Silicone hoses

[matt w]

What’s your opinions and advice on running silicon hoses on your EB?
Thanks

 

[Broncobowsher]

Bling factor?
Trying to stretch the life of hoses?
Why do you want silicone?

They make great turbo boost hoses. The turbo outlet temps can be stupid hot before the intercooler. The high heat rating works great.

Regular rubber hoses work fine for me. Change them once a decade or so.

 

[matt w]

Bling factor?
Trying to stretch the life of hoses?
Why do you want silicone?

They make great turbo boost hoses. The turbo outlet temps can be stupid hot before the intercooler. The high heat rating works great.

Regular rubber hoses work fine for me. Change them once a decade or so.

Ha ya I’ve heard CRAZY suggestions on how often we should change our hoses! I guess I should have asked “how often and when do you decide to change the hoses AND belts on say a stock 302 with an auto transmission!? I’d rather change before having them fail! I can’t remember the last time I changed my belts and well I would guess it been 7 plus years but I can’t remember that either! I drove it 2-3 times a week and go on long 2 plus hour all day long trips.... man this thing just keeps going!��

Ps it really wasn’t for bling it was so I don’t have anything to worry about for the next TEN YEARS! I thought it might be wise decision...& keep spares as I have for the what if’s on the trail or trips...��

 

[904Bronco]

The silicon Rad hoses are somewhat thinner that a factory replacement hose. You also need to run banded clamps that don't cut into the silicon hose.

The quality of the rubber they use in today's hoses has improved, although they may not fit as well as when the vehicle was in production. Each Manufacturer has subtle differences from the others in their upper and lower hoses.

Silicon and banded clamps for extreme duty, standard hoses for day to day - with a good maintenance schedule. Is my suggestion...

 

[73azbronco]

Love the regular rubber hoses, but my frankenfrontserp needed something different than others have used for explorer serp, the 45 and 90s aluminum connectors plus radiator quality silicone, is thicker, works great.

 

[SHX669]

I like my silicone heater hoses

 

[bronkenn]

I used the silicone hoses and they seemed to be a bugger to seal. I used the band clamps which are expensive and didn't fit some tight spots around the water pump. If I did it again I would go with the rubber ones.

 

[No Hay]

I just installed the silicone hoses from WH. The spring inside the lower hose to keep from collapsing was why I purchased them. Perfect fit, more solid, but being firmer, the small tstat bypass hose was pain to insall.

 

[bmc69]

I used them on my '69...

 

[Yeller]

I have all sorts of problems with rubber hoses leaking at the connections, however I’m usually cutting down a hose for a different application. Changed to putting silicone on everything, no more leaks.

 

[Steve83]

Ford put silicone hoses on fleet (taxi/police) Crown Vics in the late 90s because they never go bad. I collected several in JYs for my CVs, but I've never needed to change the first ones. They used the same clamps as all the other CVs with vulcanized rubber hoses.

Leaking at the connection is a problem with the nipple - usually corrosion or other irregular surface. Take some time with a file to smooth out the sealing surfaces. For a better seal, use CopperCoat spray on the nipple AND in the hose, and make the connection while it's still a little slimy.

 

[Yeller]

Ford put silicone hoses on fleet (taxi/police) Crown Vics in the late 90s because they never go bad. I collected several in JYs for my CVs, but I've never needed to change the first ones. They used the same clamps as all the other CVs with vulcanized rubber hoses.

Leaking at the connection is a problem with the nipple - usually corrosion or other irregular surface. Take some time with a file to smooth out the sealing surfaces. For a better seal, use CopperCoat spray on the nipple AND in the hose, and make the connection while it's still a little slimy.

Thanks for the tip. For me they always leak at the cut end, making a longer hose fit a custom application. Never an issue using hoses for the correct application it was intended for.

 

[toddz69]

Ford put silicone hoses on fleet (taxi/police) Crown Vics in the late 90s because they never go bad. I collected several in JYs for my CVs, but I've never needed to change the first ones. They used the same clamps as all the other CVs with vulcanized rubber hoses.

Leaking at the connection is a problem with the nipple - usually corrosion or other irregular surface. Take some time with a file to smooth out the sealing surfaces. For a better seal, use CopperCoat spray on the nipple AND in the hose, and make the connection while it's still a little slimy.

So Ford used the nice hose clamps on the rubber hoses too? I harvested a bunch of those clamps a few years back when I pulled the silicone hoses from a line of ex-cop cars at a local picky. They have a Ford logo on them and have the extra wrap on them inside so the worm drive/features don't dig into the silicone.

Thanks for the CopperCoat tip - does it make the hoses harder to pull off later or is it not too bad?

Todd Z.

 

[Steve83]

Yes, CopperCoat is an adhesive, but it's not overly-aggressive - especially on silicone rubber. But even on vulcanized rubber, it makes a great seal without being as difficult to remove as some hoses without any adhesive I've encountered.

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