Radiator hose?

[jvencius]

At what point should I change the radiator hoses? When I hit 60K miles in about a month or so, I'll be doing a lot of maintenance to the truck and while everything is draining, I plan to install a 203* thermostat and a new T-stat housing. Since the radiator will be drained, I figure it'll be a fine time to change the hoses since winters up north here can't do them any good and they're over 4 years old now. Is that too soon to change them before they fail or should I wait before "fixing" a problem that doesn't exist (yet). When I do swap them out, do I re-use the stock clamps or is there a better clamp solution out there? If there is a better way of clamping the hose ends, please point me to a vendor so that I can get the parts in advance (BTW, powerstrokeshop.com is getting my order for the hoses, unless there is a dramatically better solution out there).

 

[whatabudro]

What year truck do you have? If its a 7.3 NBS then you will want change to the upper hose that routes the hose around the belt instead of through it. I got mine for $12 at Autozone and its a Gates. I also went ahead and changed the belt, tstat, and tstat housing. Then kept all my parts I took off behind the seat. I am at 66K on my 2000.

 

[jvencius]

What year truck do you have? If its a 7.3 NBS then you will want change to the upper hose that routes the hose around the belt instead of through it. I got mine for $12 at Autozone and its a Gates. I also went ahead and changed the belt, tstat, and tstat housing. Then kept all my parts I took off behind the seat. I am at 66K on my 2000.

I've got an '02 with dual alts so the upper hose goes around the belt. I had figured on changing the belt also, since it can't hurt and better safe than sorry, plus keeping the old belt behind the seat means I'll have a spare when I'm out in BFE and the belt breaks...

 

[whatabudro]

exactly, Mine looked perfect but changed it anyway. Winning $500 from powerstrokeshop.com helped talk me into it all though.

 

[jvencius]

exactly, Mine looked perfect but changed it anyway. Winning $500 from powerstrokeshop.com helped talk me into it all though.

That kind of dough would help...

 

[DavidJ]

What's the hose that goes around the belt. This will answer my question to a thread I just posted. Doh!

 

[Tennessee Titan]

David,

I believe the hose that goes around the belt is one for a dual alternator set-up. I don't have the p/n but you could go to Napa and tell them you need the upper radiator hose for the 7.3L with the dual alt's and they could get it for you.

 

[DavidJ]

Thank you %)

 

[Crumm]

At what point should I change the radiator hoses?

My 96' with just under 60,000 miles still has the original hoses. Yeah I know that a big but they feel fine and I figure if it aint broke why fix it. A hose will start to feel weak if you squeeze it when they are getting old. I will probably change them at the 10 year mark just to be safe but with yours at only 4 years I think they would be fine but check them over closely for soft spots. If I was making a long trip anywhere I would probably pack a set of hoses since mine are so old but I never leave town.