Hey guys! Here's another great write-up from me! BlueJay made an excellent write-up for the 2004+ guys, and since 10th and 11th gen trucks are totally different, heres one for the 1997-2003 guys. Leave any questions or comments!

IMPORTANT: I assume no responsibility for any damage to your truck. This thread is purely informational.

Estimated time to complete: 2hrs (including paint dry)

Tools Needed:

12 oz. can of Krylon Fusion (Your choice of color)
15mm wrench
Pocket Knife (or similar sharp-edged tool)
Phillips screwdriver
Needle-nosed pliars
Flathead screwdriver

Note: I had 1/2 can of Gloss Krylon Fusion still left over. I used the first half on my lower valence when I painted my bumper. So I used to remainder on the cowl. Some prefer the look of flat black, but to me, gloss black looks new and helps bring out the depth of the color.

1.) First off, you want to remove your wiper arms. To go about doing this, use your pocket knife and pry under the trim cap atop the 90 degree elbow to expose the nut underneath:



2.) Using your 15mm wrench, unscrew the nut and washer, and gently rock the arm back and forth to remove. I found it easier to pull the blade off the windshield so it will rock easier.

Here is what your should look like after the arms are off:



3.) Use your pocket knife again and pry up the screw covers seen in the first pic. Retrieve your phillips and begin removing all 9 screws. Some are hard to find, there are a few in the middle. When you have all 9 out, pop the hood.

4.) Gently tug at the rubber seal and pop it off. It comes out very easily, no force is neccesary.



5.) Place it aside and retrieve your flathead and pliars. Now comes the hard part. There are two "christmas tree" clips under the hood. One on each side. They can be seen here:



Using your flathead, pry up the edges until you can fit needle-nose pliars under there and using brute force, pull on those suckers! They will get messed up, but you can easily pop them in place or go to AutoZone and buy some more for like $2.95/pack.

 

6.) Once you get both pulled out, make sure you have all 9 screws out and just fumble whichever side you are on until it comes loose. There is a left and right piece, so its easier to remove.





7.) Once you have both pieces removed, your truck should look like this:



As you have both pieces aside, be sure and remove any wax or protectant or bugs or dirt or whatever you may have on there. Standard dish soap like Dawn or Palmolive will work. Be sure to get all the nooks and crannies and a toothbrush comes handy to get inside the vents. At the same time, I cleaned up all the gunk from the metal beneath the cowls:

 

8.) Once both peices have dried thouroughly, You can begin taking them to your painting area. What I did was use 1" 3M Blue Masking tape to tape off the rubber seals that seat against the windshield.



I seated it upright and shook the can vigorously for 2 mins and then sprayed. An important tip to remember is to look DOWN the vents and get the side of the vents as well. Here is one completed:

 

9.) I also decided to paint the wiper arms as well. You can see the difference here:

 

10.) All done:



11a.) Reinstall after a good 2 hour paint dry time. Right now mine have about 30 more mins to go before I begin to reinstall. I will continue this with pics of the reinstall. I can't wait to see how it turns out, it will match my valence perfectly.

-Alex

 

looks great man, good idea on the wiper arms ,

lets see the finished product on the truck

 

Thanks, right now I've got them installed, just got the wiper arms mixed up and trying to figure out which goes on which side!

BRB 20 mins!

 

it should look good. why do you keep giving me ideas!?

im going to by high from all the paint fumes by the time i get all my stuff painted...lol

 

Okay, here the reinstall. These pics are bigger, I used my friends 7MP camera on full detail shots.

NOTE: Be sure NOT to clean your windshield like I did. The dirt marks will help you in replacement of the wiper arms. Be sure to mark which wiper went on left and right as they have "formed" to the shape that they have been used to riding to.

Remember the long, striaght one goes on the drivers side. The "bent" looking one goes on the passenger side.

11b.) Carefully put one side back in and make sure you have the side tabs going under the fender panel. This is also the time to reinstall those annoying little christmas tree clips. Push hard and they will snap back in place.

 

12.) As you retrieve the screws and begin threading them back into their holes, you may have noticed that the holes have moved. This is okay, just use the screw or a similar pointed object and push it from side to side until the hole comes back into view. The screw holes are mounted on a moveable pivot, so expect a few to be out of place if you scrubbed them down. Don't forget to reclip the tiny plastic covers over the two outside ones.







13.) Once you have all 9 in, go ahead and begin tightening them down. Make sure the seal is properly seated against the windscreen and there are no bends in it. Open the hood and begin reinstalling the rubber seal. It is as easy as it was to take it off. Light pressure pushed the clips back in. The side that sticks out goes against the plastic. Other side towards the front of the truck (duh).

 

 

14.) Here come the hard part. Putting on the wiper arms. Go ahead and reattatch the wiper blades, and fold the arms to their up position. Put both arms back on their motor mounts (just so they sit there) and hand-thread the screw back on so they dont fall on the hood.



It helps if you have a dirty windshield, as you can re-align them from that. Mine was clean, so it took me a bit to get them back in place. Once you have them aligned, use your 15mm wrech (preferrably box-end) and tighten them down (not too hard!). Don't forget to put the trim pieces back on.



Before:



After:

 

That's all there is to it! Stand back and give yourself a pat on the back for another wonderful DIY job done right!

-Alex

Edit: Next up, BED RAILS IN GLOSS!

 

Nice!paint the attenna though too! i did mine when i painted my grill. makes it look much better!

Time for another sig? lol

it looks good though. did u tape off the actually blade of the wiper? i just hope you done smear black paint across your windsheild the next time it rains...

i cant wait to do my stuff!! visit the paint shop next week, junkyard hunting next weekend, and paint hopefully the following week(end).

 

No, I removed the blade when I painted the arms. What I taped off was the rubber seal that sits against the windshield. I was thinking of spraying the little base of the antenna, but using paint stripper on the ant. itself and bring it to a chrome-looking state to match my white/chrome theme.

Edit: D, stop changing your sig every time I hit the "refresh" button