Is there a major difference between the upper radiator hose that I could get at NAPA or Advance versus one from Fusick and OPGI (other than price)?

I have noticed that when I first start my engine ('71 cutlass) the upper radiator hose seems to collapse about halfway until the engine warms and it expands back out to regular size. It is a replacement hose from Champion but I have no idea how old it is. It was on the car when I bought it. One of the few rubber pieces that I have not replaced yet.

Is this normal? I remember working on cars (many, many moons ago) that the upper had a metal coil inside that would prevent the hose from collapsing. Am I remembering right, or has old age finally crept up on me?

 

Actually it is the lower hose that used to have the spring inside. The upper hose should be pliable but not collapse on it's own. Probably time to replace that top hose. Napa hoses are fine.

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

The one from Napa may actually be better, it just won't have any factory numbers on it.

 

There's a good chance they're all made by the same one or two companies, anyway. I think what matters more is not which vendor you buy it from (all those that you mention are just fine), but how old it is.

As a matter of fact, I'm in the process of getting back on the road a '78 Toronado I recently acquired that hadn't been on the road or even started in about 10 years. I have gotten it running and driving, and I'm in the process of changing the coolant and hoses and having the radiator itself rebuilt. The seller of the car included in the trunk both upper and lower radiator hoses for this car that he had purchased new about 10 years ago and had never used. I could use them now, but I'm not going to, simply because of their age. New hoses are easy to get, are new, and don't cost all that much ($27 for the two of them, ACDelco brand). When they arrived, I compared them to the two 10-year-old, never used hoses, and I could feel a difference. The older hoses are less pliable.

Everybody knows that tires age even if they're not driven, so age, as much as mileage, is an important consideration when deciding when it's time to replace them. I think the same thing applies to any rubber part, whether it's tires, brake hoses, radiator hoses, fuel line, vacuum line, and even windshield wiper blades. After about a decade, it's time to replace.