Are Radiator Hoses Better than when we(boomers) were kids

[ach60]

Are Radiator Hoses Better than when we(boomers) were kids, and what exactly made them better?
When I was a kid my Father was a GM & Ford guy.
When we took roadtrips which was every year, his cars always blew radiator hoses.
My Father bought a new full size or mid-size GM car, and one Ford that I remember too.
He kept them 3 years only, but drove a lot, may be 80,000 miles in 3 years.
Cut to 30 years later, I've owned nothing but watercooled VW since 1983 for daily drivers,
I put 150,000 miles on each of these dailys over 10 years of use for each of them.
But in 36 years of driving, I've never blown a radiator hose.
My Father blew one, every year that we took a long trip from the 60's through the 70's, what changed?
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Good Luck
Al

[busdaddy]

Better rubber and fibers, less ozone and other rubber eating stuff in the air, better coolant formulas.
Or maybe your Dad just had bad luck with hoses?
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[Abscate]

Good formulations of rubber are much better than the G.O.D. but there is a proliferation of cheap crap from companies like URO that are horrible,
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[Zundfolge1432]

Yes hoses and belts are better to the point that people don’t even look under hoods anymore. My neighbors don’t do any maintenance at home, they go back to the dealership or maybe a jiffy lube type place. Pretty sad because I can buy full synthetic oil and OEM filter and get it done for less than they pay a boy at Walmart to maybe not strip the drain plug😀 while adding mystery oil from bulk dispenser.

So cars are pretty much maintenance free or so they’d have you believe. I still give mine a cursory inspection about once a month.

Not only are belts and hoses better but engines last longer and so do tires. American made V8s were worn out by 100k miles, now it’s not uncommon to run well over 2 or 3 hundred thousand easily. My friend Earl ran a Honda shop and saw them go 500k and more. They better last longer the damn things cost too much now.

[KTPhil]

I habitually have a shop (even a dealer) replace all engine rubber--hoses, belts (including cam drive)--when (non-VW) my cars hit 100K. They are still good at that point with rubber quality these days, but I don't want to have it break at the wrong time, so it's insurance to me. I have all fluids flushed and replenished at that time. I'm good for another 100K trouble-free that way.

[Zundfolge1432]

[Manfred58sc]

Oh, please- plenty of American V-8's went way past 100K, Mopar 318's, GM 283, BOP 350's, Ford 289's all out could out last the car. OE hoses lasted a good long time even back then. Modern stuff seems decent in that realm. People can longer afford a new car , that is the primary reason these cars go so far. Owners are forced to dump endless cash into head gasket repairs, CV 1/2 shafts, computers etc. Average age is somewhere north of 14 years now, used to be 4.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[Glenn]

What's a radiator?
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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[Evil Clown]

Silicone hoses benefit from superior flexibility compared to rubber. They maintain this flexibility over their lifespan unlike rubber hoses. This reduces the risk that your hoses will split, harden, or become dry rotted. Silicone hoses last practically forever and might possibly outlast your car.

Older ones were made from rubber trees:
What do rubber trees produce?
The milky liquid (latex) that oozes from any wound to the tree bark contains about 30 percent rubber, which can be coagulated and processed into solid products, such as tires and other rubber products.
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CARRY ON

[Zundfolge1432]

[Manfred58sc]

Modern synthetic lubricants are far superior, that is the truth. I also came "up" in the 70's. We drove ACVW's and Detroit iron. Lets see, 1970 Pontiac Catalina wagon, sold in 2004 ( bought new ) 412,000 miles (one valve job, one trans rebuild) still running, My current 2 Mopars ( 73 and 77 ) , both 318 both well over 200K ( timing chain replaced on each ). Etc,etc,, proper care and maintenance are the key. Of course the Friday afternoon cars did not do as well of the line but the engineering was solid in many models.

Buy silicone hoses and never worry again
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Fat chick owner/operator

[Onceler]

I’ve wondered if rolling back odometers and the odometers resetting at 100k had a large impact on the perception about real cars of the time. I would think there wasn’t much money to be made rolling back a used up VW odometer
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1972 Karmann Ghia

[Matt Wilson]

Look up ECR hoses. Electrochemical degradation was a problem for coolant hoses a long time ago.

Not all rubber is engineered the same either. One manufacturer's neoprene or nitrile is going to be different than another. Look for the SAE markings and use the right rubber for the application, and it will perform.

Silicone has its drawback too, like water permeation through the walls, which can change the coolant/water ratio, and the lower tear strength makes it susceptible to cracks or rips from vibration or over-tight clamps. It might have its specific application and give a colorful appearance, but I wouldn't go through the hassle or expense of switching out all rubber hoses for silicone.
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[Jon Schmid]

Oil is much better these days, with the exception of the reduction of ZDDP. Still, I go 3000 miles minimum on dino oil on both my 356's between changes. Also, in 61 years of original family ownership, my Roadster has had 1 engine rebuild and most of the parts (crank, cam, rods) were able to be reused. The car was my dad's daily driver for years and probably (the odo was broken for a while) has well north of 300000 miles on it. I've had American vehicles last well north of 100000 miles before I sold them. Basic maintenance is the key.

[Matt Wilson]

I would agree with maintenance, but there's not a lot of maintenance you can do on a rubber hose.
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[Cusser]

When I rebuilt my 1988 Mazda truck engine in 2011 at 183K miles, I replaced the small coolant bypass hoses and the heater hoses, even though they all looked good.

Yes - I believe that good-quality hoses like Gates are quite superior to those made a few decades ago.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[Jon Schmid]

[busdaddy]

I had a bunch of failures years ago after I switched to a citrus based degreaser for cleaning engines, once I went back to Gunk or Castrol Super clean the problems stopped. Last year my wife's Odyssey popped a heater hose at ~500K, it was where the distributor seal had been weeping on it for many years, rest of the hoses were fine.

And yes, change the coolant every couple years and only use distilled water to mix, not only will the hoses like it, the rad will last longer too.
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[djkeev]

A LOT OF THINGS are of lesser quality today than those back in the 1950’s.

Automobiles are not on that list!
When my Dad rolled over the odometer on the 56 Chevy Wagon he was absolutely ecstatic!

100,000 miles without engine work!

We run better oils, have better filters, cleaner fuel and more complete combustion today.
There is far less debris in the engine.
I remember removing valve rocker arm covers and not being able to see the rockers, they were buried in wax and the wax was formed to the valve cover shape!
I've seen nothing close to this for decades now.

Heck I know people who have NEVER serviced their engine at all!
Somewhere north of 100,000 they trade it in and start over again, a car payment is a given, always will have a newer car and a payment.

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[Cusser]