May 24, 2021 Chad Reynolds ENGINE, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos 6
You know how you are watching some video on YouTube, get distracted, and then all of a sudden another video starts playing? Of course you do. Well that’s what happened to me that got me watching the video below. While watching the video I immediately started shaking my head and saying things to myself about how stupid I thought this guy is. I argued with virtually every point he made in the video in fact, which then got me thinking. But before I started calling my engineer buddies, including those that work at Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford, I figured I’d see what all of you out there thought first. Touch Springs
Watch the video and you’ll hear this guy talking about how spring hose clamps like the Hillman above are far better than the traditional worm drive clamp like the Ideal clamp pictured above it. He claims that the worm drive can’t be tightened sufficiently, and yet can be too tight when the temperature of the system climbs. Meanwhile, he claims that the spring clamp will always keep the perfect clamping load because it can expand and contract with changes in heat.
So here’s the thing. I’ve never found Ideal, or any other worm clamps, to be lacking in performance when properly sized for the hose being used. That’s not to say that I’ve never had one leak, because stuff happens, but I can’t think of one that leaked that wasn’t easily fixed by making sure it was tight. Full disclosure, I’m not a new car guy. I own older stuff and don’t own anything with the modern spring hose clamps on them. With that said, I’ve worked on plenty that are equipped with them and have undone them a jillion times when pulling LS engines out of donor cars. My take on spring clamps has ALWAYS been that the OEs went to them because they are quicker to install during the manufacturing process, and not because they are better at clamping.
Could I be wrong? Sure. But what do you guys think?
Personally, myself. I actually have never had a worm gear hose clamp leak. Unless it’s one of those ultra-cheap China types. I’m sticking with my worm gear type
No issues with worm clamps here. Also no issue with spring clamps either for stock type applications. I would guess spring clamps are cheaper and quicker installation for the OEM’s. They do also have constant torque worm style clamps if you were worried about torque loss.
what is amazing is the so called restored cars that are priced at big dollars have the wrong hose clamps right along with the wrong radiator cap, wrong battery and cables, etc, etc.
sorry just replaced a radiator on my daily because i thought the top plastic tank was cracked , but no it was the spring clamp that was leaking . installed the new radiator with a worm drive & we all know what is tight without being ham fisted . now i have a spare radiator in original packaging .
Spring clamps work very well or the manufacturers wouldn’t use them. I did notice though that a Maybach S650 uses worm drive clamps so obviously if you have a choice, maybe the worm drives are better..
Swing Springs The only reason the OEM’s use spring clamps is because they are cheaper and faster to install. Personally when changing hoses if the spring clamp still has good tension I go ahead and reuse it, if not I’ll replace it with a worm gear clamp because that’s all my parts store sells.