1996 crown vic- drivers side wiper arm loose, blade will not lay flat when cleaning

There is a tool for that, to take the spring tension off the arm

You can still wrestle it off, by lifting the arm off windshield
& on the arms right side & under it ,is a small tab you slide
out.

Then the arm comes off & you can reinstall in a different place

Most auto parts stores will gladly change out the blades for you. As far as your question.......No, you only have to replace the blades and not the completer wiper arm.
Hope this helps

the linkage between the wiper motor and the wiper arms needs to be replaced. the stud on the one side is stripped and that is why it doesn't work as it should. this happens usually when the wipers are left on in the winter with the blades freezing to the windsheild. turn on the car with frozen blades tends to strip out the teeth holding the wiper arms onto the linkage

There may not be enough pressure on the wiper arm to press the blade onto the glass. Or, if you have been replacing the blade only, replace the entire cartridge and blade.

Check the spring tension on the wiper arm as well and the shoulder pin connecting it to the wiper motor to see if it is loose. If it is much looser than the passenger side, then put in a new wiper arm assembly. If it is not loose, check to see if it is bent...then you may just be able to get away with bending it back into position.

Try this http://volvospeed.com/wiperarm.php

I usually start with the blade as well, the arm can be bent in a method to make it arch high higher in the middle of the arm - forcing more downward pressure onto the windshield. The real problem however, could be your windshield. Not that I believe that all Ford vehicles should have the "Carlite" stamp on the glass, there are other good brands of glass. But, some glass manufacturers have poor quality control and their glass molds produce some parts with flat spots, low spots, high spots and many other distortions in the glass. Does your windshield have a Carlite stamp at the lower part of the windshield? If you can't adjust the wiper to work, you may want to consider the glass instead.

The 1996 Ford Bronco takes a 18" replacement wipers on both drivers side and passenger side. Don't just go by lengths though - when buying windshield wiper blades be sure to always use the application guide book at the store or now-a-days you can Google 'lookup wiper size'.

You want to look this up because correct wiper fit is more than correct length, it's also proper attachement. Not all attachments fit all arms. Using the application guide or looking up wiper size online will avoid headaches of buying the right lengths with the wrong attachements.

The replacement wiper blades will come with step-by-step, illustrated instructions and once you have the instructions and the wiper blades/arms in your hands in front of you, it will all make better sense and will an easy maintenance task. Very simple and takes 5-15 minutes usually not requiring any tools.

If in your budget, upgrade to the newer-style frameless "beam blades" which perform better than conventional framed wipers. I use Trico NeoForm Beam Blades which are fantastic. Hope this helps!

Sounds like you just nee to remove them and reinstall them in the correct position. Take them off, run the wipers for one cycle until they park. Install the arms so the blade is about an inch above the bottom of the windshield.

the wiper arm assembly is stripped for the knurled knob that is sits on.  replace the wiper arm with a new one.

Yes the spring in the arm is weak, replace the arm and your problem will be solved.