Blew a trans cooler hose in Death Valley. Need to upgrade hardware.

[Randy88FJ62]

This past Sunday I split apart from the rest of my club with another friend and we took a different exit out of death valley. We decided to explore a mine on the way out that was off the main road.

I started to smell oil and then the smell got real strong. I stopped my truck and look under to find I was leaking a decent amount of transmission fluid. I pulled off the front skid and eventually found that the hose clamp had popped off the barbed fitting that I had installed on the exit of the stock radiator trans cooler port. A quick 20 minute fix and topping off with 2 quarts of ATF and I was back driving.

Now the back history. Last year I installed brand new soft lines with the old fittings crimped on. Really nice hose going to and from on the soft lines with the exception of the line that popped. The line exiting the radiator cooler and going to the auxiliary cooler was a cheap autozone coolant hose. So strike 1 with cheap hose and strike two with hose clamp.

I read through the forums and people use a M14x1.5mm Male to -6 AN (similar to a JIC 9/16-18) fitting.

That solves the exiting hardware for the radiator cooler.

What is the best clamp to use on a tube exiting an F250 cooler? And don't say buy a better cooler.

This is the cooler: 2001-2004 Ford F250 Super Duty Transmission Oil Cooler - Transmission - Action Crash 01-04 F250 Super Duty Transmission Oil Cooler - 5339-04084459 - PartsGeek

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Found a better image of the cooler I am using for reference. It looks like they use basic clamps on the ends. Are there better options?

 

[MANUCHAO]

AN fittings or hose-man...

I cooler with threaded inserts would be best... but for the cooler you gots compression fittings would work too...

 

[FJ60Seth]

A barbed fitting is going to suck. Ideally it would have a “berm” around it, like a radiator inlet. It would help if you could support the hose before it bends, thus removing some of the downward pressure on it.

 

[NCFJ]

I have become a big fan of Gates Power Grip clamps. I use them on all water hoses and now on trans and PS lines. I recently had an AN push lock fitting come apart for the first time. Now I assemble them with a Gates Power Grip clamp on them as extra insurance.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Wanted to follow up. I replaced the barbed fitting with a 90° M14x1.5mm with o-ring to Ø9/16-18 JIC. I then took the fitting to my local hose shop (Orme Brothers in San Fernando Valley) and had them make a hose to fit the JIC end and open hose on the other to slide over the ford cooler male nipple. All snugged up and ready for another adventure.

A side note: The rubber hose I had on the truck when the line blew was cheap from autozone. When I removed it to put on this new custom hose it was already starting to crack and loose elasticity. I believe the cheap hose was also part of the barbed fitting problem. It was less than 6 months old.

Moral of the story:
Invest in high quality hose and proper fittings when installing a critical coolant line on your vehicle.

Exact fitting used:
https://www.amazon.com/Brennan-Industries-7205-06-14-NWO-FG-Conversion-Adjustable/dp/B01BH71DDC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526918484&sr=8-1&keywords=jic+m14+fitting+90°

 

[Spook50]

@Randy88FJ62 was it an AN fitting you had on your radiator outlet when the hose blew? Had the hose actually ruptured or degraded and slipped off? I'm in the process of adding a B&M cooler that's got 3/8" hose nipples so I'm converting all my fittings to -6AN barbed (using 14x1.5 to -6AN male unions in the transmission and the radiator) and planned to use spring clamps as added insurance over the barbed ends where the hose slips on. Got low pressure hydraulic hose from a local supplier (not cheapo Napa hose) to do the job.

 

[Morgan Evans]

Borgeson Power Steering Hose Adapters 925121
m16x1.5 ineverted flare to 6an connected my soft line to my 6an adapter and twist-tite cooler line. Then 14x1.5 to 6an for the radiator. I used a copper washer on the radiator 14x1.5 connection. They say it will hold 250psi.

 

[shipmag]

If you tell me the length of hose in teflon stainless steel you want and the exact fitting you are screwing into i can probably get what you want. Unfortunately all i have is two FJ40 with a 4 speeds. If there is room for banjo fittings you can bolt the hose right in without two fittings. If you want a m14 or M16x1.5 with a flare on the other end and a flare fitting on the hose I can have that made for you. My supplier also handles Mocal and Mocal HD and Setrap and various filter housings.

All I have carried so far is just the bypass hose for manual transmissions. If we can make up a number of hoses as a group buy its worth wall. But to buy one at a time is cost prohibitive. We started group buys with the bypass hoses and so many wanted them I buy the 20 at a time to keep the cost down. If you tell me what you all can agree on we can see ig we can get enough together and see what the costs would be. A lot of my fittings are coming from Europe.
Shipmag.