I just changed the PHH on my 1997 LX450. My approach was a little different. I took the top hose loose at the heater valve, and the bolt out of the upper bracket. Once those were loose, it was apparent that there was no lower bracket (it looked like it came from the factory that way). I laid under the LX450 and reached in from the furthest back wheel well flap and moved the head side hose pinch clamp to the middle of the hose with needle nose vice grips (I left the cotter pin clamp in place until I had the hose and tube assembly removed). Then I was able to pull the hose, with tube attached off the nipple on the head. To pull the hose off I reached up over the starter (obviously from the inside of the frame) and pulled firmly. Then I removed the tube and hose from the top side of the engine compartment. With the tube out, I installed replacement green stripe hose with AWAB hose clamp, obviously leaving the head side clamp slightly loose on the middle of the hose. I've been using AWAB brand hose clamps for about 18 years and really like them. The 7mm hex is longer than a regular bolt head and a 7mm socket fits on them really nice helps out in hard to reach places. All I had to tighten in place was the inner hose clamp, and I did that by feel using a quality 1/4" drive ratchet with 7mm socket. I used some Dow Corning Compound 4 on the nipple on the head, and the new hose slid nicely into place. I did all work (except removing and re-installing the hose and tube) from under the LX450, laying on my back. I'm 5'9", with longer arms but large hands, and this method worked very well for me. I never took the wheel well rubber flaps loose, and did not work around the front wheel at all, and did not have to bend anything out of the way. Not much more than an hour. If you have short arms, or large muscular arms, this method probably won't work for you.
PHH (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Wayne
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Ya, not sure what the big deal is with this hose. Tight space but definitely not a difficult job by any means.
Thanks. That was my first PHH. I'm a very experienced shade tree mechanic, and have a great selection of tools. A very long time ago I was a jet hydraulic mechanic working on T33s and F101s. Nothing was built for ease of maintenance on those aircraft, and was given a lot of difficult access jobs on the F101.
What I had going for me is not have a lower bracket on the tube, so I didn't have to deal with that bolt. By removing the tube, and installing the PHH on the tube while the assembly was out, I only had one hose clamp to tighten with the PHH in place. My choice of a hose clamp that works well with a ratchet was a big help. The run of the mill stainless steel hose clamps would be a lot more trouble and could have easily added thirty minutes to the job. I used a Mac 1/4" drive ratchet which is essentially frictionless (and has no slack in the ratchet mechanism) when going backward. A cheap ratchet would also add a lot of time to tightening the one hose clamp.
I laid under the LX450, with my feet towards the rear end and head towards the radiator, and I could reach the PHH. For some shade tree mechanics, removing the starter would make the job easier from under the truck.
a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed to this thread. I tackled my PHH yesterday. I won't bore you with the details, just to confirm it is done -yes, I slept well last night! Without you, (1) I would never have known about the PHH monster, (it's hard enough to spot even when one is looking for it), and (2) you all gave heaps of confidence to tackle it. I have never been so well prepared for a mechanical task before -ever! Having read all your posts, I knew exactly what to do and all the possible doom scenarios that could occur. (Mine was the inner clamp facing away and up). Glad to have that behind me. Again THANK YOU ALL!!!
I bought my 80 on Monday....drove it 1100 miles home. The day after I got home, my PHH started leaking. 
So I did a little digging into the Gate green stripe hose.
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...ipe-Vacuum-Brake-Hose/_/R-GAT27212_0161790653
Is that the stuff? It says it's heavy duty vacuum line. It does look like pretty heavy duty stuff especially at $12.49/foot.
Found this listed on O'reillys website @ $2.99/foot. Is it the same stuff?
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/GAT6/28447/N0888.oap?pt=N0888&ppt=C0222
Also something interesting, I found this quote on the Rock Auto website specifically listed in their silicone hose section.
"Silicone hose’s water permeation rate is 10 to 15 times greater than Gates Green Stripe coolant hose"
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...ipe-Vacuum-Brake-Hose/_/R-GAT27212_0161790653
Is that the stuff? It says it's heavy duty vacuum line. It does look like pretty heavy duty stuff especially at $12.49/foot.
Found this listed on O'reillys website @ $2.99/foot. Is it the same stuff?
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/GAT6/28447/N0888.oap?pt=N0888&ppt=C0222
Also something interesting, I found this quote on the Rock Auto website specifically listed in their silicone hose section.
"Silicone hose’s water permeation rate is 10 to 15 times greater than Gates Green Stripe coolant hose"
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That's what I thought.
What's a good source for the proper hose? Is the O'reilleys link the right stuff?
Also I've read most of the thread and a few have just replaced that hard pipe with flexible hose either silicone or green stripe. Is there any consequence to doing this? It sure seems like an easier path.
Yeah that's been established.
My question is if there is any consequence to replacing the whole hard pipe and the PHH with a length of heater hose instead of just using 50mm of 5/8" hose?
No. Many have done just that including myself.
Ok cool. Thanks for the reply. How much hose does it take and do folks typically re-route it or follow the same path. I've read of some maybe detouring it around the brake booster.
I didn't follow the same path, but didn't go all the way around the booster either. I don't have my 80 or I would take pic.
It's all good. I'll be picking up some hose later today or tomorrow and tackling this. I'll find a logical path for it.
Some will wrap with an outer liner to protect it from abrasion, etc. (still on my to do list lol)
I come from the Audi/VW world where many of the cooling systems are fickle about air trapped and it often takes quite a process to get it all out. Are there such problems with the Cruisers cooling system?
What product is typically being used?
People typically use the OEM metal tube because it is very abrasion resistant.
Seen people use spiral stuff like http://www.awcwire.com/producttoc.aspx?id=spiral-wrap or just sheath with a larger diameter hose.