiper setup. Each wiper has a stainless steel braided cable that winds around a set of pulleys and then another set of pulleys in the actual pivot assembly. Rigging those cables looks a lot like rigging aileron or elevator control cables in an airplane, except there are no turnbuckles for length adjustment. And, oh by the way, those idler pulleys where the cables turn the corner have some REALLY BIG springs to tension them. Oh well, another trip up under the dash…

[bmorgil]

I would have thought the rigging would look more like a Sailing Ship to you LarrBeard!

What a wild set up. Did the wiper always hit? I wonder if something is worn to the point there is now excessive travel. I wonder how they limited the motion. You would think there would be some way to adjust it, with all that rigging involved.

[LarrBeard]

I would have thought the rigging would look more like a Sailing Ship to you LarrBeard!

What a wild set up. Did the wiper always hit? I wonder if something is worn to the point there is now excessive travel. I wonder how they limited the motion. You would think there would be some way to adjust it, with all that rigging involved.

As far as I remember; No, they didn't always hit...

I spent about thirty minutes just looking and measuring things this morning, and I think (think) i may have diagnosed the problem, and it goes back to the First Rule of Old Jeeps:

1. What you see is what you have ...

A better explanation will follow once I do some more looking, measuring and thunking

[gmwillys]

It's complicated by design as far as the rigging. Our wagon was converted to an electric motor that ties into the original wiper drive hub. I know it all worked well 27 years ago, but now the passenger side hub needs rebuilding. All the cables and pulleys look to be in good shape. The wipers never got the rubber at the bottom. I don't have the center divider being a one piece windshield.

The under dash photo is not real clear. The diagram is pretty good.

[LarrBeard]

Yep, that's the space -but under my dash has this steering wheel, brace, gauge cluster and a whole bunch of wires in the way. I see that you still have the original "air conditioner" in place.

If I could find 6-volt electric wiper motor, I would seriously consider making a swap

[gmwillys]

Enclosed are a couple of options, basically the same kit. Our wagon has this style of motor barnyard engineered to work, i.e. stacks of washers for spacers etc. I'm going to retain the motor, and fab up some spacers to look better.

https://www.brotherstrucks.com/54-551-ELECTRIC-WINDSHIELD-WIPER-CONVERSION-6-VOLT/productinfo/WPM5506/

https://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_early/electric-wiper-motor-conversion-kit-6-volt-ford-passenger-373594.html

[LarrBeard]

Well, it turns out I don’t have a windshield wiper cable or pivot spring tensioner problem after all. The quick, simple answer turned out to be wrong! Imagine that?

Our First Law of Jeep (What you see is what you have) – can be restated “Take time to look at what you have”. Now, I’m not very smart and it takes time for things to sink in on me. I stood in front of the truck and just looked at it. It looked off centered.

Now, I didn’t think Willys-Overland would make an off-center driver/passenger side; especially since the truck could have been a right hand drive. I measured point A to point B. I measured point A to point C. I measured point B to C, divided by 2 – did some adding and subtracting and figured out it wasn’t really off center after all.

So, I stood and looked some more. I sat in the driver’s seat and looked. I sat in the passenger seat and looked (I never sit on that side). Then, Duhhh … .

It turns out that the problem is the windshield molding, the gasket that holds the glass. On the driver’s side the molding fits tightly against the crease in the window pillar. The outboard tip of the wiper clears the gasket by about a half-inch.

This is shown in photos A and B

But, on the passenger side, the gasket is ‘way out from the crease. As you can see, the wiper tip rests on the gasket by about the same half-inch, photos C and D; there's almost an inch difference in all!

That binds things up as you can guess. It doesn't look like all that much at first, but it adds up.

Now, there is no way I’m starting the windshield reset project again, so I’m getting a shorter blade from KWAS. (No – there in nothing at the local auto pieces place that will fit). The original blade is an 11-inch blade, but there is a 9-inch blade for a Jeepster. (There is also a shorter wiper arm for the Jeepster, but I don’t think I’ll need that). The passenger side will have a smaller wiped arc, but nobody on that side will need to see to drive. I’ll add a little RTV to the wiper pivot knob to secure the arm to the pivot to compensate for any wear to the knurls and I’ll see how that works.

Now – I just need to calibrate the gas gauge – another one of those projects no one talks about.

[gmwillys]

Simple things first. That's the way it goes, but at least you didn't tear into it first.

[bmorgil]

Why did it start to hit when it didn't used to?

[LarrBeard]

Why did it start to hit when it didn't used to?


I hadn't been out in the rain since I had the windshield installed. Other than a couple of casual swipes, it hadn't been run. My truck is a sissy now; it doesn't get to play in the mud and rain.

[gmwillys]

I think your truck has earned the semi-retired status.