[canoebuildah]

Some people have not been happy with their 2007 NBS Silverado wiper blades:

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=53650

There is a lot of exposed metal on the wiper which accumulates ice and the fluid hose is exposed to tearing on ice/packed snow or snow brushes.

I was at the dealership today and they admitted they were getting a lot of calls and visits due to these issues, especially from plowers.

Fluid Hose issue:

The hose that is susceptible to tearing is about 10" long. Chevy does not offer it as a replacement part by itself. They only offer the entire wiper arm assembly for sale at $45 for each side - does not include a new blade -- just the metal frame and rubber hose. The parts dept checked stock and there are no passenger sides available east of Michigan. The sales manager pulled one off a truck on the lot and asked me to bring the broken one back. He was very nice to take care of me but all I need is a 10" piece of 3/32" hose.

What I did was go to an auto parts store and buy 6' of 3/32" rubber hose which I will keep in my truck tool box. You will need a pair of needle nose pliers or a Leatherman to pull the hose through the spring. I was tempted to get the heavier 7/16" hose which had the same interior diameter but it would not have fit through the spring on the wiper assembly. Even in the cold tonight it was easy to push the hose on the nipples. I did lay it on the defroster to warm it up first.

Wiper issue:

Chevy does not have any other blade available at this time. I checked a few local auto parts stores and the only aftermarket blade I found was from Trico (not a winter blade):

NeoForm Blade - Driver & Passenger Side 16-2213 Exc. Classic

The two stores I visited were sold out (no surprise) and the price is $17-$19 each. I did like the fact that the entire arm was covered with rubber which should help with icing. I assume that it is only a matter of time before other manufactures will come out with winter blades.

I wish I could have found replacements as we are expecting another 8"-12" tonight into tomorrow.

 

[harley hauler]

I secsond that motion!!! My pass. side wiper kept iceing up, nothing worse in the middle of a storm than a half frozen wiper. I also went to the parts store to find winter blades and I could'nt find any with the same clip connection like the factory??? What style truck do you have I have a crew cab short bed and I'm no all that impressed with it in the snow can't get the damn thing to hook up? I was sliding and getting stuck all over the place, and no I'm no rookie to this game, I have 360# in the back but didn't seem to help? any thoughts??

 

[canoebuildah]

What style truck do you have I have a crew cab short bed and I'm no all that impressed with it in the snow can't get the damn thing to hook up? I was sliding and getting stuck all over the place, and no I'm no rookie to this game, I have 360# in the back but didn't seem to help? any thoughts??

I have a 3500 regular cab, DRW with aluminum rack body. I have 980 lbs of tube sand built into a box right at the end of the 9' bed. I have no trouble with it at all sticking to either gravel or tar roads.

What is the weight of your plow? Do you have your ballast over the axle or the rear of the bed? This Chevy replaced a 1997 Dodge 1 ton rack body. I used to drop a load of sand into the bed. I notice this new truck is much more balanced with the weight as far back as possible instead of distributed throughout the bed.

 

[harley hauler]

The plow is from my old truck it's a 7-6 RD fisher. My ballast I put at the rear of the bed by the tailgate I figured the futher back the better? I may have to re think that one

 

[canoebuildah]

The plow is from my old truck it's a 7-6 RD fisher. My ballast I put at the rear of the bed by the tailgate I figured the futher back the better? I may have to re think that one

Sounds like you have it in the right place if it is right next to the tailgate. What kind of tires do you have?

 

[scottL]

I also have great pain with the wiper blades icing up. What crap! ( It's beyond the normal build up and ices so bad that it's near impossible to clean by hand ).

As for the traction I have the 3.83 ( ? I know it's the step down from the 4.11 ) long bed, crew cab. I sue 500#'s of ballast in the far back of the bed. I did notice with the stock tires I really can only plow in 4x4. With my ol k3500 4.11 long bed crew cab I could plow in 2 wheel a ton.

They lighten up these damn trucks in the wrong areas. They have a ton of power and torque but, without some weight they cut loose. ( btw - not as bad as the new toyota's )

 

[scottL]

I just mounted the new blades ( Trico NeoForm for the NBS ). Just in the mount itself it sits way nicer on the glass. We'll see the performance when it snows!

Also, I added a 3 bar front defrost to the front windshield ( like the ones you have in your back window) . I found the front air defroster just never hit low enough by the blades. So, we'll see if this helps too. Almost not noticeable from outside the truck.