The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Cable drive wipers

I’m looking for a complete wiper kit. Has anyone used these cable driven sets? I can’t find a description on how these fit or any advantages/challenges. Seems like a simpler setup. My truck (1950 3100) is missing everything, no motor, linkage, switches, or arms.

Where did you find that for sale? That is an interesting solution that might be easier to install/maintain than the normal electric conversions.

I found some discussion on another forum about them. They seem to be reasonably popular, though at least one complained about the durability.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/question-about-new-cable-drive-wiper-systems.614311/

Nice work. I found it on eBay. A few sellers are selling this style. Hmmm. I may give it a try and I can report back.

I really like the concept of being able to remote mount the motor where it is out of the way. I also have a soft spot for wipers that move opposite directions, which this allows for.

My biggest concern is the long term durability of the cable/transmission joint. I can't tell what kind of mechanism it is using there. I am guessing it is a rack and pinion with a set screw that you fees that cable through, but I am not certain.

Definitely share what you find if you buy one.

The one thing I’m wondering is if the stock arms will fit on here. Since they are advertising this for this truck I’m assuming they do. This is the last thing my truck needs to be completely finished so I want something that will bolt in if possible to avoid moving or damaging anything else.

What other vehicles does the maker say it fits? Are the studs adjustable center to center? It's hard to tell from that picture.

One size fits all? Most? Some?

All great questions. It says 47-59. There is a picture of it in a truck but I’m not really good with understanding pictures like that. Hard to tell what I’m looking at. I sent a message. Will see what they say.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3125079462...r=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Older Fords had vacuum-operated wipers, of which the complaint was that WOT made the wipers stop (when vacuum dropped).
Has anyone tried a vacuum holding tank (as used for power brakes) to reduce this problem?

That's not a Ford complaint. That's a vacuum wiper complaint on ALL cars so equipped.

My '56 Cadillac's wipers stop working while going up a hill or pulling over to let a hot rod Lincoln go by.

RainX my boy, I say RainX.

I thought the same but I need the whole shebang, motor, linkage….I don’t think I’m going to get away with much less than that. It doesn’t rain here much. I suppose I could just put some dummy wiper arms on it….

50shep: For what it is worth, that listing is from Johnny Law Motors and I have had good experiences with them in the past.

Based on your username, I am guessing this is for a 50?

LMC has an electric conversion motor: Wiper Motors

They also have the linkage and related parts: Wiper Parts

Just between the 12V motor and linkage you are looking at $300, plus all the fiddly bits. In pure $$$, the ebay kit is probably going to be cheaper. It will take some extra effort because you have to get it set up and installed for your specific application.

Being able to just follow the FAM and get spare parts down the road if something breaks or wears out might be worth the extra cost. It also might be worth calling Johnny Law and seeing if they sell spare parts.

I would caution you against putting dummy arms on. The cops have little to no sense of humor and if you do accidently end up out in the rain you will regret not having functional wipers.

If I got pulled over I would just have the kids move the arms back and forth with their feet while making whoosh whoosh noises.

Solid plan. Zero chance of getting arrested.

[Edit] Personal attacks are not helpful.

Come on guys, keep it civil.

Otto's earlier message to indicate that is it not an exclusively Ford complaint becaise everyone who used that system had similar issues.

Both are true statements. Anyone with a vacuum wiper system will have issue (see any number of previous discussions around here for examples). That includes both Fords and Chevrolets.

@Panic: there have been a couple discussions of adding electric vacuum pumps and/tanks to help with that. I want to say that Coilover had a recommended vacuum pump from a diesel that he recommended. I found one for sale on amazon that I had linked as an option, but a couple members posted that they had tried that style and it did not have enough volume to be effective.

Per the vacuum tank... my truck had a small ?propane? tank plumbed in to the power brakes which definitely helped.

If these work like a late 50's Corvette then I'd be hesitant... only my personal opinion. I helped repair that system on a 58 Vette this year and it did not seem durable (hence the need to repair - and we were clearly not the first in there). it was also a bit of a mind boggler to lie on your back and sort out the cable routing.

From my perspective there are a lot of delicate moving parts on that system. My 0.02 only of course.

Not saying this wont work in this retrofit application, just a caution.

