Spring Clamp or Screw Clamp for Radiator Hoses?

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Trav

Spring clamps are reusable and superior in every way to screw clamps.


Sure. Until they lose their "spring".
My company truck is a '03 4X4 F150 with the 4.2 V6. A couple of days ago I replaced the coolant on the system. To do this, I pulled the lower radiator hose off of the engine to drain the old coolant. The lower hose wasn't leaking, but when I squeezed the spring clamp together, it stayed squeezed together. In other words, it had lost all of it's spring. I replaced it with a screw clamp.

 

[quint]

I'm an oddball, any time I am in a junkyard I go around an grab spring type clamps, in as many sizes as I can, by the handfull. Have a drawer in my garage full of them. Never had one fail, never a leak, never had a hose pull off. The only ones I have seen that lose their spring is very small ones, or ones made from very thin metal. I try to find the thickest ones, some are definitely better than others.

Screw type clamps....hate them. I have had them work ok on larger hoses, but even then I avoid them as much as possible. Put one on in warmer weather, by the time winter rolls around its a guaranteed leak. At least in my experience.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
I can't think of a case where OEM uses screw clamps

I imagine low cost and ease of installation at the factory weighs heavily on the decision to use spring clamps.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: SubLGT

During the bitter cold of winter I've always seen a rash of posts from people complaining about leaky coolant. This is because materials such as aluminum and rubber shrink away from steel worm clamps. Spring clamps don't have this problem.

Hmmmmmm. Back in August of 2012 I replaced the thermostat on my Subaru, and used screw clamps on the bottom radiator hose. And just recently with the onset of cold weather, I have observed coolant not maintaining its level in the overflow tank. [/quote
That has a plastic thermostat cover IIRC, screw clamps work even poorer than normal on these when it gets cold, this is a known issue with Subaru lower hoses and worm screw clamps.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Sure. Until they lose their "spring".
My company truck is a '03 4X4 F150 with the 4.2 V6. A couple of days ago I replaced the coolant on the system. To do this, I pulled the lower radiator hose off of the engine to drain the old coolant. The lower hose wasn't leaking, but when I squeezed the spring clamp together, it stayed squeezed together. In other words, it had lost all of it's spring. I replaced it with a screw clamp.

All metals are subject to some sort of failure be it from corrosion or fatigue.
If a spring clamp looses it tension or is rusted throw it out. Even screw clamps get fatigued in the worm drive.

Originally Posted By: Kestas
I imagine low cost and ease of installation at the factory weighs heavily on the decision to use spring clamps.

Absolutly. In this case cheaper is infinitely better.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: silverrat
I can't think of a case where OEM uses screw clamps

I imagine low cost and ease of installation at the factory weighs heavily on the decision to use spring clamps.

My 1994 LS400, 2000 E430 have OEM screw clamps for both upper and lower hoses, S2000 has spring clamps.

 

[SubLGT]

I remember some of my previous vehicles (80s Toyota and 90s Mitsubishi) having screw type double-wire clamps on the coolant hoses

 

[eljefino]

I like spring clamps but try and put them on virgin rubber. The "band" part can sit in its old groove but I try to get the spring junction in a different spot. This is usually also a better place for my pliers next time around.

I also shove the hose on an extra 1/4 inch so the "stretched out" part that goes over the barb is in a different spot.

 

[rslifkin]

Spring clamps are nice because they don't loosen up in the cold. On the Jeep, I've replaced them all with screw clamps as the spring clamps have worn out from being re-used multiple times (and no longer clamped tight enough). Pretty much every fall, I end up having to re-tighten them a couple of times as the temps drop as things begin to leak otherwise.

 

[George7941]

I have switched over to thermoplastic hose clamps (Gates, from RockAuto). They work extremely well. No more cold leaks or retightening.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: silverrat
I can't think of a case where OEM uses screw clamps

I imagine low cost and ease of installation at the factory weighs heavily on the decision to use spring clamps.

My 1994 LS400, 2000 E430 have OEM screw clamps for both upper and lower hoses, S2000 has spring clamps.


Yes my Honda motorcycle had them also OEM but they were a constant tension type similar to these..

http://murraycorp.com/constant-tension-clamps.html?gclid=CMWCn6jdzboCFcid4AodV04AvQ

http://www.delcity.net/store/Hose-Clamps-!-Constant-Torque/p_798728

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I work at a radiator shop and spring clamps often leak if reused. It happens so often that we never reuse them

I'm not saying it can't or won't happen, but I've never seen it.

