Club Shop - parts quality

[s.leah]

I've just made my first (and could be last!!!) purchase from the club shop as a new member.

 

The order was for two wiper arms and two wiper blades for my 13/60. Last week I bought two Bosch blades from Halfords as an emergency when one on the car fell apart.

 

To say I'm unimpressed by the MORE EXPENSIVE blades from the shop is an understatement - they are actually quite dangerous. They are clearly made from a very inferior rubber than doesn't have the proper 'squeegee' type action and just drags across the screen leaving streaks and 'pools' of water behind.

The reason I bought them, as although the Bosch were fine, the drivers' side did not wipe the full width of the screen (due to the curvature of the glass) so I thought the arms must be weak and decided I may as well get a complete set, thinking as they were sold by a Triumph Club specifically for my car they would be superior!

 

How wrong could I be?

 

After putting the Bosch on the new arm the exact problem still exists, so I didn't need the arms anyway, it's obviously a Triumph design flaw that prevents the wiper wiping the full area.    

 

Suffice to say the 'club' blades are going back as 'Not fit for purpose'. I now question if I should risk using the club shop if the products are just expensive tat that can normally be found cheap on eBay.

 

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Does anyone want to assure me that this is a one-off and the rest of the stock of hideously expensive wiper blades are superior and not a guaranteed MOT fail?

 

Not a very good first impression I'm afraid. 

[Mike Crewes]

S.Leah

 

I have bought parts from Club Shop since it started nearly 30 years ago.  The ethos behind Club Shop is high quality, which is why they are often more expensive.  Anytime I have had a problem with a part I have contacted the shop and spoken to the Shop Manager, Garth, and found that everyone of them over the years has been brilliant - Garth is no different.

 

The problem with many classic car parts is that they are now of inferior manufacture and that's not just wiper blades, but Garth searches around and can often get obsolete parts remade to a high quality.

 

My advice is;

1.  speak to Garth

2.  don't despair, this is probably a one off

3.  if in doubt, speak to Garth first.

 

Club Shop has an excellent reputation for quality parts and the proper customer service when things go wrong, but you may need to pick up the phone!

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards

Mike

[juppy]

I am sorry to learn of the problem with the wiper blades that we have supplied, as I put in the email I sent you, we have had very few if any problems with these until this example. I shall be contacting the supplier as these parts are regular sellers in the shop and if there is a quality problem I want to  nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

Rest assured the club shop takes quality and service seriously and will  work with the suppliers for a fix where ever possible to eliminate these problems if and when they pop up, or switch suppliers, drop products if this is the appropriate action to take.

Unfortunately inspection of these parts in this situation would not have identified the problems you are having.

[juppy]

I have just contacted Tex the manufacturer and we are working together to ensure that this problem is addressed immediately.

[Clive]

I have found that the only wipers that do a decent job are the old Trico ones that have multiple hinge points along them, all others are just too flat. And stiff. And the Trico ones haven't been made for many many years. Worth buying if you see them at autojumbles etc, along with the replacement rubbers (again they are far more flexible)

 

club stuff generally at the better end of the market....

[KevinR]

I have never ever found a set of wiper blades that can wipe the entire sweep of a Spitfire screen satisfactorily - even when the cars were new the blades supplied with the car couldn't do it.

 

The TEX blades and arms are the most authentic looking ones that can be obtained and are a very good copy of the ones that the car would have had originally.

 

All the modern wiper blades with the multiple squeegee edges just don't look right on an old car, so I am more than happy with the TEX blades and arms.

 

If I was worried about seeing properly in the rain, then I'd put RainX on the screen rather than having an ugly modern wiper blade - that still wont conform to the shape of the screen.

 

 

 

 

P.S. I've also moved the topic to the Club Shop section of the forum

[Darren Groves]

I have found that the only wipers that do a decent job are the old Trico ones that have multiple hinge points along them, all others are just too flat. And stiff. And the Trico ones haven't been made for many many years. Worth buying if you see them at autojumbles etc, along with the replacement rubbers (again they are far more flexible)

 

club stuff generally at the better end of the market....

 

I bought some of the Trico ones and didn't find them much better than the Tex ones all the traders sell, though they do look better as that's what was originally fitted. I think the problem is that the arms don't apply enough pressure and allow the blades to skim across the surface and miss areas. In 17 years of Triumph ownership I've never been happy with how the wipers work.

 

To back up what Mike says, I have always found parts purchased from the Club Shop to be of good quality or at least the best quality that is available and therein lies the problem, some parts are just not great regardless of where you buy them from!

[Pete Lewis]

You can get 7mm wide arms to add load to the blade but need a blade to match

 

other thoughts are there is aften a extruding medium left on the blade edge which can be difficult to remove from the squegee lip

also with the arm vertical check the arm is realy parallel to the glass, if its off then you get the blade judder , simple to use a small adjustable spanner to give the arm a light twist to align it.

 

I did get a pair of modern aero blades with the fully sprung leaf, the arm fitting was appalling sizeand needed a 10mm arm,

they may have worked but with such ashort blade was like having a hedgehog going back forth.

 

always make sure the arm is not in contact with the blade carrier causing a resistance to screen contour

 

pete

[s.leah]

Thanks for the replies. Please don't think I'm trying to 'have a go' or be deliberately derogatory about the club shop, but I'm sure you must appreciate as a first purchase and as something as safety critical as wiper blades, it doesn't look good!!

 

I'm happy to offer as much info as possible to help the shop resolve the problem, in particular if it isn't just a one-off bad set of blades. Unfortunately, I suspect it is more likely a bad batch of inferior rubber.

 

Before I return the blades, I'll make a little video of both types in action and post it here to show what I mean. It will also demonstrate what I mean about either blade missing part of the screen.

