[Yoter]

I was just browsing Amazon warehouse deals and found a HPS Silicone Radiator Hose kit for only 25 bucks, I impulse bought it without doing any research....
I have never used silicone radiator hoses before, so I did some googling to see what the advantages are and found a Video from Gates showing that they permeate water, which seems like a horrible downside and a total failure of the purpose of a radiator hose
It seems that most of the positive information I came across was just from companies trying to sell them, are these just a gimmick?
Has anyone used silicone radiator hoses?
Are there are advantages? Is it worth sticking these things on my 4runner?

[jgue467]

The regular hose material lasts over 200K miles as it is.

What makes this better and worth 3-4 times the cost?

[pluton]

Originally Posted by jgue467

The regular hose material lasts over 200K miles as it is.

What makes this better and worth 3-4 times the cost?

^^^This.

[Vansnxtweek]

I see no use for this unless its going on a vehicle that will be shown in a car show. Even then I don't like that plastic looking stuff. OEM is best.

[squirrelchill]

Originally Posted by jgue467

The regular hose material lasts over 200K miles as it is.

What makes this better and worth 3-4 times the cost?

Agreed - an 'answer' to a question nobody asked, I'd say go with the tried and true.

[TheDurk]

Put it in your BMW. Their hoses suck. Ten years and done.

[4skinner-74]

I use the silicone on my vacuum hoses,I recently swapped all my old vacuum hoses with silicone hoses and I guess I mustve had a vacuum leak because now my rig is shifting alot smoother(auto) and seems to have more pep.The silicone will last forever i just dont know how the hold up to hot water.

[2TH4IST]

I'm not on here much anymore. But I'll chime in on silicon hoses.

They have a higher heat resistance both internally and by radiant heat. They expand less then rubber, so you build psi quicker and more consistent. They are impervious to oils unlike rubber hoses.

Downsides - expensive, useless unless you change over every coolant hose. Requires special hose clamps that don't tear the silicon. Are usually bigger in OD so constant tension hose clamps won't work. Deteriorates when in contact to gas.

I replaced every oem hose with oem hoses on my runner, I'd say somewhere in the 250$ range, yes every single coolant hose was replaced.

Now on the rally cars we had, every hose was swapped to silicone, coolant and vacuum. As for a daily, oem or bust.

[gamefreakgc]

Silicon is usually used for air intakes, not for fluids. It resists heat better than rubber so it keeps the intake charge cooler than rubber or metal in the hot engine bay. There's no advantage at all to using silicon coolant hoses as the coolant is usually hotter than the air around it and rubber is pretty much impervious to water.