Truck Windshield Wipers

[mbisett]

I am building my truck without fenders, hood , running boards, etc. I live in Texas and must have windshield wipers to pass inspection. I have looked at many universal wiper kits and found that they all have a pretty large motor, which I am unsure where to mount it. Does anyone have pictures of where they installed a wiper kit motor and supporting hardware?

[edwardb]

For my truck build I used the Specialty Power Windows WWK2 wiper drive kit. Same as I used on the Coupe. Similar in concept to the Lucas wipers but way more robust, fully adjustable, and actually works very well. Cheaper too. Shout out to Ron’s (aka DamnYankee) truck build thread where he showed putting the wiper motor in the passenger side kick panel area. I stole that idea. Fits great there and the tube routes up and over under the dash. Saves room in the dash area. Made two brackets and attached to the frame with 1/4-20 nutserts. Top bracket cut out from the universal mounting bracket that comes with the wipers. It does the heavy lifting. The bottom bracket is 0.051" aluminum. Would rather it was steel. But didn't have anything suitable on hand and this will work fine to stabilize the unit.

[ProfessorB]

I don't have wipers in my Roadster (not required in SC) but I have often wondered if anyone has ever considered vacuum operated wipers (out of an old tractor trailer). You can probably get 'em for free....and the unit is quite small. No wiring required...just a vacuum line.

[mbisett]

Thank you! I saw that in your build thread but I could not determine if that small flat wiper drive was all that is used to drive the wipers. I installed the wiper kit on my MK4 and it used a rather large drive motor stationed in the engine bay.

I really enjoy your build threads!

[mbisett]

Thanks for the response and interesting idea. I will likely stay with electric drive.

[edwardb]

Thank you! I saw that in your build thread but I could not determine if that small flat wiper drive was all that is used to drive the wipers. I installed the wiper kit on my MK4 and it used a rather large drive motor stationed in the engine bay.

I really enjoy your build threads!

Thanks. That picture is a little deceiving. What's showing there is the back side of the unit and the drive mechanism. The motor sticks out the other side. Plenty of room for it in that location. This is a picture of the same system taken during my Coupe build. Same unit but I used a different mounting for the firewall.

[mbisett]

OK - thank you for clarifying, it makes more sense now.