I appreciate the insight. Let me ask this: is there any weakness in the original linkage design? Or does it work fine when paired with an electric motor? 2nd question: do I still need this part if I use an electric motor?

I used one on my 52 GMC when I converted to Newport electric wipers.

Bill: LMC calls it a spring/transmission. Is it just a spring so that the movement of the linkage doesn't have to exacrly match the motor? Or is there another reason for it?

50Shep: if you need everything, it might be worth posting up in the Truck Parts Wanted forum. Someome might have some spare parts around that could hook you up.

Well, they offered 15% off so I ordered the cable drive unit. Will report back after i install and I’ll update this thread if/when it breaks. Thanks for all the input

I would be interested in pictures/feedback on the installation and percieved quality as well.

Bouymaker: did you see this thread?

The wiper arm tension measurement sounds goofy in the context of modern systems, but also pretty reasonable for older vehicles that did not have the spring preloads.

I wonder if a non-trival amount of the issues people have with the wipers now is 60+ years of wear and flexing on those arms has reduced the tension? When I looked last week, there were a fair number of the tension tools on ebay for under $20. I am sorely tempted to pick one up.

I agree that the law does not require a given power source. If the earlier comment about the kids using their feet to run the wipers was serious because there is a mechanism to actually do that, then I apologize. I thought it was a joke.

I have not gotten far enough to look for new wipers for my 58. I have assumed that modern Anco or Trico wipers would be able to attach to the older arms, but if not an adapter might be worth making.

I certainly was joking. The only thing my daughter can reach with her feet is the gas pedal. She’s scared me a few times with that. A foot powered windshield wiper mechanism would likely be more complicated than the cable one so the benefit would be minimal. I ordered some stock eBay arms and wipers but the seller said the cable unit is pretty universal and comes with two different splines so I think you could use something different if you wanted to.

It does rain here sometimes but I don’t want drive this truck in the rain. It would ruin my bed wood! And I know the knucklehead who assembled this truck(me) so I’m not even confident it’s waterproof.

Even if you don't drive in the rain, I would strongly recommend making sure your bed is waterproof.

Sprinklers, other vehicles, the ocean, plenty of other sources of water that could mess it up.

If you need help/advice on that, we have a forum dedicated to beds. Might be worth making a post over there.

Not interested?

LMC offers both an original style wiper arm and blade and a replacement style. The replacement style is more of a modern design.

https://www.lmctruck.com/1948-59-chevy-gmc/wiper-components/ca-1947-59-windshield-wiper-components

Trico does make replacement blades for the original arms in their Classic series.

Regarding wiper power sources. Model A Fords, among others, use a hand operated wiper in front of the driver. What about cars that were not originally equipped with wipers?

I don't believe any state actually requires vehicles to be retrofitted with equipment that wasn't mandatory at the time of manufacture. I know Texas has the idiotic safety inspections every year. My brother just took his GTO for an inspection and the "safety inspector" never even tried the horn or the wipers - both of which are required to function to pass the test.

Fortunately, Georgia eliminated this scam safety inspection on vehicles over 40 years ago.

You could get hand operated wipers on jeeps for a long time.

I have not looked specifically at exemptions to the wiper law, but I know that seatbelt and lighting (turn signals, backup lights, etc) both have exemptions for vehicles that did not come from the factory with them. That is true in at least in the NHTSA regulations, CA, and ID because I have explictly checked them.

(Note: if you are in one of those states, verify that for yourself because the law could have changed since the last time I looked, especially in CA)

The Audi one looks like it could have a lot of potential. The VCP103 has been discontinued, but they still have a VCP113 that some people over on HAMB say is equivalent.

When I posted that one in a previous discussion of vacuum wiper upgrades a couple members said they had tried it and it did not have sufficient flow, so your milage may vary.

It looks like OP bought the cable drive system already. If y'all want to continue discussing vacuum solutions or wiper blade upgrades, lets move over to a new thread in General Truck Talk where a stock-ish systems are more applicable.

Leaving this thread open for now in case anyone has queations on the OP's cable system.