Usually when a spring clamp equipped hose leaks, it's because the hose is being reused and the clamp is not placed in it's "groove", or there is lots of corrosion on the fitting and taking it loose has disturbed it. Cleaning or re-positioning of the clamp will fix it.


Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Trav

Spring clamps are reusable and superior in every way to screw clamps.


Sure. Until they lose their "spring".
My company truck is a '03 4X4 F150 with the 4.2 V6. A couple of days ago I replaced the coolant on the system. To do this, I pulled the lower radiator hose off of the engine to drain the old coolant. The lower hose wasn't leaking, but when I squeezed the spring clamp together, it stayed squeezed together. In other words, it had lost all of it's spring. I replaced it with a screw clamp.


Some spring clamps have a locking tab on them, so I'd say that you either locked it open, or you got the random bum spring clamp.

 

[Kruse]

I have seen the hoses leak plenty of times when trying to reuse a spring clamp, especially on older hoses. As mentioned by Chris142, I never reuse a spring clamp, but I guess that's just my policy. And with a screw clamp, you don't have to reuse the same groove.
As to the clamp on my truck that lost it's "spring", it didn't lock together because of a locking tab, it just lost the tension. Perhaps it was just a bum spring...or maybe because it saw a few too many salty winters. (This was a lower clamp, remember) While it was mentioned that screw clamps are subject to corrosion like spring clamps, that is why I use good clamps, not some cheap package of Chinese-made Harbor Freight clamps are advertised for something like $2.
Spring clamps do have their limitations, especially on larger diameter hoses that largaer trucks have.
I would never yank all the spring clamps off of my car just to put on screw clamps, but when it's time for a new hose, I won't reuse them.

 

[Chris142]

Saturn used warm clamps on their cars for many many years. I don't know if they ever went to spring ones

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Originally Posted By: Kestas
During the bitter cold of winter I've always seen a rash of posts from people complaining about leaky coolant. This is because materials such as aluminum and rubber shrink away from steel worm clamps. Spring clamps don't have this problem.


Hmmmmmm. Back in August of 2012 I replaced the thermostat on my Subaru, and used screw clamps on the bottom radiator hose. And just recently with the onset of cold weather, I have observed coolant not maintaining its level in the overflow tank.


I slid under my Subaru today after removing the undertray, and found my slow coolant leak. Sure enough, it was on one of the screw clamps I had installed after removing the spring clamp. It was slightly loose. It was the clamp on the radiator end of the hose, where it attaches to the plastic bottom tank. The other end, which is attached to the aluminum thermostat cover, was not leaking at the screw clamp. Lesson learned! I'm getting some constant tension screw clamps from McMaster Carr.

 

[artificialist]

I hate spring clamps because I don't really have a way of knowing if they lost tension.

So if I remove a spring clamp, I put a screw clamp on whenever possible.

I re-used my spring clamps on my car, just so if I had a warranty repair, it would look like I didn't touch anything. I dreaded doing that.

 

[Kestas]

THere are different types of spring clamps. One is not much more than a bent wire with the ends up. Another is a flat spring with a tab between the ears that keep you from overextending the spring when removing. The latter is a much better design.

 

[paulo57509]

If you're buying spring type (constant tension) clamps from McMaster, read their listings carefully. Last time I looked they state that their spring clamps are one-time use only.

There was a auto fastener and plumbing handbook that was published by Motorbooks International a while back. IIRC, the author mentions something about screw type clamps should be tightened and maintained at 15in-lb max.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: quint
I'm an oddball, any time I am in a junkyard I go around an grab spring type clamps, in as many sizes as I can, by the handfull. Have a drawer in my garage full of them. Never had one fail, never a leak, never had a hose pull off. The only ones I have seen that lose their spring is very small ones, or ones made from very thin metal. I try to find the thickest ones, some are definitely better than others.

Screw type clamps....hate them. I have had them work ok on larger hoses, but even then I avoid them as much as possible. Put one on in warmer weather, by the time winter rolls around its a guaranteed leak. At least in my experience.


Ha ha! I do the exact same thing. I will only use spring clamps or the kind of screw clamp that is constant pressure and doesn't dig into to the rubber hose.

I've had a lot of problems with work screw type clamps; eventually the seep, you retighten, and it starts damaging the hose. Seems to be more a problem in area that have large ambient temperature spreads.