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I bought new wiper blades for a Honda Civic coupe, not realizing that apparently, the blades are not supposed to be of equal size. Looking at this, however, it looks as though I might be able to adjust the length of the wiper arms themselves to accomodate the new blades correctly. (As an upside, this would provide extra windshield coverage for the wiper blades.)

Is this possible? It seems like these should be adjustable in some way, shape, or form, but I'm not sure how to do it. I'd imagine that maybe the carrier arm would slide further back into the housing itself, where the spring is located?

(Additionally, why are the wiper arms different sizes for this type of car? Is it just due to where they positioned the wiper mounts?)

Thanks! Sorry for the misuse of any terminology.

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  • What year is the vehicle?
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jul 4, 2015 at 20:29
  • Not sure offhand (it's mu friend's car). It matches the 2003 body style. I'd have to look at the owner's manual.
    – user11129
    Jul 4, 2015 at 20:34
  • The model year is also encoded in the VIN (10th digit). See en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jul 4, 2015 at 21:01
  • @NateEldredge I'm aware. I just have to actually get the VIN or the owner's manual. Are some years adjustable, and others not?
    – user11129
    Jul 4, 2015 at 22:17
  • Well, I have a 2006, and it has a quite unusual design on the wiper blades. So I wondered if it was similar to that.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jul 4, 2015 at 23:08

1 Answer 1

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I believe it is possible to adjust the length of most wiper arms, but I don't think it is the best solution for your problem. It is not a common adjustment that one would make.

The size the wipers are based on the size of the windshield and the placement of the wiper mounts as you figured. They are at a fixed length to ensure they get full coverage of the windshield while providing enough clearance for the blades during movement. So as you adjust the wiper arm size, you would have to run tests to ensure that the blades get proper clearance (of each other) and coverage.

My suggestion is stick with the manufactured specified size or very close to it. The wiper blade and arm are sized appropriately to ensure they work as intended.

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