Hose clamp: US vs China

[HTSS_TR]

My 12 years old 130+k miles E430 had the first problem with coolant system: some coolant leak on garage floor, after some detector works the leak was from the upper radiator hose at the neck of the radiator, the clamp got loose a little after 130+k miles. Tried to tighten it a little one day and the leak didn't stop, tighten it a little more the next day and still small leak, tighten it more on third day and broke the clamp.

Went to O'Reilly and found they have mostly made in China hose clamps, found the last made in USA package a little tight fit clamps at 1.75". Bought the made in USA and 1 size larger at 2.25" made in China clamps.

Put the made in USA clamp on, the fit was tight but no problem to slide it into place, stated tighten it and it broke.

Removed the broken made in USA clamp and put on made in China clamp without any problem, it is a little larger and doesn't look as nice as made in USA clamp, but it works and stops the leak.

Felt so bad about inferior quality of a simple clamp with "Made in USA" stamped on the package. Hopefully, this is an isolate quality problem and I'm still looking for made in USA parts when needed.

 

[mpvue]

problem is, for a simple item to be made domestically and to be able to compete on price, quality must suffer. US made does not guarantee superior quality.

 

[mongo161]

It's been years since I've used those "tighten down" hose clamps on any connection. All I use now are good old fashioned "Spring Clamps". Some of those "screw down to tighten clamps" can cut into the hose over time.

IMO....Using Spring clamps will give you peace of mind. If the hose should shrink a bit....the Spring clamp will keep it tight....if it should expand a bit....the spring clamp will keep it tight.

I no longer have to inspect hose clamps with a screwdriver to make sure they are tight....with the spring clamp I know that the hose is being held on tight 24/7.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: mongo161
It's been years since I've used those "tighten down" hose clamps on any connection. All I use now are good old fashioned "Spring Clamps". Some of those "screw down to tighten clamps" can cut into the hose over time.

IMO....Using Spring clamps will give you peace of mind. If the hose should shrink a bit....the Spring clamp will keep it tight....if it should expand a bit....the spring clamp will keep it tight.

I no longer have to inspect hose clamps with a screwdriver to make sure they are tight....with the spring clamp I know that the hose is being held on tight 24/7.


Except when the spring clamps loose their Springy-ness after a few years..
My '00 Sonata came w/ them on all the coolant lines, and around the summer of '05 i started to get small weepy leaks from a couple of them. Good old fashioned screw-down ones replaced them, and never had another leak in the remaining 4.5 years i had the car.

 

[Jaykim81]

I like to use ABA stainless steel hose clamps to replace worn out spring clamps. The ABA clamps have rolled edges that keep the hose from getting cut by the expansion and contraction of the hose. I have had good luck with gemi clamps as well. The only problem with the Gemi and ABA clamps is that I have to buy them online.

 

[tomcat27]

I agree - in order to compete many US companies are cutting quality. I've had probs with 3 sets of US made brake pads/shoes.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Felt so bad about inferior quality of a simple clamp with "Made in USA" stamped on the package. Hopefully, this is an isolate quality problem and I'm still looking for made in USA parts when needed.


One of my businesses uses a large amount of hose clamps. Unfortunately, a certain well known American hose clamp company has been providing some very, very poor hose clamps for the past several months. A few times, we've gone through an entire box of them, only to find one or two that actually work.

 

[eljefino]

There are a lot of lousy clamps out there, regardless of country of origin. The minimum, IMO, should have another strip of metal as a shield under the "cut threads" so the threads don't jam against the rubber hose like a cheese grater.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: mongo161
It's been years since I've used those "tighten down" hose clamps on any connection. All I use now are good old fashioned "Spring Clamps". Some of those "screw down to tighten clamps" can cut into the hose over time.

IMO....Using Spring clamps will give you peace of mind. If the hose should shrink a bit....the Spring clamp will keep it tight....if it should expand a bit....the spring clamp will keep it tight.

I no longer have to inspect hose clamps with a screwdriver to make sure they are tight....with the spring clamp I know that the hose is being held on tight 24/7.


Except when the spring clamps loose their Springy-ness after a few years..
My '00 Sonata came w/ them on all the coolant lines, and around the summer of '05 i started to get small weepy leaks from a couple of them. Good old fashioned screw-down ones replaced them, and never had another leak in the remaining 4.5 years i had the car.


Usually when you have a leak at a hose being clamped by a spring clamp, it's not because the clamp lost tension (though possible), it's because the hose has stiffened and lost it's conformity or there is some corrosion on the metal surface.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: mongo161
It's been years since I've used those "tighten down" hose clamps on any connection. All I use now are good old fashioned "Spring Clamps". Some of those "screw down to tighten clamps" can cut into the hose over time.

IMO....Using Spring clamps will give you peace of mind. If the hose should shrink a bit....the Spring clamp will keep it tight....if it should expand a bit....the spring clamp will keep it tight.

I no longer have to inspect hose clamps with a screwdriver to make sure they are tight....with the spring clamp I know that the hose is being held on tight 24/7.

As I mentioned in another post - when I replaced the hoses on my Mercury last fall, the Motorcraft hoses came with glued on spring clamps. It was so easy to do - no messing with positioning the clamp and then screwing it down or bother checking to see if it was tight.

For the record, I replaced my hoses at 7+ years just as preventative maintenance, not because they really needed it.

 

[hattaresguy]

Buy a Mercedes clamp they are better.

BTW the clamp probably isn't the problem either the hose is about done or the radiator neck is cracking and on its way to snapping. Super common problem with older Mercedes.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The $1.15 Chinese clamp is working good. The upper hose and the radiator neck are in excellent condition, I have a replacement on hand but after carefully checking condition of the OEM hose I keep it on.

The only maintenance for the coolant system after 12 years and almost 140k miles is 2 coolant flushes and the broken clamp. The last time I flushed the coolant was last summer, the fluid was very clear without any debris can be seen by naked eyes.

 

[mongo161]

I just stay with the single wire hose clamps. I find that these single wire hose clamps keep plenty of tension on the hose connection, there are no sharp edged to damage the hose since the single wire band is round and these single wire clamps are easy to slide up and down or on and off the hose. All you need is a pair of pliers with a grooved insert for the single wire hose clamps. These clamps, are IMO, the best hose clamps...especially in the cramped confined quarters of engine bays.