Stop Replacing Wiper Blades! Check This Instead
45sChallenges common assumption, offers a money-saving tip that sparks curiosity.
▶ Play Clip"Delivers a thorough, practical tutorial that matches the title, though the April Fools' gag adds a minor detour."
This video provides a comprehensive guide to replacing windshield wiper brakes, using a Mustang as an example but noting the process is similar across most vehicles. It covers common symptoms of worn wiper brakes, the tools and parts needed, and a step-by-step installation procedure, concluding with a successful test and a humorous April Fools' twist.
The video demonstrates how to replace windshield wiper brakes using a Mustang, but the process is similar for most makes and models.
Wiper brakes are located at the base of the windshield wiper stalk, often hidden under dust boots that need to be removed for access.
A common symptom of bad wiper brakes is the wipers not resting in the correct position, as the brakes fail to stop them at the right spot.
Another symptom is wipers overshooting and hitting the A-pillar, which can damage paint. This happens because the brakes aren't slowing them down.
Squeaking or screeching wipers are often misattributed to bad blades, but it's actually the wiper brake pads' wear indicators making noise. Not all cars have these indicators.
The host emphasizes that replacing wiper brakes is not difficult and that mechanics claiming otherwise are trying to scam customers.
It's important to buy high-end wiper brake pad sets, which restore the wiper rest location, eliminate squeaking, and have a 30% longer life.
Each kit includes a brake caliper, two brake pads, springs, screws, nuts, and bolts. One kit is needed per wiper blade.
Fold the wiper blade up, press the button at the base, lift and wiggle to remove. Repeat for the other side.
Carefully remove the wiper shroud (cowl) to access the wiper brake assemblies, being cautious not to crack it.
Clean out dirt and debris from the wiper area using a brush and vacuum to prevent contamination that could cause squeaking.
Use locking pliers to clamp and pry off the wiper sprocket, which is splined to the shaft.
Use a 3mm Allen wrench to remove the two bolts holding the caliper. Place a towel underneath to catch any small parts.
Remove the caliper top, brake pad, and rotor. Note the worn pad material and black marks indicating overheating.
Install locator pins, slide the first pad with material facing up, add springs, rotor, and second pad with material facing down.
Torque the caliper bolts to 8 foot-pounds (96 inch-pounds) to ensure secure installation.
Repeat the same process on the passenger side, including using a towel to catch parts.
Reinstall the wiper cowl and blades, ensuring they are clocked correctly. Test the wipers to confirm proper operation and clearance.
The video ends with a cameo from 'Chris' needing wiper brake replacement, and the host reveals it's an April Fools' joke.
Replacing windshield wiper brakes is a straightforward DIY task that can save money and prevent damage. By recognizing the symptoms and following the step-by-step process, anyone can restore proper wiper function.
What are three common symptoms of bad wiper brakes?
Incorrect resting position, wipers traveling too far, and squeaking or screeching.
00:40
Why do wiper brakes squeak?
The wear indicators on the brake pads make noise to signal they need replacement.
01:28
What tool is used to remove the wiper sprocket?
Locking pliers.
05:10
What size Allen wrench is needed to remove the caliper bolts?
3mm.
05:39
What is the torque specification for the caliper bolts?
8 foot-pounds or 96 inch-pounds.
07:08
Why is a towel placed underneath when removing the caliper?
To catch small parts like springs and screws that could be lost in the wiper area.
05:24
What does the spring between the brake pads do?
It pushes the pads apart to prevent parasitic drag on the wiper arms.
06:52
What indicates that a brake pad has been overheated?
Black marks on the pad material.
05:54
Why is it important to clean the wiper area before replacing brakes?
Dirt and debris can get into the brakes and cause them to squeak.
04:44
What is the difference in brake pad orientation during installation?
The first pad has material facing up, the second has material facing down.
06:36
Squeaking is often misdiagnosed
Clarifies that wiper squeaking is usually due to brake pads, not blades, saving viewers from unnecessary replacements.
01:28Mechanics may scam customers
Empowers viewers by revealing that wiper brake replacement is simple, countering potential mechanic overcharging.
02:10Torque specification is critical
Provides a specific torque value (8 ft-lbs) to ensure proper installation and safety.
07:08Use a towel to catch small parts
A practical tip to prevent losing tiny springs and screws during disassembly.
