Wiper blades

[alancw3]

so yesterday i had to buy new wiper blades for my daughter's minivan. i did some research and thought that i was going to buy a rainex product. went to the store(walmart), i was actually surprised at the selection they had. coodos to them. anyway rainex were made in korea $16.99), michelin were made in china $15.99) and trico were made in the usa ($17.99). i could not in good conscious buy anything but the trico wipers. have any of you experienced the same feeling? i guess you could call it nationalism.

[pjm]

I’m surprised they were that expensive at Walmart. The last pair I bought there were Michelin’s for $10. Good for you for buying the US made product.
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe they were $10 each.

[Ken Robb]

I buy Goodyear blades at COSTCO for $7.95. They had them on sale a little while ago for $5.95. I didn't look to see where they were made. Dealer want $30!!!.

[MattTuck]

Good story, it is something to consider for sure.

I've been thinking about picking up an electric guitar. I personally would love to get a USA made guitar. The issue is that Fender (in particular, and others in general) produce their low-mid quality stuff outside of the US, and save US production to only work on the premium priced products in their line up.

It is something that irks me, because I don't have the skill to justify a higher priced guitar, so I'll probably have to buy a mexican made or asian produced product.

When buying stuff like wipers, I'll usually check a site like wire cutter, and just get what they recommend. I'll have to pay more attention and check the country of manufacture for that kind of stuff.

[Black Dog]

Trico blades are amazing and last a long long time. Best value for the money. Why not spend a bit more for a better product that is made at home. I think that Costco sell trico as well, at least online they do.

[572cv]

Good story, it is something to consider for sure.

I've been thinking about picking up an electric guitar. I personally would love to get a USA made guitar. ........

I try to get US made stuff where I can. Sometimes even drilling down a little further. Fender necks used to be roughed out in Morrisville VT! So I found a second hand Fender jazz bass, after a bit of a search. Of course, you have to match that with an Ampeg tube amp..:rolleyes:

Glad to know about Trico. I think thats what the local auto parts store carries as a base.

Bikewise, Pedros cleaning stuff is made in western MA, I learned from the booth guys at NAHBS.

[bikinchris]

so yesterday i had to buy new wiper blades for my daughter's minivan. i did some research and thought that i was going to buy a rainex product. went to the store(walmart), i was actually surprised at the selection they had. coodos to them. anyway rainex were made in korea $16.99), michelin were made in china $15.99) and trico were made in the usa ($17.99). i could not in good conscious buy anything but the trico wipers. have any of you experienced the same feeling? i guess you could call it nationalism.

Good for you. I always buy USA products if at all possible. When I get a request for a custom bike, I usually ask if the customer has a preference for USA made products and or USA owned companies. Most of them do. The biggest exception was the all Italian request I recently had.

[batman1425]

Good story, it is something to consider for sure.

I've been thinking about picking up an electric guitar. I personally would love to get a USA made guitar. The issue is that Fender (in particular, and others in general) produce their low-mid quality stuff outside of the US, and save US production to only work on the premium priced products in their line up.

It is something that irks me, because I don't have the skill to justify a higher priced guitar, so I'll probably have to buy a mexican made or asian produced product.

Same story for nearly all of the mainstream builders. That said a lot of Korean built instruments are really nice. PRS SE series, ESP LTD, Alvarez, all very nice instruments and korean made. I had a Korean built Epiphone Les Paul with a few upgrades that cost me about $675 and sounded and played better than every similarly priced but bare bones USA built Gibson Les Paul Studio I tried.

I'd like to buy american too, but you're talking at least $1k for a new american built instrument. There are good deals to be had on the used market for USA made stuff though.

[quickfeet]

Good story, it is something to consider for sure.

I've been thinking about picking up an electric guitar. I personally would love to get a USA made guitar. The issue is that Fender (in particular, and others in general) produce their low-mid quality stuff outside of the US, and save US production to only work on the premium priced products in their line up. USA Guitars for little money are out there if you look, usually main difference is skin deep only. Gibson and fender reserve their best finishes for highest money because they know the LOOK is important.

It is something that irks me, because I don't have the skill to justify a higher priced guitar, so I'll probably have to buy a mexican made or asian produced product.

When buying stuff like wipers, I'll usually check a site like wire cutter, and just get what they recommend. I'll have to pay more attention and check the country of manufacture for that kind of stuff.


I scored a USA lpj (maple necked les Paul) that was MIUSA FOR $400. I changed the pickups for another $100 and that guitar sounds as good as anything out there.