Sorry to be late to the party. I know firsthand about cable operated wipers. MG offered them in some years. They worked fine until they became a nightmare. Datsun used them in the 510 models...and I owned one of those along with one of the MGBs that had them. If you remember a couple of years of MGs had 3 wiper blades. This coupled with the cable operated system made for skinned knuckles and a tremendous amount of loud cursing because you had to remove both seats, the console, the glove box and some more stuff just to see them. I always thought it was basically a good idea. They just didn't work for very long. Good luck. As you may or may not remember I did work on the "electric wiper in the AD idea" a few years ago and even wrote an intermittent wiper circuit. It works fine and there is plenty of room (even if you also have A/C in your truck). And you can't tell it from the original. But...any wiper motor mounted internally (which is why they all were put on the other side of the firewall after about 1956) is going to be louder than you think it ought to be. Sadly that part is unavoidable. And that is why the cable driven systems were so tough. The motors were outside, but the cable drives were inside and whoever designed them evidently never figured they would need service and they were installed BEFORE the dashboard was welded in. You needed hands and arms about the size of a 2 year old with adult dexterity and eyeballs that could see straight through metal, because once you removed the motor you would hear a little "plop" sound from the other side which meant nothing good was going to happen next. The good news is on the AD truck, I have better expectations. Heck, most people (not me for certain) tell me they won't even drive their truck in the rain. So, I don't believe they'll get anywhere near the degree of use MG and Datsun vehicles saw.

Jon, what was the normal failure mode for them?

Failure mode...well, usually you would know they were preparing to fail when you saw one side working while the other side wasn't, both only operating within a certain arc of their sweep...or you might hear them howling or chattering. Almost like if you tried to feed a plastic spoon through a pencil sharpener. But when they were new they were marvelously quiet and nice. And for occasional use vehicles, I think they might be fine.

I meant, what breaks on them? The shaft? The gears? The motor?

Based on your comment, I am guessing the gears in the arm transmission.

I'd say of the ones I saw, you had these constructed of cheap (potmetal-like) stuff that wasn't designed for lengthy use or somebody thought it would be ok. Which surprised me...sort of like using rubber tubing for brake lines or something. The sort of thing somebody with any wits at all wouldn't consider. The motor only failed if something in the transmission side failed, seized up completely and caused a fatal overheating of the motor. Which I never experienced, but friends told me they did. Remember, on the MG it was Lucas Electric branded stuff. The Datsun stuff...I was never really certain who over there made it. It seemed to me one copied the other. But it didn't matter. The shaft was the number 1 culprit, the gears were number 2 (but some people opined the gears were destroyed when the shafts went wonky and it was going to be hard to disprove that) and it was usually due to accelerated wear or accelerated wear that simultaneously caused things to no longer mesh properly. The ones I took apart were packed with grease, but if you have cheap metal (think the kind of stuff a keyed ignition module was made of), it doesn't matter. When the stuff crumbled, cracked or started coming apart the fat lady had already been singing long enough to be hoarse and tired. Remember these don't spin quickly but they have a decent amount of torque (which as we know at higher rpms will often be lost). I've seen the same sort of planned obsolescence in the Ford/Mercury/Mazda airconditioning air blend controllers. They're designed with only an elementary knowledge of things mechanical and they last about 1 year each. A single 10 cent metal collar would make them last nearly indefinitely. I don't know of any US made vehicles that used the cable wiper scheme, but many US made vehicles used (and still use) the same scheme for electric windows. In those, the driven parts are made of nylon, delrin or some hybrid industrial plastic. When it fails the window just drops to the bottom of the track and you have to replace the entire she-bang because of one failed plastic part. The cable drive part will usually be okay, but the plastic teeth shear off leaving nothing for the screw drive to engage.

Yep. Ford F-150s of the 90s use the idiotic electric window motors with plastic gears moving a metal rack. They always fails because the plastic strips out against the metal gears on the rack.

What's even more annoying is that they are riveted in place and have to be drilled out to be replaced. They're also installed between the inner and outer doorskins with no access. Of course Ford, knowing that they're going to fail was kind enough to stamp dimples in the door skin in front of each rivet so you can drill through them in order to drill out the rivets.

Replacement motors come with nuts and bolts.

First of all, why didn't Ford just stamp out holes in front of the rivets instead of stamping out dimples? And then why didn't they bolt the parts in place instead of riveting them? Who are these so-called engineers who have been designing cars for the last 100 years? They sure do some idiotic stuff.

I think this thread has run its course. I am locking it down.

50Shep: Please post some pics and start a new thread with your thoughts on the kit once it arrives and you get a chance to check it out.