thanks
Thank you very much, need4spd...nice to have a report from someone else taking their vehicle apart first...
I ended up just replacing the rubber blade refill, because I also tried removing the plastic piece and found the spring was WAY too stiff to attempt removing and replacing, especially given the limited access to it.
I agree with your assessment of using a PTFE or silicone refill to go for long life. Problem is that the specialty blades are hard to find as only refills...I couldn't even find a Bosch microedge as only a refill. I was going on a long trip and was in a hurry, so went for the regular old rubber blade. I would suggest trying to find a TripleEdge brand, as that is the blade I have had the most success with on front wipers. It is made of silicone rubber, which is flexible down to like -60F. I've seen the refills of that type of wiper at AutoZone. It also builds up a silicone barrier on the glass over time which acts alot like RainX. I recently tried some teflon blades on front, and they are OK, but don't seem to be as good when it gets really cold outside (I'm in Michigan). Also, use the RainX brand washer fluid, which also helps rain water bead on the glass. With all that, you may never even have to use the wiper after a while, which would be sweet with the lack of intermittent you mentioned.
Good luck and thanks again, because I was starting to think of taking that brass nut off, too!