PIAA Blades

[timgco]

I just purchased a sett of Silicon PIAA Blades for the 2. They don;t show a rear blade available. Has anyone found a PIAA rear replacement blade that works?

...any feedback on those using thes blades?

Thanks.

[tomp]

Hey TIm

Actually, I was just cursing them last night on a long road trip home in the rain.

They were pretty good at first - but didnt last long. The OEM blades last me about a year - but these PIAA only lasted 6 months

[timgco]

:orly:

Well, that sucks. I was hoping for something better than the stockers. I have cleaned mine up with rubbing alchohol last time as a last resort.

On another note, have you tried running them dry on the window? I was just review the distructions and it sais to clean the window thoroughly and them run them dry to bring them back. ????worth a try maybe????

[mikejr]

Never tried the PIAA blades, but I've got the Bosch blades on my wifes trailblazer, also had them on the 06 when I traded it. Will likely get them for the 08 since they lasted a long time and they are not open frame like the stockers...its a pain in the butt when the open frames clog up with snow and ice.

Not sure if they (bosch) has rear ones for the H2

[DRTYFN]

I hated the PIAA blades. They sucked on many levels. Wiping of the windshield was more of a smearing action than clearing. And the blades left a line of silicone debris/residue from the blade surface at both ends of the wiper arc that was a major PITA to clean off. I think I had them for 2 months and returned them.

[tower]

Tim.

I had the same experience as you with being unable to find their replacement for the rear wiper and the same experience as tomp in being thoroughly UNimpressed with them, especislly for the price. I will next try the new flat or beam type wiper blades (e.g.Valeo ultimate 9000, Michelin Optimum or Bosh Icon and Hindsight (rear blade). I have always had good luck with bosch blades. I love their relays, too. I guess PIAA should stick with what they do best: NOT horns and NOT wipers.

[mikejr]

Tim.

I had the same experience as you with being unable to find their replacement for the rear wiper and the same experience as tomp in being thoroughly UNimpressed with them, especislly for the price. I will next try the new flat or beam type wiper blades (e.g.Valeo ultimate 9000, Michelin Optimum or Bosh Icon and Hindsight (rear blade). I have always had good luck with bosch blades. I love their relays, too. I guess PIAA should stick with what they do best: NOT horns and NOT wipers.


I couldnt recall the model of Bosch's that I had, and they were the Icon's, they are a year old on my wifes trailblazer and are working great!

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Do not use wipers at all on the rear. Remove the rear wiper unit and in the hole mount a backup camera. Then to keep the window clear just give it a regular cleaning and wipe down in Rain-X. Keeps the rear window just as clear as if you had wipers. Plus the key hole backup camera fits real nice in the opening and comes with a rubber seal so camera will not leak water inside.

TAZ

[timgco]

Do not use wipers at all on the rear. Remove the rear wiper unit and in the hole mount a backup camera. Then to keep the window clear just give it a regular cleaning and wipe down in Rain-X. Keeps the rear window just as clear as if you had wipers. Plus the key hole backup camera fits real nice in the opening and comes with a rubber seal so camera will not leak water inside.

TAZ


Hi Taz! I hope all is well!

I have a back up cam mounted just above the hitch and just below the rear tire. (factory setup and love it)(I just wish it showed on my NAV and not just up on teh rearview mirror).

When it snows here in the Mountains, you have to have the rear wiper or your screwed!!! I'm also going to add the GM version of the hotshot washer system very soon. I'm hoping that will take care of my winter Mountain driving issues. I was also considering the Bosch blades as well. I got a good deal on these, so I'll give em a shot and see what happens.


Thanks for the feedback guys.

[tower]

Hi TAZ!

How are you?
That's a great tip but I have the same issues with snow as Tim; Except that I have the Hitch-cam which is constantly getting covered in snow. I hope to switch to the Bracket-cam.

Tim, when you get the hot-shots, let me know how it goes (maybe write up & post the installation). I have been eyeing that item for a while. Do you know if they work on the rear?

[mikejr]

Hi TAZ!

How are you?
That's a great tip but I have the same issues with snow as Tim; Except that I have the Hitch-cam which is constantly getting covered in snow. I hope to switch to the Bracket-cam.

Tim, when you get the hot-shots, let me know how it goes (maybe write up & post the installation). I have been eyeing that item for a while. Do you know if they work on the rear?


T - my 08 has the factory heated washers on it, when you activate the system, there is a short delay, about 45 seconds then you get a series of 3 or 4 bursts of heated fluid on the windshield only. It appears, and I have no confirmation of this that the front and rear systems are totally independent.

[mikejr]

Do not use wipers at all on the rear. Remove the rear wiper unit and in the hole mount a backup camera. Then to keep the window clear just give it a regular cleaning and wipe down in Rain-X. Keeps the rear window just as clear as if you had wipers. Plus the key hole backup camera fits real nice in the opening and comes with a rubber seal so camera will not leak water inside.

