Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
#2643783
04/10/19 07:54 PM
04/10/19 07:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,537 Freeport IL USA
poorboy
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OP
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Freeport IL USA
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So my 39 Dodge pickup is road worthy, so now I'm chasing down the important things like wipers, door locks, and the finer things of driving. Today, wipers are on my mind. The truck originally had vacuum wipers and they are long gone (as in not present), wouldn't want them anyway. The wipers on this truck are above the windshield, but mt windshield is now bonded to the frame, so it does not tilt out the they originally did. That pretty well leaves me with electric wipers. What I've seen available on line is not getting very good reviews. It appears most of the electric wipers on line have very weak motors and plastic gears, they say they won't pull the wiper across the glass unless the glass is wet, and they fail quickly if any snow is present. neither situation sounds very good to me. I don't intend on running the wipers dry, or driving in heavy snow, but I've been in drizzle/mist that tends to produce pretty dry glass after a few strokes, and I've been caught in in some rain snow mix more then once. Since this truck cab is the same cab Dodge has used on the military 4x4s from WW2 through about 1966, I called www.vintagepowerwagons today to see what options they offer. I know they manufacture parts for these vintage Power Wagons. The word from them was I have 4 options. 1) Have no wipers. 2) Locate and have them rebuild the original vacuum wipers. (no price given) 3) Buy the light duty wipers that caution they are very light duty and not for any snow movement. ($160 complete, + shipping) 4) Buy a special wiper system created for them, that is heavy duty. Comes with both wiper motors, two wiper arms, and two wiper blades. Their system sounds great until he told me the price tag of $775 + shipping...WOW! So, I'm wondering if anyone may have another option, somewhere between option 3 and option 4 (with a price nearer to option 3) from Vintage Power Wagon. What are you guys doing, and, are the electric wipers on the market as weak as they appear to be? Gene
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: poorboy]
#2643799
04/10/19 08:16 PM
04/10/19 08:16 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 14,889 up yours
Supercuda
About to go away
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About to go away
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 14,889
up yours
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Minivan rear window wiper motors are compact, powerful and adaptable. You have mad skills so I bet you can use one of those and sort this out.
Or one of you Dakota donors could be looked at and see if it could be made to work.
They say there are no such thing as a stupid question. They say there is always the exception that proves the rule. Don't be the exception.
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: Supercuda]
#2643859
04/10/19 09:30 PM
04/10/19 09:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,537 Freeport IL USA
poorboy
OP
I Live Here
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OP
I Live Here
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Minivan rear window wiper motors are compact, powerful and adaptable. You have mad skills so I bet you can use one of those and sort this out.
Or one of you Dakota donors could be looked at and see if it could be made to work.
The problem with mini van rear wipers is the sweep. Most rear wipers have a sweep of around 120-130 degrees, I'm thinking 100 degrees is going to be a lot and the wiper blade might travel off the edges of the windshield. I have a full wiper system here off a Dakota. I would have to customize nearly every piece to use it, then hog out the wiper post hole in the roof skin from 1/2" diameter to over 3/4" diameter, then make brackets to mount everything. The wiper system on my 48 Plymouth coupe is from a Dakota, this truck would be much more difficult. I was hoping for an easier option.
Last edited by poorboy; 04/10/19 09:38 PM.
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: savoy64]
#2643862
04/10/19 09:35 PM
04/10/19 09:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,537 Freeport IL USA
poorboy
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OP
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one of my friends was doing a 50 plymouth coupe---and had only pieces of the linkage of the vacuum system------i checked the old car yard near here and found a 50,s dodge with an electric motor setup--(original-aftermarket---dont know)---but they plugged right in and worked..... The 50s cars and the 50s trucks have the wipers mounted under the windshield, these wipers are above the windshield and are in a confined area. I have an old 50s truck wiper motor here, it is 6 volts + ground, and would need to be rebuilt. Then I would be back to making mounting brackets, making linkage, and trying to find the wiper posts that go through the roof skin. That would also mean I would have to find a source for the 50s wiper arms and blades. Gene
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: wannadrag]
#2643875
04/10/19 09:59 PM
04/10/19 09:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,537 Freeport IL USA
poorboy
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I Live Here
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OP
I Live Here
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Freeport IL USA
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I used one of those cheap kits from Speedway Motors on one of the gassers I built Have you used it yet? how does it work? My truck is fenderless, I don't intend on driving it in the rain, but should I get caught in rain, or rain/snow mix, I want wipers that will do the job. Gene
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: earlymopar]
#2643956
04/11/19 09:28 AM
04/11/19 09:28 AM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,336 north of coder
moparx
"Butt Crack Bob"
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"Butt Crack Bob"
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,336
north of coder
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on my 38 plymouth coupe, i used a VW bug setup above the windshield. i had to modify the linkage to fit the original vacuum wiper hole spacing, but it was very easy to do. my windshield was a flat, one piece fixed setup. i don't know how hard that VW setup would be to obtain today. speaking of minivan wipers, look at some of the small cars or crossovers. i have seen several that had such a small sweep, i wondered why they even bothered to install a wiper. sorry i don't recall what models or makes they were.
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: Alaskan_TA]
#2646165
04/17/19 06:37 PM
04/17/19 06:37 PM
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 20,627 in a cattle trailer down by th...
Guitar Jones
Paddle faster! I hear banjo music!
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Paddle faster! I hear banjo music!
Joined: Dec 2009
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Seems that as I recall when researching wiper arms there are only like 4 industry standard attachments to the pivots. I have Ford wiper arms on my 92 D250 because I wanted the J hook style of blade attachment. So there would be arm options out there.
"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"
'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion. '74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon! 2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
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Re: Anyone put electric wipers on a 39-47 Dodge truck?
[Re: poorboy]
#3097440
11/27/22 02:32 AM
11/27/22 02:32 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,963 ID/MT
Cheeto
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,963
ID/MT
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Jeep JK Wrangler ('07-'18 ish) has a tiny rear wiper with about a 90 degree sweep. Your fab skills are near legendary so this should make for an easy "all Mopar family" swap with readily available junkyard parts. I do recall having to try 3 different stores to get the correct blade once though. The arm has a funky style where it attaches to the blade I think. I have a '39 Dodge coming so this subject is of interest to me, please keep us posted.
Last edited by Cheeto; 11/27/22 02:34 AM.
Cheeto It's not perfect. It's not correct. It's not yours!
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