05:24April Fools' twist
Adds humor and engagement, making the tutorial memorable.
09:31[00:00] how to replace your windshield wiper brakes in your vehicle. Now in this case we're going to be using my Mustang but don't worry the process is very similar for most makes and models out there, if not almost identical so after you're done
[00:14] watching this video you'll know how to replace the wiper brakes in your vehicle. the wiper brakes are located right at the base of the windshield wiper stock, you can see actually the brake rotor right there and the other wiper brake rotor is right there.
[00:28] it helps give it a little bit more airflow to cool them down. it probably has those dust boots so you won't be able to see them.
[00:40] take off those dust boots, and you'll be able to get to them. Well in this case there are three common symptoms: the first one you can see clearly right here,
[00:54] the resting position is incorrect. So the wiper resting position is and it's because the brakes aren't stopping it in the right spot, Now the second symptom of bad wiper brakes is if the wipers go too far,
[01:10] so the brakes aren't slowing the wipers down, you can see right there it's hitting this a-pillar which is going to damage the paint which isn't good so if your wipers are going too far like that And the third and final common symptom of having bad wiper brakes is when you
[01:28] go to use your wipers and they go across the glass, they screech or they squeak... Most people think this is a bad wiper blade but it's actually incorrect it's the wiper brake pads. The little wear indicators on them make noise to let you know they need to be replaced.
[01:43] Not every car has wiper brake pads with wear indicators so sometimes they won't squeak, but it's just another common symptom to let you guys know you need wiper brakes. So now you know all the common symptoms let me show you how to replace the wiper
[01:56] Now as always we're using common hand tools that way you guys could get this job done at home, yourself, no problem at all. So if your mechanic is telling you "Hey, wiper brake pads are really difficult to
[02:10] run, he is lying to you, he's trying to scam you and that's exactly why I'm making this video. pads yourself you want to make sure you get high-end windshield wiper brake pad sets.
[02:24] They make high-end brake pad sets for vehicles so their wiper brakes are amazing as well. And as you can see it says right there it restores the wiper rest location
[02:36] For this kit I went with all season wiper brakes, And this kit is also a universal kit, as I said, almost all the wiper brake pads are the same for
[02:49] most makes and models the only difference is going to be on high-end cars that go really quickly. They use bigger brakes because they need more You can also see it says it eliminates squeaking and it has a 30% longer life which is good.
[03:06] Plus as you can see right above the barcode, bringing back manufacturing and jobs to the United States one wiper brake pad set at a time.
[03:18] So you can see why it's so important to go with a a good brake pad set, and you need one kit for every wiper blade so we have our brake caliper, we have our two brake pads,
[03:30] We have springs, screws, nuts and bolts... stuff like that And that's everything you're gonna need so those are all the tools and products. I'll be sure to include everything in the description so you can easily find it let's
[03:45] get our safety glasses on and let me show you how to replace the wiper brakes on your vehicle and the first thing we need to do is we need to get under this cow so that we could get to the brakes so let's remove our wiper blades and removing the blades is pretty simple just fold this blade up
[04:01] like that and then at the base of the wiper blade there is a button that you want to push outwards like that and then you just grab the bottom of the wiper blade you lift up and you give it a little wiggle and it should come right off so same thing with the other wiper lift it up pressing that
[04:14] little button and wiggle it out good now let's remove the wiper shroud and you want to be careful here to make sure you don't crack it well that was damaged anyway so we'll just install a new one so let's just pop this one out and check it out now we have access to our wiper brake assemblies and
[04:29] our brake rotors look to be in pretty decent shape a little warm but not bad the brake calipers look great so we'll have to open this up and check the brake pads and the same thing with the passenger side you can see our brake rotor looks to be in pretty good shape here our brake caliper is in
[04:44] great shape we're just gonna have to check those brake pads but before we go and open anything up you can see all this dirt and debris here let's clean that out because that's something that could get into the brakes and cause them to squeak so we want to make sure that is nice and clean so I'm
[04:57] just using a brush to loosen up the dirt and then sucking it up with a vacuum so with all the dirt and debris removed and this all cleaned up now let me show you how to replace the brake pads first we need to get this wiper sprocket off so get some locking pliers and clamp down and then pry
[05:10] this off carefully good and you can see there are splines here that spline to the shaft so we need to remove this in order to get the brake rotor off so with that removed now we can remove these two screws here that hold this caliper together so we can get the pads and rotor off but before we
