Ugh, a couple of my neighbors and pulling that "Oh I'll just bend up the wiper arm to keep the blade off the glass so I don't have to worry about ice."
As someone who has worked tons of cars, DO NOT DO THAT.
1. You are bending the tensioner spring on the underside of the arm, that means you are damaging the spring and weakening it, which in turn means less pressure can be applied to the windshield lowering effectiveness. That means when a heavy snow/rainstorm shows up, you will be shit out of luck because your wipers aren't making proper contact with the windshield. You will end up having to buy a new wiper arm.
2. If the wind catches the wiper or arm, it can cause the spring to retract and snap the wiper into the windshield which WILL CRACK YOUR WINDSHIELD. It may not look like it, but micro-fissures occur every single time, and not shortly after when they meet up, you end up with a cracked windshield.
Instead, buy a set of winter blades or unibody (flex) blades, and take the fucking time to clean your vehicle off properly.
* This post has been modified
: 12 years ago