Lower Radiator Hose Spring

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DartGTDan

'71 Dart GT Fan
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I replaced the radiator, as well as the upper and lower hoses in my '71 Dart GT, back in the spring of 2019. I also added the hood to radiator seal (from DMT) at the same time.

For the life of me, I cannot remember if the lower radiator hose had the spring in it. If I were to grab and squeeze the hose, would I/should I be able to feel the spring inside?
 
I do not believe they make one with a spring anymore. Perhaps someone else can verify that. Yes, if it had a spring in there, you shouldn't be able to crush the hose.
 
I've seen 'em for sale occassionally but yes its true they are generally no longer used.
Carroll Smith mentioned this is one of his books about race car prep. Seems the hose materials and construction improved greatly from the 1960s and 70s. His books are from the 1980s if I recall correctly, so it been a while since the manufacturers have felt confident the return hose won't collapse.
 
"What I'd do" is find a welder/ fabricator.........or a friendly welding store.......and buy a "stick" of stainless TIG rod, wind it around something "a bit" smaller than the hose ID ....do a small test section and see if it "springs" out a bit" ..........wind er up and stick 'er in.............
 
I've posted this many times on these forums. The springs only function was for the factory quick vacuum fill on the assembly line. NO other reason!
 
Not trying to argue, but if that is true, why were they available aftermarket? Reconditioning my '72 318 Darts engine compartment, the lower radiator hose is aftermarket and has a long spring inside. If you get a spring from CJ Pony parts as RRR mentioned, get 2, they are short.
 
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I've posted this many times on these forums. The springs only function was for the factory quick vacuum fill on the assembly line. NO other reason!

Yeah, maybe "that too" but the bottom hose is on the suction side of the water pump. I've SEEN the bottom hose suck closed on more than one on a chassis dyno under load. It happens.
 
Amazon has them for 7.99 for GM products so they are longer
 
I would imagine that certain retailers had complaints with the bottom hose collapsing and ordered their hoses with the coils installed. I work at a Goodyear plant-now Continental and back in the late 80's when I started. The hoses that had the coils installed were all sent to the car plants, the exact same hose coming down the conveyer sent to the parts stores did not have the coil.
If I would of known that so many people think they need a coil, I would have had the spring operator run me off a couple hundred of both the small and big block hose coils. I could even had them made in brass. I do agree that it's not a bad idea to have one.
 
I make my own out of heavy gauge hot dipped galvanized wire. I don't know if it's necessary or not (I've read more than I care two on both sides of the argument), but anyone will be hard pressed to convince me that it needs to come out. Takes a few minutes to twist one up and stuff it in. Every single one of my classic vehicles has one.
 
Just measured the spring that I pulled out of the old lower hose from my '72 318 , and it's about 12" long. So I would say that the sm blk hose from CJ Pony that is 12 1/2" long and 1 1/2" dia would be a good fit.
 
Yeah, maybe "that too" but the bottom hose is on the suction side of the water pump. I've SEEN the bottom hose suck closed on more than one on a chassis dyno under load. It happens.

Absolutely happens, as I have had it happen on a 440HO twice.


I make my own out of heavy gauge hot dipped galvanized wire. I don't know if it's necessary or not (I've read more than I care two on both sides of the argument), but anyone will be hard pressed to convince me that it needs to come out. Takes a few minutes to twist one up and stuff it in. Every single one of my classic vehicles has one.

There’s only one side of that argument after someone figures out the engine gets hot a higher rpms because the hose collapses.:D
 
How long does it take for a collapsed hose to return to "normal" after running at highway rpms?
 
As soon as your rpm's drop I would guess.
High rpm's would , could cause a collapse.
 
There are a number of discussions about why you don't need the spring in the forum. But the bottom line is there is no harm to installing one if you think it might prevent a hose collapse problem. I just installed the springs in my lower radiator hose a couple of weeks ago. Might be unnecessary but it is one less thing to worry about. I ordered from CJ Pony Parts (link below). I actually ordered and installed two springs because one wasn't really long enough to cover the whole length of the hose.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/lower-r...ss-steel-mustang-big-block-1965-1973/p/HW770/
 
Just ordered the spring from cjponyparts.

I didn't want to get into the whole "need it" vs. "don't need it" debate, but thanks everyone for your input.
 
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