Wiper arm options

[Gojira94]

I needed to get into my wiper cowl to see what's going on with the wiper transmission (really, really loose). The arm release tabs were so badly corroded I had to cut apart the old arms to get them off. I see that generally the Cherokee lists compatible arms from 84-96 and 97-01. Did they change the wiper transmission mounting stud size for the arms in 97? Anyone ever try transplanting a 97-01 wiper trans, motor and arms into an MJ?

[Minuit]

97+ wiper arms use the same spline and use "hook" style attachments for the blades rather than the "stud" style attachment. I recommend upgrading to the 97+ arms. The transmission is the same, motor plug is different. The motor may actually be better, because every late XJ I've personally been in has much better wipers than my trucks.

[JZLAJeep]

Yes, 97-01 wiper arms are backwards compatible with earlier MJ and XJ. I haven't done it to my MJ yet (need a new windshield first), but I did put 97-01 wiper arms on my 95 XJ and they fit well.  The newer arms do have a "crook" in them that is a little different when looking through the windshield the first few times.

[Gojira94]

5 hours ago, Minuit said:

97+ wiper arms use the same spline and use "hook" style attachments for the blades rather than the "stud" style attachment. I recommend upgrading to the 97+ arms. The transmission is the same, motor plug is different. The motor may actually be better, because every late XJ I've personally been in has much better wipers than my trucks.

 

Better performance or reliability was what I was thinking might be possible.The 'stud' I was referring to is the peg on the wiper transmission that the wiper arm anchors to. If they'd changed the diameter of that, the later arm wouldn't fit, was my concern.

 

1 hour ago, JZLAJeep said:

Yes, 97-01 wiper arms are backwards compatible with earlier MJ and XJ. I haven't done it to my MJ yet (need a new windshield first), but I did put 97-01 wiper arms on my 95 XJ and they fit well.  The newer arms do have a "crook" in them that is a little different when looking through the windshield the first few times.

 

This answers the arm mount diameter same/ different question. I would prefer a lower visual profile of the early arms but the attachment point fails more easily with the early design.

 

I got the whole assembly out pretty easily, without climbing onto the hood or wrestling it. the cowl panel bracket that sits against the wiper motor can be slid out with some wiggling. Tilt the whole thing backwards about 30*, slide it all to the right side recess, rotate back forward and pull out toward the left side at the same time and it's out. Standing at the left side. I have bushings for the assembly, everything else has little to zero play in it and I have an original wiper motor with torn cover. I'm going to open it and clean/ lube test and see if it's any good on the bench. Meanwhile give it the cheek poker, stop rust and a final coat of undercoating to protect the main surfaces and fashion some sort of moisture shield for the motor. If all that's good to go, I just might try a pair of 97-01 XJ arms and see if I can live with the visibility.

 

Thanks to you both for the info!

[Gojira94]

On 8/28/2022 at 4:07 PM, Minuit said:

97+ wiper arms use the same spline and use "hook" style attachments for the blades rather than the "stud" style attachment. I recommend upgrading to the 97+ arms. The transmission is the same, motor plug is different. The motor may actually be better, because every late XJ I've personally been in has much better wipers than my trucks.

 

Didn't catch it on first read, you said "same spline." So you did answer both parts of my question. Thanks, and my bad...