Okay well since threads continue to pop up about people trashing their sexah DII arms (what a sin!) and/or throwing inferior OEM-style crap back on their car. STOP.

No need to special order anything, no need to throw junkyard parts from rusting DIs on your rig, and no need to let all the new cars enjoy the modern-style semi-rigid wiper blade designs from Bosch and Rain X!

One day I just started fumbling around with the little pieces that come with the Latitude blades from Rain X (they were buy one get one 50% off at Advance Auto Parts, this sale happens often by the way) and just happened to stumble upon a combination that was easy, strong, and required no permanent modification to anything.

First, take off the OEM blades and remove the plastic insert pieces which are attached to the ends.


Your stock DII arms should now look like this..


Next, take your Rain X blades and slide off the bracket that works on most cars, and put on the P&H style system (click into place) this is what it looks like when held up to the DII arm - note that the dimensions are perfect to allow the STOCK DII arm to slide over the new blade. Shown is the little locking pin arm thing that I will use to hold it in place.


I don't have any other assembly pictures, but basically I flipped the blades 180 deg from the above picture so that the blade sits in the channel of the arm. Like I said in the other threads, it looks like it was made for it!

ATTENTION: The only thing that might confuse people is the locking pin arm thing that came with the blades. In the above picture it's fit the way Rain X wants - however we need to flip it so that it lock and folds FORWARD (as you fold it down and lock it, you should be pushing it towards the passenger side of the car.. away from the wiper arm) if you try it the wrong way, you'll quickly see that the arm is too wide to allow the pin to hinge over the DII wiper arm - just flip it. It won't "snap" into locking position, but you can make it click over part of the blade "hub" area. No worries though, it's not going anywhere. I've had these on all winter long so far (the pictures are kinda old, they just sat on my phone till I got tired of reading about people doing other "lesser" wiper mods ). But yeah the wipers, blades, and locking pins haven't even budged. The bracket thing on the Rain X blades is actually ~1/2" taller than the stock blades, so in addition to making everything look extra beefy (these style blades look GREAT on the DII arms) it also pushes a little harder against the windshield. This is (to me) just as effective as the DI arms. Yes those have 2 springs, but if you've looked you would notice that the DII single spring is significantly larger than the 2 smaller DI springs.

Good luck!

 

This sounds/looks too good to be true. I returned a pair of these mid Feb. Didnt try the "flip". Subscribed.

 

That's exactly what I told myself after I took that last picture.

...actually that's why I started taking pictures in the first place, it was going too smoothly.

 

which blades did you buy? the 21" Rain-X?

 

Ha, I was just jumping on here to find the best place to order DI arms. I was going to hang RainX blades on them anyway so it won't hurt to at least give this a try. I'll post back with a thumbs up or down.

 

Thanks for the write up! I knew there had to be an easier way. To your point, this style bland is light years better than the regular types. Nice even pressure, less wind interference and a smoother operation! Have had those on the last 3 or 4 other cars.

 

Good write up! It's nice for folks to have another inexpensive option for wiper blades on DII's....

....BTW I have the new Bosch Icon blades on my DII with DI wiper arms, did you think those wouldn't work with the, ahem, "lesser" DI arms?

BUT.....I'm very confused as to how this is "easier", here's the process for installing DI arms....

Step 1 : Get some DI wiper arms
Step 2 : Remove 2 nuts, and pull DII wiper arms off
Step 3 : Install DI wiper arms and tighten 2 nuts to secure wiper arms in place
Step 4 : Install your choice of wiper blades like a normal human being

NOTE : (Budget 5 minutes for this job)

 

Well it's easier because I didn't have to take the arms off at all D1 arms are easy because the new blades just clip right in. I suppose it evens out, however you've gotta find the arms, get them shipped, etc etc. instead of running to an auto parts store and being on your way.

 

Fair enough! Either way, nice write up, very creative, maybe this should go into the "WRITE-UP" section for future reference???

 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

I was literally going to try and find D1 arms this afternoon, I'll give this a shot instead. Here's hoping!