Colorado Collision Repair Tips: Why, When, and How to Change Your Windshield Wipers

Accurate Auto Body Collision Repair Tips

Summers in Colorado generally mean plenty of rain in the afternoons. These rains, sometimes torrential, can occur right when rush hour is kicking in as you head home from work. Without proper windshield wipers, your visibility could become instantly impaired, which is a health hazard on the roads. As such, it’s important to make sure you know when it’s appropriate to change your windshield wipers. The parts are relatively cheap at $15 a pop, and don’t require labor from a Colorado collision repair center to install. Now, if you are struggling to attach windshield wipers, there’s no shame in asking us to switch them for you. But typically, the procedure only requires snapping the old part off, and then snapping the new part on. It’s simple.

So at what point is it time to change windshield wipers? These days they are made to be pretty resilient, but it always depends on your driving habits and where you live. If your windshield has a tendency to accumulate dust and mud on your drives, it’ll likely dirty up your windshield wipers, lowering their expected longevity. But generally speaking, you should be replacing your windshield wipers every six months to a year, depending on their amount of use. If you start to notice an abnormal amount of squeaking on the window, or the wipers aren’t cleaning the windshield like they used to, then it’s time to change those wipers.

So without further ado, here are the steps:

1- Recognize what part is being changed. You only want to remove the wiper blades themselves, ignore the lower wiper arm, and the metal blade attached to the arm. Also, make sure you have purchased replacements. Wiper blades are pretty standard across cars, but consult your manual to check and see if your car happens to use something different.

2- Raise the wiper arm away from the windshield so that it is standing perpendicular to the windshield.

3- Unhook the old wiper blade. Usually you will find a plastic stopper at the joint of the wiper blade. Unhook it to remove the blade.

4- In the opposite fashion, take the new wiper blade and install it on the joint by hooking it on the plastic stopper. Lay the wiper on the windshield. Repeat for second blade.

You’re done! It’s really that simple.

How To Use This Information

Smart driving habits include good maintenance of your vehicle. What that maintenance will entail can always be found in your manual, but if you’re struggling to understand your manual, or simply don’t want to delve too deep into it, feel free to ask one of our mechanics at Accurate Auto Body. We’ll make sure you leave informed about your vehicle’s requirements every time. To learn more, give us a call at 303-344-2122.

How often do you change your wiper blades?