Beyond Origins the Discussion

Find The Best Windscreen Wiper Blades For Enthusiastic 4×4 Owners

September 9th, 2008

If you haven’t got a Off-Road Vehicle to use as a Chelsea Tractor, the chances are that you’ve got some hard duties lined up for it, and that means that you’ll need at least better than average ancillary and safety equipment.

Think about tyres for example, you don’t want normal UK road tyres if you’re going across the Sahara Desert, Mud plugging in tropical rainforests or exploring Arctic Glaciers. Even if you’re just using your Off-Road Vehicle to pull a horsebox to a local county show, you’ll need some decent mud-plugging tyres if you’re not going to suffer the ignominy of needing to be pulled out by a tractor.

It’s interesting how nearly everybody can and does accept that fact, however they don’t think in the same terms about an equally critical safety element of their car, the Wiper Blades

Normal Wiper Blades are made with either a natural or synthetic rubber blade. The working temperature of these rubbers is tested to its limit even in weather which we regularly see in many parts of Europe. For example, rubber stiffens as temperatures tumble below freezing, and in Scandinavian and Alpine winters the rubber hardens so much that it cracks; making the wiperblade useless.

Additionally a rubber wiperblade’s life is severely shortened by the effects of Ozone and Ultra Violet Light. These degrade the rubber’s structure and surface, causing a further loss in performance, and lessening the wiperblade’s ability to shake off water. This then exacerbates its low temperature performance problems, because it allows water to stay on or even penetrate the wiperblade’s surface, so when it freezes, the rubber blade’s structure is further damaged and the wiperblade is often frozen to the windscreen.

At the opposite end of the temperature range; think about how hot the surface of your car can get in even a British summer, then imagine how much hotter it will get in tropical or even Mediterranean climates. Even in Britain, most of us have experienced Wiper Blades softening and then sticking to the windscreen in hot weather. Imagine what will happen in even moderately hot climates.

Finally, think about the tough driving conditions you’ve bought your Off-Road Vehicle for. Throwing up mud, stones, dirt, grit, sand and other abrasive debris. All these abrasive things will of course shorten the life of any wiperblade that’s having to wipe them off.

Even the very best rubber Wiper Blades, even when protected from all the hazards of the weather still only have a design life of approximately 500,000 cycles, and of course this is seriously reduced both by those weather influences and by being subjected to the abrasive particles that are part of Off-Road Vehicle life.

The good news is that Silicone Wiper Blades offer solutions to all these problems. With a working temperature range of -60°C to +200°C, these truly are the Best Windscreen Wipers for extreme conditions. In fact, they’ll still be operating long after you and your Four by Four have given up the struggle. Additionally, they aren’t degraded by Ozone or Ultra Violet light, and because they have far better wear resistance, they have a life expectancyconditions, and are much better at withstanding the abrasive effects of Off-Road Vehicle adventure conditions.

So if you’re searching for proper High Performance Wiper Blades to equal the performance of your Off-Road Vehicle, don’t just look for a quite meaningless “Performance” Label. To get the Best Windscreen Wipers for all the extremes you can put your vehicle through, make sure they have 100% Silicone blades, and beware of those crafty beggars who sneakily put a silicone coating on rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades!

Entry Filed under: Automotive