DigitalWidgets

The rubber on one of the wiper blades on my 2011 GS was beginning to split, so while at Walmart today, I grabbed some new Michelin wiper blades (21"). When I got home to put them on, I noticed 2 things....first they don't match the paint color of the wiper arms (which I guess I could live with), but more importantly, the OEM wiper blade on the driver's side has a spoiler on it. I also noticed that the blade when "retracted" sits just above the hood line so there there is definitely airflow implications.

My question is: Is that spoiler important? And where do I get those wiper blades? I did some Google searches, but didn't seem to find those exact blades.

I just put on the cheap Michelins for now, but darn it, I bought a car that can do 180+ (maybe)...and while I may never achieve speeds in that realm, I only want replacement parts that will allow the car to perform as designed.

Any input appreciated.

Z09SS

I got the replacement wipers from the Chevy dealer.

Last time I needed them it was sunday, so I ended up with Bosch Icon blades and they have a little spoiler built in, and they've worked well so far. 21A for the driver's side and 21B for passenger.

C6Whatever

I got OEM from the dealership. I like the looks of them and they worked great for me

Lisa

RocketDawg

Presumably, the "spoiler" is there to hold the wiper tight against the windshield. I have no idea why there's not one on the passengers' side. I think you can get replacement refills from the dealer without having to replace the entire blade. Might even be able to get them elsewhere.

The C5, and many other cars, do not have that feature so it's not really needed. You're not going to be driving "that" fast in the rain anyway, and I don't think the spoiler has any function when the wipers are parked. I had the RainX blades on my C5, similar to the Michelin and Bosch ones without the pressure legs, and they worked great.

Don-Vette

You should have bought Bosch Icon wiper blades the best IMO and no "spoiler"

The "spoiler" on your blades holds the blade against the windshield at speed. No need for one on pass. side because that blade is under the drivers side.

icntdrv55

Passengers don't need to see where they're going! The way most of you guys drive, they've got their eyes closed anyway...

MikeERWNC

I have driven in the worst of rain storms this year...
At the speed limit or just above there is no need for the spoiler.
My car got new blades when I bought it in January. They work just fine.
I have the OEM ones somewhere, but a 6.97 for new complete replacement, I doubt I will put them back on with refills.

hoobedda

Wiper blades....what is this you speak of???

DigitalWidgets

You may have noticed them. They're the small black metal attachments that force you to open the hood of the car when you're detailing. I'm not sure of their actual intended function, but when you replace them with blades that don't match the OEM painted blades they quickly become the non-matching only thing you can see when you look at the car!

John Harry

I kept the blades, just got the refills.

Wildmanht

I just changed mine out 2 weeks ago. I went to Napa and got the blade refills. Think it was 8 bucks or so for a set.

Seadawg

I daily drive in the rain (every day it seems lately), and I went with the Bosch version, that has a little spoiler, like mentioned above.

They work fine, but I rarely use wipers, because the water blows off my windshield better than any wiper I've had on the vette (including the OEMs)

The only time I find they are helpful if if I'm going less than about 30 mph, otherwise just RainEx about every 3 months on the windows, and no use of wipers. the faster you go, the faster the water blows off

I do use them if another vehicle splashes dirty water or something on the windshield....

2K6Z06

Be aware these cars melt in the rain! Remove the entire windshield wiper blade/arm and never worry about rain again!

etaylor14

Got mine from the dealer about $9.00 each. I like to replace parts with OEM if possible.

DigitalWidgets

Well...if the OEM's have the spoiler, it sounds like that's the way to go. I've got to get the brakes done soon, so I'll just inquire when I'm next at the dealer.

When I look at the cheapo blades I just put on, the driver side definitely hangs up in the wind stream between the hood and the window (it's not tucked down in there out of the wind). I assumed the little spoiler was to aid in getting the air to flow over the wiper blade at very high speeds (not necessarily anything to do with helping it do it's job of wiping the window). It seems to me at very high speeds, the wiper would be under a lot of force from higher pressure air flowing over the hood right at it. Add to that the leverage because it's out at the end of a "lever", I would think the stresses on the assembly could potentially be quite high.

Again, not that I'm ever driving my car at any high rate of speed that any of this may matter that much. I just figure if they engineered any performance in there, I don't want to engineer it out just to save a few bucks.

Gearhead Jim

FWIW, we use our car a lot and I want new wipers every year.

One year I buy just the refills, next year I buy the complete blade because it has some plastic that eventually deteriorates.

We always use GM, order through the Forum parts dealers.

gtovett

The Spoiler is definitely important. I used a cheap replacement blade/arm that did not have the spoiler on the driver side and within 6 months the rubber blade began breaking off from the arm. Passenger side was fine. Also, within those 6 months I had two track days where the car saw 130mph+ so that was probably a factor.

RocketDawg

Oddly enough, I got new wiper blades this morning. Took the car in to the dealer for an oil change and to check a couple other things (the warranty expires Sunday), and he said the rubber was splitting on my wipers. I'd never noticed that, but everything else was free so I decided what the heck, and got new ones. OEMs were about $12 each. Total was about $30 for two blades, $3.95 to install them (for about 30 seconds work! Most places would do it free). Not bad, and actually cheaper than the really good Bosch, Michelin, or RainX ones at Wal Mart.

BTW and for what it's worth ... that little thing on the driver's side blade isn't a spoiler. It's really a wing, to provide down force. A spoiler is something that breaks up the air flow ... it literally "spoils" the laminar flow over an object ... so you get less vibration and adverse wind effects.

cclive

The replacement rubber is $5 each at NAPA. I'm not sure why the trend is now to throw away a perfectly good metal blade. Just replace the rubber inserts like we have been doing for the last 40 years.

1bdvet

All you need to buy inserts, not the complete assembly.