i swapped another new motor in, working fine again. it was raining so i didn't check all the bushings real close but the wipers were easy to move, the main pivot that bolts to the motor pivoted easily by hand.
probably just got two junk reman motors.

i put a cardone "select" in it this time, it's supposed to be 100% new, the motor body is smaller. it's also noisy as hell. whatever, everything on the truck is noisy.