Hose clamps: screw type vs. spring type

Sep 01, 2004 5 Replies

My 86 GTi has spring type hose clamps on most of the coolant system hoses. These are the clamps where you have to squeeze together the two ears that stick up with a pair of pliers. I was flushing my cooling system on the weekend, and had to unclamp a couple of hoses, and I found those spring clamps a real pain. With the two ears fully gripped, it seemed that the clamp didn't always open up enough to slip off along the hose. Lots of twisting around needed. Plus, the two ears were often in an area that made access with pliers difficult.



I was thinking about changing the hose clamps to the screw type, where you can use a screwdriver or nutdriver to tighten/loosen them. These can also be opened up completely for easy removal from the hose.



Any reason why I shouldn't do this? Do the spring type clamps offer some advantage that isn't obvious?


No. Unless you tighten the clamp such that it cuts the hose.

IMO, no. Speed is the key but just as speed kills, if one of the spring clamps catches your finger when its fully loaded, it hurts like hell.

|| ||I was thinking about changing the hose clamps to the screw type, where ||you can use a screwdriver or nutdriver to tighten/loosen them. These ||can also be opened up completely for easy removal from the hose. || ||Any reason why I shouldn't do this? Do the spring type clamps offer ||some advantage that isn't obvious?

Spring clamps: Ease of assembly (if you have the right tools Maintains proper tension as hose expands & contracts, reducing seepage.

Worm-gear clamps - Tighter clamping (not always good) Wider size range Easier to install & remove with common tools

Needa makes a worm gear clamp that is temperature-compensated. It's the ideal solution. Texas Parts Guy

Alot cheaper just to buy the correct tool to remove them!

Agree, however channel locks work well.

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