 

Thanks

[s.leah]

"Luckily" it was raining today, so as promised, here is a comparison of the two wiper blades. The difference is quite something... I hope the shop can get the manufacturers to sort it out.

 

http://youtu.be/jklHKK8mKHY

[mishmosh]

You can get 7mm wide arms to add load to the blade but need a blade to match

 

other thoughts are there is aften a extruding medium left on the blade edge which can be difficult to remove from the squegee lip

also with the arm vertical check the arm is realy parallel to the glass, if its off then you get the blade judder , simple to use a small adjustable spanner to give the arm a light twist to align it.

 

I did get a pair of modern aero blades with the fully sprung leaf, the arm fitting was appalling sizeand needed a 10mm arm,

they may have worked but with such ashort blade was like having a hedgehog going back forth.

 

always make sure the arm is not in contact with the blade carrier causing a resistance to screen contour

 

pete

tell me more...

In 30 yrs of herald ownership, I have always been envious of pretty much every other cars wipers! My kids call them comedy wipers. In the 80s they were rubbish so compared to modern stuff they are laughable. Still love it though.....

[mishmosh]

"Luckily" it was raining today, so as promised, here is a comparison of the two wiper blades. The difference is quite something... I hope the shop can get the manufacturers to sort it out.

 

http://youtu.be/jklHKK8mKHY

just watched your vid. Got to buy me some bosch. They really are superb

[s.leah]

just watched your vid. Got to buy me some bosch. They really are superb

I only use Bosch on my other vehicles these days. I tried Halfords own once on my Motorhome. I fitted them on the carpark, did a couple of test wipes then took them off and walked straight back in to the shop and got a refund.....

Serves me right for trying Halfords own, let alone buying from Halfords I suppose!!! :lol:

 

I bought the Bosch in the video from Halfords, the sales assistant asked me if I would like them fitting. I have no idea how I kept my face straight

[Mike Crewes]

I have owned Triumphs for over 40 years and used to use them as daily runners, back in the day.  It's amazing that there are any left, they were terrible in rain, you just couldn't see where you were going.  You used to be able to get small plates to fit to the arms to add more air pressure, but they have not been made for years.  However, I have obtained a set and am trying to get them remanufactured (and maybe sell through Club Shop).  The hold up is that no one can work out what they are made of.

 

More news when I have it.

 

Regards

Mike

 

PS you want to see my Stag wipers!!!

[s.leah]

It seems the good fellows at the shop just got plain unlucky with the batch of blades from the manufacturer, they are now talking to the supplier to get it sorted 

 

Watching back the video, it isn't especially clear where the blades (either type) miss their mark, but it is exactly as others have described.

 

I can confirm that the design of the Bosch blades (metalwork wise) is as good as identical as the club supplied blades, which seems pretty standard, apart from the Bosch are a plain black finish and the club supplied are shiny silver    

 

Now if Bosch do the same blades but in chrome, maybe it's worth the shop investigating?

[mishmosh]

Tempted to at least paint them silver ! Bought some "chrome" ones once that were simply silver painted.

[juppy]

I think you will find that the Bosch ones are painted or powder coated mild steel. The TEX ones are stainless. I will make enquires but I'm not holding my breath for a manufacturing giant like Bosch to make a special small batch of stainless ones!

[s.leah]

Ah! That accounts for the higher cost of the TEX ones.

 

So what we ideally need is Bosch rubber on TEX metal 

[Pete Lewis]

I know not all inserts fit all blade carriers , but is there any mileage in marketing inserts . just cut to length , as an option ?

 

Pete

[Gary Flinn]

I've always been disappointed with the way the Wipers perform on all the Heralds/Vitesse's I have owned.

 

I have never had a set that clear the far right lower corner of the Screen and assumed it was because of the curve of the windscreen and the lack of bend on the blade? 

 

I did manage to get some N.O.S. Trico blades when I first rebuilt my car and these worked the best, although they soon perished and split with being old stock

 

I don't think Herald wipers ever worked properly, even when new!!  

[Guest pete lewis]

way back when I decided 7mm or any thicker wider arm would improve the load on the screen I got some wider arms with adjustable lengths

so i could use a longer blade without it fouling the top of the screen rubber ffrom a selection of parts from these guys

there's ever type of fitting, available if you search around  to get the blade thickness, the blade attachment , spline diameter etc 

 

http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/categories/vintage-car-parts-windscreen-and-wipers-wiper-arm

 

Garth has some adjustable arms , but not the thicker section.

 

then get the wheel boxes to run 180deg from their worn teeth, stick a card needle on the spline, pull the rack out , turn spline 1/2 turn

grease and refit rack check spline is in new running position,

check all tube clamps are tight .

 

remove cover from wiper motor, grease gears and clean park sweepers,

 

also when removing the rack take it out of the motor gear box and turn it over 1/2 turn to agin run s the wheels on a less worn part of the rack

 

|{Peter

 

Pete

[Pete Lewis]

forgot you can use this in 'open' mode without signing on 

 

so now Im a Guest...  who would have guest

 

Ha  Pete

[Mark Hammond]

I have my own supply of NOS Trico blades/inserts for my car. Although it seldom gets driven in the rain, they work fine.

 

Mark

[Gary Flinn]

I have my own supply of NOS Trico blades/inserts for my car. Although it seldom gets driven in the rain, they work fine.

 

Mark

Any spare ones Mark? 

[sulzerman]

Hi all

I purchased a pair of TeX wipers from another supplier and they were exactly the same as the video. Rubbish! Look good but don't do the job!

I fitted some wiper refills on the tex blades which was an improvement, but they are not as good as the Bosch. The Bosch blades are the best I have seen.

Cheers