Single windshield wiper

[siai47]

I really like the look of the "rest of the world" I-MiEV with the single windshield wiper system. I don't like the passenger side wiper (as one member described it as looking like Ultra-man). It also causes a problem with the single washer nozzle on the drivers side. It seems to take most of the fluid away before the drivers side wiper gets any use out of it. So, I got the longest single blade I could find at the local auto supply which was a 28" blade, installed it on the drivers side and took the passenger side wiper blade and arm off completely. I like the look and as far as visibility in the rain, it seems to work just fine. The washer fluid cleans the windshield better now. If I can find one that is longer a 30" blade will work also and possibly a 32" would still clear the top of the windshield. The drivers side blade is driven by the motor and linkage first and the passenger blade is driven off the drivers blade. Therefore, it will provide no more (likely less) strain on the wiper system then the original dual blade system.

 

[PV1]

Do you have any pictures?

 

[RobertC]

The single windshield wiper looks like this.

It looks like the differences are the wiper blade is longer, the wiper arm is more substantial, and there is a different trim piece below the windshield without the opening for the second wiper blade. We could order the arm and trim piece if we knew the part numbers.
I also like the single wiper blade look better.

 

[RobertC]

In the winter I had changed my front wiper blades to Rain-X Latitudes.
I like the look better than the OEM wiper blades, but it still doesn't compare to the single blade look.

 

[PV1]

I put Trico Flex on mine, looks similar to yours, Robert. There's something about the 'world version' i-MiEV that makes it look better than the NA model, maybe because the paint on that black i-MiEV is glossy vs. the matte-ish finish of NA models.

I was wondering if Siai47 would upload a picture of his wiper, to compare with the world model.

 

[JoeS]

siai47, thanks for posting. The only good use for the second wiper IMO is to hold the sunshade in place. Late last week something struck my windshield and I now have a nasty horizontal crack spreading dead center across the whole windshield. The glass replacement outfit showed up yesterday with a new windshield(!), but they were missing the plastic edge strips so hopefully they'll come back and do the job this week. After that's done, I'll be tempted to do siai47's mod, even though we now probably won't see any rain until October.

 

[jray3]

I'agree with sia47 and wager that the wiper linkage could take the 'imbalanced' load just fine, and our 24" main blade has enough room on the glass to be 32" long if the vertical wiper was eliminated... (based upon a very quick measurement)
If one is happy with the second wiper delete, he could then remove that linkage arm to save a (very) few watts.