Hi friends, I´m in the point to desire to buy the electric wiper motor or the vacuum wiper motor, and as common to me first ask, tell me what do you think about it? Thanks guys, Alfonso
Hi Alfonso, my vacuum wipers work great, I had to replace the old dryed and cracked lines to prevent vacuum leaks. John
Electric. Vac. wipers worked OK when new at best......50= years later? Not so much. The electrics work uphill or down, and you can adapt the origional knob to fit the switch.
I'm partial to electric, but that's not to say that the old vacuum wiper aren't "fun" to use. The difference is, you can buy a new electric one, but you can't buy a new vacuum one. They have to be rebuilt, and depending on the condition, could cost you some money, without having a good, dependable set of wipers. If you're going to use your truck as a daily driver, my money would be on the electric. You get quite a bit of rain in Costa Rica, don't you? Post some pics of your ride with some of that awesome Costa Rican scenery in the background, OK? Ken
Vacuum Wipers Alfonso ; Vacuum wipers are fine but they're (obviously) dependent upon a good vacuum supply so keeping the valves in proper adjustment is critical . To prevent the normal stopping whenever you depress the accelerator , you can ad a vauum tank and a check valve or a dual action fuel pump , this has a built in vacuum pump so the wipers always work fine . Many people use old VW Beetle or early Bulli electric wiper motors to convert the original system to vacuum .
Alfonso, I wanted to keep the old vacuum system in my 47' to maintain originality. I finally gave up on the vacuum system because it was so hard to find the little pieces in usable shape. I know they sell repop's but the parts they don't, like the piece between the knob and linkage are hard to find. I got a few pieces but they basically fell apart in my hands. I finally decided to go electric and then that was the last straw to my decision to go 12 volt. There is no voltage converter with enough amperage to run the electric wiper motor. So if you have a 12 volt system the electric changeover is an easy afternoon's work. If you still have 6 volts you need to think about going to a 12 volt system. Which I am glad I did.....now that its done...but that was not one of my favorite jobs. Flashlight
I like the vacuum wipers because instead of single speed/2 speed/ or maybe 3 speed you have 2 hundred (or more) settings to suit any condition. It's using the engine as a vacuum source that sucks (pun intended). I used to scout the yards for the right diesel to get an electro/vacuum pump but thanks to Nate I now go directly to a Mercedes diesel and look behind the spare tire. Uphill, downhill, pulling a loaded trailer up a steep hill, makes no difference in wiper speed. Pump can be mounted anywhere and one still has just the single vacuum line running to the motor with all stock linkage and switch. Send motor to Ficken in West Babylon NY and they're good for at least 25 years.
12 Volt Electric Vacuum Pump 1980 ~ 1987 Mercedes 300SD & 300SDL , look in the right rear corner of the spare tire well , it's under a black plastic cover and costs $5.00 or so at most P-A-P Yards . Well made and quiet too .
