Ro’s thread on top-mounted wipers (here: trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=172909) reminded me that I’ve been fascinated with the varied types of windscreen wipers since I was young. It may have started with my Dad’s Austin 1300 (ADO16) with the flapping overlap. I was fascinated by the pantograph wipers on Bristol VR and Leyland National buses and (when I started to get into this wagon-driving thing), Magirus-Deutz 232/ Volvo F10/ DAF 2800 with three (yes, THREE) windscreen wipers.
Allowing for the fact that I am a bit odd, the (in)effectiveness of windscreen wipers matters: what designs and patterns did you like or dislike?
tonyj105:
i always liked the Ford D series windscreen wipers , clever the way the extra arm got them in the correct position .anything air operated was pants .
Was the windscreen washer in a D-series a rubbery thing on the floor? If so, why?
[edit] Or was the rubbery floor thing the dipswitch? If it was, is it any wonder I couldn’t get the either the windscreen washers or main beam to work. /edit
ParkRoyal2100:
Ro’s thread on top-mounted wipers (here: trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=172909) reminded me that I’ve been fascinated with the varied types of windscreen wipers since I was young. It may have started with my Dad’s Austin 1300 (ADO16) with the flapping overlap. I was fascinated by the pantograph wipers on Bristol VR and Leyland National buses and (when I started to get into this wagon-driving thing), Magirus-Deutz 232/ Volvo F10/ DAF 2800 with three (yes, THREE) windscreen wipers.
Allowing for the fact that I am a bit odd, the (in)effectiveness of windscreen wipers matters: what designs and patterns did you like or dislike?
Well PB2100 you know my opinion, and nearly all the electric ones did the job,n obviously bottom mounted best. But it was all for nothing ! If I’d have asked the boss/mechanic for a set of new wipers he’d have either looked at me like I’d lost my mind,or told me to you know what,!!■■
I had this gal when she was 5yr old, she’d got a large scratch mark right in the middle of my vision, granite dust I suppose. Anyway I asked the fitter if I could have it replaced, two hopes. But if you happened to have a stone fly up n shatter it on Friday I bet we’ll have a new one in stock. Job was a good un, pulled up bottom of the slip road near the quarry n pu the jack handle through it. Monday well chuffed, within a fortnight I was took off her n put onto one of her sisters , back to square one had to endure the poor visibility for a couple of months more until they put me on aS80.
Akkies must rate as one of the worst, they were all over the shop,n couldn’t wipe round the curve so you could see the wing mirrors,a bit of a horror especially on a winter’s night
tonyj105:
i always liked the Ford D series windscreen wipers , clever the way the extra arm got them in the correct position .anything air operated was pants .
Was the windscreen washer in a D-series a rubbery thing on the floor? If so, why?
[edit] Or was the rubbery floor thing the dipswitch? If it was, is it any wonder I couldn’t get the either the windscreen washers or main beam to work. /edit
if i remember rightly the rubber switch with the metal ring surround wass on the early one’s and was a combined washer / wiper , rubber switch was the washer and the metal ring was the wiper.
tonyj105:
i always liked the Ford D series windscreen wipers , clever the way the extra arm got them in the correct position .anything air operated was pants .
Was the windscreen washer in a D-series a rubbery thing on the floor? If so, why?
[edit] Or was the rubbery floor thing the dipswitch? If it was, is it any wonder I couldn’t get the either the windscreen washers or main beam to work. /edit
Screen washers?
Another topic there.
Thumb, or foot plungers?
Electric?
On cars, operating from air in the spare wheel!
Glad to see my original thread has spawned further exploration!
I do remember that, like the early F88s, Ford Prefects / Populars also had vacuum wipers IIRC.
On a slightly different tack: I liked it when for a couple of bob or so you could buy new wiper blades and fit them yourself in minutes if they were worn. Now you have to spend an arm and a leg on a pair of new wiper arms. Mind you, I don’t miss leaning out of the driver’s window with a squeezy bottle to squirt the windscreen before the days of wash-wipers!
coomsey:
Akkies must rate as one of the worst, they were all over the shop,n couldn’t wipe round the curve so you could see the wing mirrors,a bit of a horror especially on a winter’s night
That’s another thing - wipers that come off the screen at anything above 40mph. On the M6. At 3.00 in the morning. With salt on the roads.
my 1973 toyota corolla had 2 or 3 speed wipers cant quite remember , with electric washers , but i was cosseted in reclining seats with built in head restraints a wooden steeing wheel and dash complete with built in radio. and then you climbed into the atkinson at 5 on a january morning.
tonyj105:
i always liked the Ford D series windscreen wipers , clever the way the extra arm got them in the correct position .anything air operated was pants .
Was the windscreen washer in a D-series a rubbery thing on the floor? If so, why?
[edit] Or was the rubbery floor thing the dipswitch? If it was, is it any wonder I couldn’t get the either the windscreen washers or main beam to work. /edit
if i remember rightly the rubber switch with the metal ring surround wass on the early one’s and was a combined washer / wiper , rubber switch was the washer and the metal ring was the wiper.
It was too, thanks Tony, I got my floor-mounted wash/ wipe confused with my dipswitch.
Who the hell came up with the idea of a floor-mounted dipswitch anyway?
tonyj105:
my 1973 toyota corolla had 2 or 3 speed wipers cant quite remember , with electric washers , but i was cosseted in reclining seats with built in head restraints a wooden steeing wheel and dash complete with built in radio. and then you climbed into the atkinson at 5 on a january morning.
My mate bought an Austin A40, and told us it had two-speed wipers.
It did too: “slow” and “stop”.
Those F88 wipers used to make me chuckle when they got out of step so they both worked independently ! I remember the centre spindle used to crack round the bearing and had to dismantle the glove box to get at the wiper rod on the N/S and had my mate move the arms manually… good old days
Star down under.:
The oddest must have been Simca Aronde.
In what way? They looked quite normal, no?
The spindles are near the outer edges of the screen. When parked the tops overlap, in the centre of the glass (IIRC LH on top). When turned on, the top one runs through its 110⁰ish arc, as it starts its downward return, the other side starts its arc upward. The wipers continue in opposite directions until turned off when the right hand side wiper parks itself at the bottom of the screen, the left hand one completes it’s cycle, after the other has parked, until it reaches the bottom of the arc.
I’ve never figured out how it’s done.
Readers will have noted that I dared not mention wipers that were mounted at the top of the windscreen (and all the incessant problems that leads to) lest I be assaulted by fans of the Ergomatic.
ParkRoyal2100:
Readers will have noted that I dared not mention wipers that were mounted at the top of the windscreen (and all the incessant problems that leads to) lest I be assaulted by fans of the Ergomatic.
Don’t worry: there’s a thread about that as well !
had to endure the poor visibility for a couple of months more until they put me on aS80.