TAZ

Hope things are going well for you.

[timgco]

T - my 08 has the factory heated washers on it, when you activate the system, there is a short delay, about 45 seconds then you get a series of 3 or 4 bursts of heated fluid on the windshield only. It appears, and I have no confirmation of this that the front and rear systems are totally independent.

I will do a writeup. It is the 08 system pretty much.

I won;t have it for a couple weeks yet. I was under the impression that the rear does NOT have this setup. I may have to look into that.

fwiw- Kira's Tahoe has the same setup and the fronts are the only thing that gets the heated waher system. Same delay too. i think it has something to do with a prime or something.

[mikejr]

I will do a writeup. It is the 08 system pretty much.

I won;t have it for a couple weeks yet. I was under the impression that the rear does NOT have this setup. I may have to look into that.

fwiw- Kira's Tahoe has the same setup and the fronts are the only thing that gets the heated waher system. Same delay too. i think it has something to do with a prime or something.

From what I can tell the delay is to heat up the fluid, it seems like the first blast takes the longest, and the delay between subsequent blasts is alot shorter.

I have to agree that having the heated fluid on the rear window would be great in the winter to clear all the slop off the window. I'd guess that you would have to have the unit actually in the tailgate or the fluid would cool to much if the heater was in the front.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Hi guys,

Doing good. The EP study w/abalation went for a weird twist as procedure went forward my heart started racing so fast they had to paddle me with electricity. Well you know tower!! Anyway they were to use right groin but, had 2 incision on right and a huge hematoma plus they made incision in left groin. Doc still has not explained to me. I was not a simpleton with him the first meeting and just talked to him like I do all my Docs. Just like they put their pants one leg at a time like I do.

I have first folloe up 12/3 so I will get answers. He did not bother to come see me for the 3 days I had to stay in the cadiac ward. He was there because I got the nurses to tell me. Well I'm a little upset because I'm nocked out and wake up in the ward with a nurse wanting to see if I had any burn marks. I almost came out of the bed saying what the heck are you talking about. This is a 6 hour deal and I go home. She informed me that was not going to happen. They wanted to give me blood thinner and I would not take it without my Hematologist and GI said it was OK. I had that GI bleed for 3 years so I knew I was at risk. The Hematoligist came at 11:30 pm and apologized for being late (this man is great) then told me this is very serious and he was oking the blood thinner but, only if cardioligist agreed to let him watch the INR levels.

It is going good now I'm on Tikosyn a new wonder med for heart timing. It worked real fast on me and I'm getting stronger all the time.

It was strange and I would not wish it on anyone.

Oh, I had not thought about snow etc. for the need oh wipers. Here in the south we very rarely get snow. It stays above freezing most of the time.

Good Luck to all on figuring out wiper blades.

TAZ

[tower]

Taz,

It's great to hear that you are doing well. Don't let those arrogant bastards get you down! If they gave you Tikosyn, you probably were in A-fib for some time (like Dickhead Cheney just had). That's not a horrible arrhythmia, but it does predispose one toward thromboembolic events (stroke, M.I.) which is why it is probably a very good thing for you to be on Warfarin. I wish you all the best for the holidays, a speedy recovery and that you get the hell out of that hospital soon! We're all pulling for you, brother!

[Mark805]

My 07 comes with the heated washers. It definately takes a few seconds for the first burst to come out as the fluid heats up.

Another solution to the dirty windows is to pick up an SUT instead :fdance:

[timgco]

My 07 comes with the heated washers. It definately takes a few seconds for the first burst to come out as the fluid heats up.

Another solution to the dirty windows is to pick up an SUT instead :fdance:

Hey Mark, could you please take a pic of your engine bay where things are mounted up. I'm tryin to do an installation as if the factory had it on my 07.

Thanks,
Tim.

[tower]

T - my 08 has the factory heated washers on it, when you activate the system, there is a short delay, about 45 seconds then you get a series of 3 or 4 bursts of heated fluid on the windshield only. It appears, and I have no confirmation of this that the front and rear systems are totally independent.
Thanks, Mike. Ditto what Tim asked. If you get to it first, could you post pix of where your unit is mounted (No I'm not asking for naked pix of your wife!) and where the switch is mounted. I think a number of us would like to do "factory type" installations.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Thanks tower for explaining to me more than the doctor has bothered to do. That really PO's me.

Hey I forgot to tell the forum that on 3barracing.com they have posted the pic of my overhead gauge setup for over a year i think. I just kept forgetting to tell you guys.

Well the more websites you can get things about your rig on the mags come looking.