With fender there isn’t a huge difference between body and necks with USA and MEX made stuff, really pickups make a big difference and a nice set up. Once you dig into really using a guitar long term, things like type of fret wire used comes into play.

I’m building new Strat right now from USA and MEX parts that will be awesome

[MattTuck]

I scored a USA lpj (maple necked les Paul) that was MIUSA FOR $400. I changed the pickups for another $100 and that guitar sounds as good as anything out there.

With fender there isn’t a huge difference between body and necks with USA and MEX made stuff, really pickups make a big difference and a nice set up. Once you dig into really using a guitar long term, things like type of fret wire used comes into play.

I’m building new Strat right now from USA and MEX parts that will be awesome

Yeah, that sounds great. I wish I had the knowledge and experience to do something like that. I just started playing a couple years ago, and I'm really not that good.

I learned about an American guitar company named Suhr that looked really interesting, but their stuff is pretty pricey also. Then I went down the rabbit hole of Warmoth and USA Custom, to get a body and neck separately, put them together, and buy the pick ups and electronics, bridge, tuners, etc. People were saying they could build a top of the line (equipment wise) instrument for 1000-1300. still way more than I am going to spend, but it is fun to think about.

[simplemind]

i guess you could call it nationalism.

Nothing wrong with that! :hello:


Trico blades are amazing and last a long long time. Best value for the money. Why not spend a bit more for a better product that is made at home. I think that Costco sell trico as well, at least online they do.

Not at the Costco's here, just the crappy Goodyear which I'm sure is China mfg., the worst blades yet. Don't know why they keep selling them unless people don't keep their cars that long.
The Trico's are good and will withstand the elements pretty well. We keep cars outside a lot, and I'm sure that's a no-no. :no:

[gemship]

If I recall correctly this youtube video I watched, it recommended silicon wiper blades. Yes wiper blades made of silicon. According to the video silicon last longer and performs better than rubber at this application. Wiper blades made of silicon are harder to find according to the video but they are simply the best and can be found online.

[veloduffer]

In general, I’ve found that the OEM blades longest on average for my cars. I’ve tried most of the replacement blades and found them not to last as long without streaking.


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[jke.4132]

I've been buying USA made tools for a while now and today I needed a pair of slip-joint pliers (I shop at Harry Epstein a lot). Home Depot carries a number of different brands but I bought a pair of ChannelLock pliers because they were the only ones still made in the US.

[Polyglot]

In a former life, I was Sales Director for an Italian wiper manufacturer that was first bought out by one American company and then subsequently bought out by Trico. When owned by the first American company, we brought out the first teflon wiper blades and this was one of the reasons why Trico was interested in us. They also were interested in our wiper subassembly possibilities as OEM buyers were looking to have suppliers provide more and more subassemblies to reduce the number of suppliers.

Teflon blades definitely make a difference in durability and wear and tear on the wiper engines. So is a regular washing of the car and avoidance of too much extreme weather (too cold or too hot). We had tested silicon and we were never able to get them to last any more than regular rubber and they cost substantially more. Perhaps somebody has subsequently been able to figure out how to use it but I truly doubt it. The "beam blades" found on many cars nowadays do work exceptionally well but are expensive to produce and thus expensive to install. I find that the beam blades are worth the extra expense in most cases for better visibility.

An element that most people do not consider is the adaptor used to attached the blades to the arms. Some adaptors are useless. Trico has some very easy to use ones on their exact fit line of wipers.

[Ken Robb]

The Goodyear blades work fine for us and at $8 each I have no qualms about replacing them at the first sign of streaking. Our MAZDA3 is a 2014 and I just replaced the wiper blades a few months ago because storms were predicted. Maybe on my next visit to COSTCO I'll check the origin of these blades.

[pncguy]

Silicon or silicone?

[Ken Robb]

Silicon or silicone?

I can't help posting you say "po-tah-toe" I say "po-tay-toe". But you make a good point about silicone/silicon.

[jemoryl]

Had a chuckle at Trico blades being made in the US. Years ago they had a huge factory in Buffalo that closed when production was moved to Mexico. So now they have moved back to the US? Interesting.....

BTW rockauto.com has some really good prices on wiper blades if you don't need them right away.

[lemondvictoire]

Goodyear Hybrid wiper package reads: Engineered, Assembled, and Packaged in USA with Foreign and Domestic Components.. Sounds like a lot of stuff that we buy now...