Hose clamp pliers recommendation needed…

[Robert]

Need to purchase one or more constant tension hose clamp pliers for radiator and heater core hoses in my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Can anyone recommend a good pair or pairs for a DIY person working on only one vehicle?

I was looking at the OTC pliers 4525 and/or 4502.

http://www.jbtoolsales.com/otc-4525-cable-type-extended-hose-clamp-pliers/

http://www.jbtoolsales.com/otc-4502-2-piece-hose-clamp-pliers-set/

Sad story, my dealer of 15 years sold me that I needed to replace my original equipment constant tension hose clamps because they were rusting. I said okay. $245 and four hose clamps later they put on regular hardware style hose clamps.
So, now I need to do it myself and ordered the correct Mopar constant tension hose clamps and now need to purchase the pliers to install them.

Topic

[James O’Hara]

I have experience with both. Neither of them are OTC but, in all honesty that actual plier ones are all pretty much the same. As for the cable one the increments on the locking teeth look awesome. The one I bought was extremely cheap but, it was a weekend warrior project and i had to have it done to drive to work the next day. The increments on locking are horrible on my cable one.

For a car guy the cable one is your best bet. It will provide the same clearance as the pliers with a hole lot more maneuverability. If you get one though I would go to a motorcycle shop and get some cable lube and lube the cable. The other thing is make sure you keep the cable part that moves in and out of the plastic sheathing clean. Also check the tightness of the nuts and what not when you first get it and at first sign of any breakage get it warrantied out. In a shop they tend to break with a whole lot of use.

OTC is a pretty good brand.

As for putting on constant tension hose clamps dealers will tell you whatever makes them money. If you want to make your life a hell of a lot easier get the worm spring style constant torque clamps. Of course you would have to get the right sizes. http://www.amazon.com/Breeze-Constant-Torque-Stainless-Worm-Drive-Diameter/dp/B009SD06NG/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1433483105&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=worm+spring+constant+torque+clamp

Now if the dealer said you had to have them and they charged you $245 dollars and did not put them on and installed the worm style instead. You walk right up to them and say thank you for putting the correct part on for free. If they did the job and didn’t use OE parts and said you have to use OE parts you tell them they have to fix it for free. If they put up a fuss ask to talk to the owner. When he gets there explain what happened calmly and ask how much word of mouth affects his business. Some times you have to play hard ball with people.

If you ask me as long as the regular worm style clamps are installed right it is not going to be a problem for a long long time.

[Robert]

[quote=”MDK22″ post=138606]I have experience with both. Neither of them are OTC but, in all honesty that actual plier ones are all pretty much the same.

OTC is a pretty good brand.

If you ask me as long as the regular worm style clamps are installed right it is not going to be a problem for a long long time.[/quote]

Thanks for the feedback. I purchased both OTC pliers and plan to change out the regular worm style clamps with constant tension clamps in the next week or so. Constant tension clamps from Mopar are not available for the heater core connectors so I will use breeze clamps for those.

[James O’Hara]

btw with the ones i listed you should be able to install them without having to remove the coolant. They should unwind all the way out and you clip them over though depending on how tight of an area you have to work trying to start the worm gear again can be a pain especially with the constant torque type. Try it once before putting it on you will see what I mean.

[wafrederick]

I hate the clamps with the locking tab with them in.There is one thing I do when seeing these.get my die grinder out and grind out that locking tab.Knipex makes a good pair of them,not cheap.I have a pair of these which is a modified pair of cobra pliers.

[Robert]

[quote=”MDK22″ post=138606]

As for putting on constant tension hose clamps dealers will tell you whatever makes them money. [/quote]

You were right. I went to the Dealer and talked with the lead service Director. Let him know I was a 15 year customer and spent over $15,000 in their service shop. Showed him the factory service manual page that states caution: only use constant tension clamps on this system.

His reply was they have always used worm gear clamps and never had a problem. Let him know that I was disappointed, believe the hose was compromised with the worm gear clamps they installed, and now I need to replace the clamps and the hose. He offered free labor and I turned him down and thanked him for listening to my complaint.

[Author]

Replies