[05:24] do that when we unscrew this there's going to be small brake pads screws Springs all things that we could easily lose in the depth of our wiper area so what I like to do is I like to get a towel and spread it out that way if anything drops it drops into our towel and not into the abyss now let's
[05:39] unscrew these two bolts using a three millimeter Allen wrench now let's crack this bolt loose good and loosen it up the rest of the way and make sure we don't drop it and then we'll do the same exact thing for the other bolt loosen it up the rest of the way and there we go now the top of the
[05:54] caliper comes off and then next we have our brake pad which could come off and check it out you can see how worn down the brake pad is it barely has any pad material left and those black marks signify that this has been overheated so it's a good thing we're replacing it next we could take
[06:08] our brake rotor off that just slides right off like that and then we need to be very careful here you can see there's a spring there and a spring there that's very small on these pins we need to make sure we don't lose those I'm going to take the spring off take that other spray ring off
[06:21] then we can remove the pin and remove that other pin and now our second brake pad could come out so out with the old worn out wiper brakes and in with the new ones and look at that difference there now to install the new brake pads first we have to put these locator pins in then we could
[06:36] slide our brake pad over those locator pins making sure the pad material is facing up then we need to very carefully get these springs on the locator pins then we can add our brake rotor and finally we could add our second brake pad making sure the pad material is facing down get on those locator
[06:52] pins just like that you can see the spring pushes these two brake pads apart that way it doesn't have parasitic drag on these wiper arms and now we'll get our caliper on beautiful then let's tighten down these two bolts by hand don't over tighten them and then we need to torque these down
[07:08] to eight foot pounds or 96 inch pounds which is very important so these brake pads are secure and one last thing to install is the wiper sprocket so line up the splines and then lightly tap it into place good so what with our entire windshield wiper brake pad assembly completely done on this
[07:24] side let's move over to the passenger side and do this one so first let's clamp onto the wiper sprocket and pop this off then we could unscrew the bolts holding the caliper in ah wait a second almost forgot the towel and without the towel you know for sure something would have dropped down
[07:38] there okay now we could remove this bolt then we could loosen and remove the other bolt as well and you can see the caliper hats coming off with it next we could remove the brake pad then the brake rotor and then the two Springs that are on the locator pins and finally let's Slide the other
[07:52] worn brake pad off so out with the old and in with the new then we can get the Springs back on the pins good get that rotor back on and then we could get the second pad on and finally let's get the caliper hat on and hand tighten both bolts to hold it in now we can torque down the bolts to spec
[08:09] good and the last thing to do is line up the wiper sprocket and carefully tap it in so the splines mesh good so now both the passenger side and the driver's side wiper brake assemblies have brand
[08:22] new brake pads in there let's go get our wiper cowl on there get our wiper blades installed and try it out so out with the old and in with the new and let's get this in place and carefully snap it in on the driver's side like so and then let's get the passenger side tucked in as well
[08:37] and finally let's install the wiper blade so we could test these out and remember these wiper blades need to be clocked in the correct position we don't want them to be up like this we want them to be down like that so let's get this in place and try to line it up and beautiful
[08:50] now we could do the other one as well get this lined up perfect all right so the moment you guys have been waiting for do the wiper blades work properly after replacing the wiper brakes
[09:02] perfect that is exactly what we want to see not only are they going up they aren't touching the a-pillar like they were in the past check this out perfect clearance that is right on there those bricks are spot on we're coming down to the correct resting position here as well which is
[09:18] exactly what we want so that is a job well done as always I hope this video was helpful oh well who's that check it out what's going on dude I wasn't expecting you here perfect timing how you doing
[09:31] Chris I've been out on the road in the US for a while just finishing up the road trip but my wiper blades aren't going down all right well this is good timing because I just finished a video on how to fix this common problem so I'll take care of that for you but first let me end my video here
[09:44] so that's everything you need to know on how to replace wiper brakes now I need to go fix smee's car so we can finish up his American road trip safely so I hope you guys enjoyed the video if it know how to replace their wiper brakes that way they could learn how and as always all the tools
[10:01] and products are linked down in the description so you could easily find it oh yeah April Fools
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