For those of us who plan on driving our classic truck (and who doesn't?!), there are certain amenities that either didn't exist way back when or were barely sufficient, to say the least. Air conditioning, power steering, and automatic transmissions are but a few that really didn't come into vogue until the mid- 1950s, well after the early Ford F-1 pickups were produced. A small heater sat under the dash to warm up your tootsies and a cowl vent could draw in cool air, but that was about as comfy as you were gonna get in 1952. Power steering came in the shape of a 16-inch steering wheel and required a decent set of forearms; the manual transmission meant your clutch leg was probably stronger than the one that simply mashed the "go" pedal. There weren't a lot of creature comforts on those workhorses back in the day, but that doesn't mean you're stuck living with them in the 21st century.
One such item that has seen its share of upgrades is the windshield wiper system. Granted, by 1952 Ford had upgraded its trucks to a dual wiper design, but the wiper system itself still left much to be desired. Enter Pacific Western Design (PWD) and its new Raingear complete replacement wiper system for those old vacuum, worn-out, and insufficient wiper systems. Unlike some others on the market, the Raingear system replaces everything but the stock wiper blades and escutcheons, although these are available new, as well.
Installation of the Raingear system is very simple after the original wiper system is removed; the only things that need to be modified are the dash supports on some models, and the stock wiper motor mount. The kit mounts completely under the dash, leaving the firewall uncluttered, and installs in the original position, maintaining the stock look. The standard kit includes a two-speed wiper motor, and PWD even offers a unit with a washer and intermittent delay capabilities. The Raingear unit replaces all the linkages and worn-out cable-style wiper systems with a solid linkage design that gets rid of the old windshield slap problems common on many of the stock systems. Available for everything from '47-59 Chevy trucks to F-1 and F-100 series Ford pickups as well, PWD covers all the classic haulers.
We picked up a system for our F-1 project truck and, within slightly over an hour, had the system installed and working beautifully. If you plan on driving that old classic on a regular basis and live in an area more rainy than southern Arizona, then upgrading to a PWD Raingear wiper system is a must!
 The wiper kit is broken down...  The wiper kit is broken down into two separate units to ease shipping. The right side consists of the pivot shaft, hand bridge assembly, and cross-link. The left side is the drive unit, which includes the left-side pivot shaft, left-side bridge assembly, the first-link, and the motor. |  The next step is to attach...  The next step is to attach the cross-link to the left-side pivot shaft lever. Make sure the right-side pivot shaft lever is facing down, similar to the left-side pivot shaft lever. The cross-link end should be below and slightly to the left of the pivot shaft. |  The cup nut should only snug...  The cup nut should only snug up the two link ends. As the cup nut is tightened, wiggle the right-side cross-link up and down until no more play is felt and stop tightening there. Tightening the cup nut any further will create a bind in the assembly. |
 The two sections need to be...  The two sections need to be reattached before they're installed on the F-1 cab. Quarter-inch mounting hardware gets the job done. |  The right-side cross-link...  The right-side cross-link is placed on top of the first-link end on the left shaft lever and the cup nut is reinstalled. |  Note the relation of the drive...  Note the relation of the drive arm to the first-link and where it's attached to the left-side pivot shaft lever. These should all be aligned when the motor is in the "parked position." |