This is in 1989 F250 -

I was flushing its radiator coolant this summer and when I put the lower hose back on, it was kind of leaking at one clamp. (The one towards the engine). The clamps are built into the hose. I thought I tightened it. It seemed like that metal clamp was a bit disintegrating. Then I tightened it some more and thus far, no leaks.

This is a relatively low mileage truck but I was wondering what the life expectancy of radiator hoses is. This is a 15 year old truck, so should I replace the lower radiator hose preemptively? It is a $25 part. Does the rubber just come apart after a certain number of years?

 

I really dont know the life of a hose. But I can tell you I was supprised when I found out the inside of the hose is usualy what causes a failure. The hose is more than likely far worse on the inside than the outside.

 

Interesting.

I am going to keep this one a while longer, but I think it will need replacement within a year. Just a guess. Anybody does pre-emptive replacement, before you loose all the coolant?

 

Yeah, "soft parts" replacement is a regular maintenance item on vehicles that achieve high mileage. Believe me, you don't want to "lose all the coolant". And as Peppy said, they're always worse on the inside.

Life of hoses varies greatly, but they're too cheap to take a chance on. I wouldn't want to go much over 4 years or 80,000 miles. And I'd be less inclined to extend the time limit than the mileage limit.

 

I am at 14 years and 84,000 miles. Not exactly high mileage, but I hear that rubber goes bad after a while, though don't know at what rate.
I guess that qualifies for replacement using your criteria....

 

The lower hose can last a long time since it is not subjected to the amount of heat that the upper hose endures. At 15 years though I say you got your monies worth out of it.

 

I think I am going to swap it. Is there any way to recover all the coolant I loose? Put it in a bucket and then back in the radiator?

The coolant is not too old - I flushed it this summer.

 

When you open the stopcock to drain it, run a hose into a clean bucket. Then use the bucket when you pull the lower hose, and dump it back in. Have fun.

 

I have a '77 F150 bought in 1986 with 35,xxx miles. I put a larger F-250 or 350 radiator speced for the 400, thicker core in about 1987 when I added AC. I put new hoses on upper & lower then. I replaced the heater hoses in 2004 prior to a trip south and marked them. Truck has 106,xxx on it. I probably have a more than 50% coolant with distilled water mix. All OK.

 

Gates says change Hoses and belts every 4 years.... I tend to agree with them... after 5 years you are living on borrowed time...

https://www.gatestechzone.com/en/installation/hoses

 

but gates sells hoses, of course they want you to buy as many in your lifetime as possible.

 

I'm not a fan of gates products....low quality line....they will do/last just what they are suppose to and that's it.....I run Goodyear for 30 years or MC or AC Delco...….I plan on replacing every 5 years but, I typically get 15-30 years out of the belts/hoses.

 

while there's no set life span on a Hose ... All manufactures seem to agree with Gates, I guess that is why it is recommended to get a new vehicle every 3 years as it sure cuts down on Maintenance costs don't it

But of course they would tell you that as they only want to sell more vehicles

While I use Goodyear belts, I've never had issues with Quality Gates hoses in the past 50 years or more

 

I'm finding more and more often new Motorcraft parts readily available all over the internerd---Amazon and FleaBay being my two biggest sources. I'm pretty much OFF the RockAuto bandwagon but do use their site to obtain Motorcraft part numbers.

Apart from hoses being routed too close to moving parts I've had no failures due poor quality or age but I don't shop by price so maybe that's one reason I'm "lucky" that way?