Hose life and death

[Markus Meyer]

Geo,

I agree that vibration and chafing are two big enemies to hose life and longevity. So is age and heat. For example, the compressor coolant hoses run hot coolant from them and sit above the engine in a high heat area. I don't care if its 20 yrs old and only has 50K miles. Age beats mileage.

I just replaced all hoses on a 1995 car with only 50K miles, due to age. They were all hard and starting to seep. Figured I'd catch it before I have an issue. I believe in the idea of x miles or y years, whatever comes first. I also had some hydraulic lines leak on my Bird due to rubbing against things they shouldn't have rubbed against. I made sure upon replacement to reinforce them with extra "covers" and check regularly to make sure nothing funny is going on.

My motto is check frequently, replace on regular intervals and hopefully all will be well. I'd rather work at my time and leisure than side of the road problem.

Markus

86 PT40

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To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: verduin@...
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:04:01 -0500
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Hose life and death

Hi.



I wonder if we can discuss hoses? Hydraulic and air hoses. In the past

year I've had three hose failures on my 1995 BMC-37 built on a MM series

Spartan chassis. It's been kinda expensive to replace a total of seven

hoses after four hoses had to be destroyed while getting access to the

three failures that have become darn near permanent due to seizing.

Mostly though, it has been highly inconvenient and irritating to pause

long enough for the mechanical repair at random moments of travel.



I pretty much understand the arithmetic of 2012 - 1995 years of service

the hoses have given, and nothing lives forever. I am also resigned to

"Suck it up..." as an approach to repair. But there is a common thread

to these failures in my case: vibration, abrasion, and mounting

hardware. All three hoses failed at a point where mounting brackets

held the hose mid-way between start and end. None of the hoses appeared

to have failed of old age and just punky.



So the above situation leads me to think about a review of all the hoses

and wires on the rig. I expect I might find numerous places where

abrasion has begun but not reached failure yet. Perhaps further

abrasion might be avoided by revising just how hoses are hung. I

suspect there are "rules" about support like "No hose should be straight

between two successive hangers" [a bend permits hose flex to relieve any

pressure between vibrating hangers]. I wonder if the labor to prevent

further failure is less than just fixing a broken hose after failure.



This is where I hope others might chime in with personal experience. I

have owned Bird for just over one year and like her a lot. But three

hoses a year seems excessive to me.



Is "hoses" a reasonable topic?

Thanks everybody.

Geo.