We are getting to do a really wild conversion that i will tell you all about once i'm sure it is working out and not blowing up in Dragon and My face. It has to do with putting in power captain seats in the second row rather than the lifeless kind you can buy already covered but, passenger does not have a way to make themselves comfortable for a log drive. We plan to solve this and as far as we can find out we will be the only H2 to have tried this and hopefully been succesfull. We should have it done in the next week and will put up pics so you will all believe what we did is for real. It is just another one of those wild mods that just make judges go nuts. Anyway we want all captains to be powered just as the front seats are and no one that we can find makes a power replacement for mid row section. You can buy ridgid pairs for around i think last i looked was like $1895.00 something like that. It will blow you away with the way we decided to solve problem after talking to Katzkins and LLebroc seat manufactuers about if they make any, they are makers for others that cover them and sell them under another name. Spent time with national sales director and head tech guys they do not nor plan to make power seat drop ins and they know of no one else that makes anything. It will be something that we can do for anyone once we work it out on my rig and maybe be able to match the cost of the rigid seats. We would just have to have your rig at our shop or well what the hey I'll just tell all and you can see if you can find soemone that is good enough to stand up to their work. Well we are going to have to go back after this winter and count up again all the one of on this H2 that as far as we can check with other custom shops and national organizations other H2's do not have and not been tried. What does it all mean. Well if you cannot get sponsors to cover some things it is just a real expensive hobby. I look at it like some own airplanes and spend allot of money there as well as other hobbies people have. The H2 is my Love and She will never be sold so i just keep looking to do things no other Hummer has done. Bad part is those experimental things like the seat deal no sponsors step up because they do not have what we need so i foot the bill. That is when it hurts some.

Sorry to drop this in here if anyone wants to move it and title as the mad scientist and mod nut it would be cool with me.

Thanks for all the encourangement.

TAZ

[tower]

Just ordered from Summit Racing:

2 x Bosch 417A (Icon)
1 x Bosch 40811 (Hindsight)

SR was the only vendor I could find that had both tho Icon and Hindsight in stock (only wanted to pay shipping once). Total with Shipping to So Cal (no tax) was $58.80. Seems a little steep for 3 wiper blades, but WTF, I drive a Hummer, I'm used to that. :) I should have them in a couple/3 days. Shipping from Reno. I will report back. Hope it's still raining by then!

[mikejr]

Thanks, Mike. Ditto what Tim asked. If you get to it first, could you post pix of where your unit is mounted (No I'm not asking for naked pix of your wife!) and where the switch is mounted. I think a number of us would like to do "factory type" installations.

Will do...a pic of the switch is the easy part....finding the heating unit under the hood...well...that might not be as easy but I'll do my best for ya. LOL...my wife would shoot me if I posted naked pics of her...not that I have any of course...LOL

[tower]

Will do...a pic of the switch is the easy part....finding the heating unit under the hood...well...that might not be as easy but I'll do my best for ya. LOL...my wife would shoot me if I posted naked pics of her...not that I have any of course...LOLWanna buy some?(Sorry. Old joke. I couldn't resist.)

[mikejr]

Wanna buy some?(Sorry. Old joke. I couldn't resist.)

LOL...no worries...even the old jokes are funny!

I put the pics of the switch and the underhood installation on that other thread for you. Hope this helps you out. The underhood looks like a simple bracket, the switch on the interior on the other hand does look so simple.

Also, I dont know how the aftermarket works, but if it works like the stock one in the 08 it powers up for about 30 to 45 seconds then sprays the windshield and activates the wipers. It runs that cycle for 3 or 4 times i believe.

[tower]

Saw them. Excellent! Thanks, Mike.
For everyone, I think Bosch changed their best wiper blade name from Icon to Aero-Twin. They look identical, I think it's just a name change. Just installed them and now started raining here in So Cal, so I'll try them out tomorrow! Field report to follow. Yes, I am excited about new wiper blades. So sue me.

[tower]

Nerd Report (http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31320)

[Mr. I - Man]

Nerd Report (http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31320)

Just got the Bosch Icons @ advance auto 4 days ago and we have we had snow almost everyday since and they work awesome the snow doesn't clog them up at all and I also have the Hotshot set up on my rig that helps too.

[mikejr]

I just put the Bosch Icons on my 08 for the winter, those open frame stockers suck in the snow!

[timgco]

PIAA Blades + snow/ice + suck! That is all!

[tower]

Lassie, go get Timmy some Icons, girl!
http://johnnorrisbrown.com/classic-nick/lassie/Image56.jpg

[timgco]

Lassie, go get Timmy some Icons, girl!
http://johnnorrisbrown.com/classic-nick/lassie/Image56.jpg


Lassie jst went to Advanced Auto and brought some back. All three were $34.00 OTD.

[tower]

Lassie jst went to Advanced Auto and brought some back. All three were $34.00 OTD.Excellent. Hope you have luck with them as good as I have had! What a great doggie. Gotta get me one.

[MONSTERMATT]

i love my PIAA's u gotta run em dry to "coat" the glass with silicone, U GUYS ARE LOSERS!!!:raar:

[tomp]

I just replaced my first sucky set of PIAAs with the 2nd crappy set that I already had in the garage. It was raining today and nothing but smearing al over the glass due to the silicone!

Worst blades EVER!!!!!!!!!!

Total crap and never again!!!!!!!!