The first question you may be asking is “What is a bracketless windshield wiper?” Standard windshield wipers have metal assemblies or brackets that attach to the windshield wiper arm. These steel frames provide support for the wiper blades.
A bracketless windshield wiper doesn’t have this heavy metal skeleton to hold the wiper blade in place, but simply consists of the wiper attachment to the car's wiper arm, and the blade. This makes for a lighter item, but is this upgrade better than standard wipers?
.Are They Better?According to Otto Stefaner, Senior Product Manager for Bosch Corporation, a large manufacture of auto parts and accessories, bracketless windshield wiper blades are superior to conventional ones.
He stated:
"Conventional wiper blades use an external steel frame and joints that apply pressure at specific spots.
"By eliminating the frame and joints in a bracketless design, we have increased the blade's ability to conform to the curvature of each windshield, which applies uniform pressure along the entire length of the wiping element and results in a cleaner, quieter wipe each time."
But are they really better?In a real world test, thanks to yours truly, we compared conventional bracket windshield wipers with a set of bracketless ones for an older model Toyota Prius. The original wipers had standard bracket-type wipers.
When new, bracket wipers seem to do a pretty decent job, but it’s evident that uniform pressure against the glass wasn’t a strong point for these wipers. Streaking and chattering were common problems with this type of windshield wiper.
A set of bracketless wipers were installed, and the difference was clearly, so to speak, evident within the first few swipes. Film and grime, which were usually left behind with the conventional wipers, were now gone and the windshield was spotless. They were also very quiet in operation.
After switching to bracketless, going back to standard wipers wouldn't offer the same performance and ease of installation.
Upgrade or Not?Many cars now come standard with bracketless windshield wipers. If you own a car that has standard wipers, in general, you should be able to upgrade to bracketless ones. Just be certain that the brand you are looking at states that it is compatible with your car. For heavy snowy weather, standard brackets work better.
Should You Switch?Good deals can be found for bracketless windshield wipers on eBay, Amazon.com, and on special sales at your local car parts store, and can be purchased for a set of two for the same price as a good pair of conventional wipers.
If you’re tired of streaking, noisy, and inefficient standard wiper blades, it will only cost you $20 bucks or less to find out if these will work for you.
Source:
PR Newswire