When to change hoses on a Diesel Pusher ??

mtrumpet wrote:

Peralko wrote:
We had the hydraulic hose burst after about 17 years. No fun to lose the power steering and the cooling fans. Get any hydraulic hoses changed ASAP.

While that would generally be good preventative maintenance, it's much more rare for a hydraulic line to burst then say a coolant hose.(After all, the one on your rig was 17 years old.) Also, high pressure hydraulic lines (hoses) are very expensive in comparison to coolant hoses for example. A 6 ft. Long Hydraulic hose w/ 3/4" fittings (which is what most of us have) would run approximately $80.00/$100.00. Now, figure the line that runs all the way to the front of the coach to the steering unit. What is that, like a 30/40 ft. line? ($$$). You could run into several hundred dollars just changing out the hydraulic lines, not to mention the labor to have it done (and changing out that line that runs to the front of the coach is no picnic!)

(NOTE! We're speaking here of the large, 3/4" hydraulic lines that run the cooling fan and the power steering. Not the hydraulic leveling systems.)

Having said all of that, when your looking at 17 year old lines for example, then at the very least a thorough inspection of those lines is certainly in order. At that age then yes, replacement may be in order.

If nothing else, just food-for-thought...

The hose that burst was the one running from the hydraulic pump to the radiator fan. The ones running up to the steering are more protected inside the coach, and can probably go longer--we did not replace those. Replacing the hydraulic hose at Caterpillar ran just under $800. Another hose to check is the fuel line to the generator--had to replace that one as well.