So I was reading around about people who swapped out their rear arm assembly for a Gen 2 wiper setup. I thought it was a great idea until I saw that it wiped less area. I decided to measure the wiper/arm on my step dads Town and Country and it has the same measurements. Even the wiper was 16", and on my D I upped it to 17" to get more coverage. It looks like it would be a direct fit replacement. Has anyone tried this before?

 

I haven't, but I'm not a big fan of the shorter blade either, that's the only reason I was putting mine off.

As long as you can get a good grip on the tapered wiper shaft, the bolt will clamp it down on there good.

 

Well as far as I know, new arms don't have the grooves on the shaft hole anyhow. The metal in the end is semi hard but soft enough to take a print of the motor shaft and create grooves. And as far as the blade being shorter i think mine had a 15" on it as OEM or maybe it was a 16". But the new arm design should hold the wiper tighter against the glass anyhow.

 

If I recall correctly the 2nd gen. didn't have any grooves either in the hole. But as long as the bolt can clamp the wiper down into the grooves for a good grip, any wiper will work just fine.

 

Thats what I figured. I plan on replacing the nut with a nylock anyhow, and to guarantee it never slips, top it off with a dab of loc-tite.

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So I just called the stealership and they want $85 for the arm and blade. I guess I'll be buying from DodgeParts.com. I can get it from them for like $30.

 

The 2nd gen. stuff will cost you around $45 give or take. Maybe ebay might have some decent stuff cheaper.
Or you can always just go back to the dealer and get one, but this time go at 3 in the morning and get it from one of their new cars out in the lot, but you didn't hear that from me haha.

 

Mopar Man. PM IndyD He is a GEN 2 wiper guru and will do pretty much everything short of buying and coming out and assemble it for you. I think it is a lot cheaper than $85 I have seen his Gen2 MOD and it looks good.

 

I already know about the G2 wiper. I don't like it because I have to sacrifice wiping area for it. With the Grand Caravan wiper, its bigger and covers more which is what I want.

 

I'm in the same boat as you MoparMan. I much rather have functionality over looks anyday.