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Snomas's avatar
Snomas
Explorer
Mar 22, 2014

Would you replace the Hydraulic hoses?

My 02 Dutch Star is getting old obviously. My question is would you replace the Hydraulic hoses (they run the fan and steering),they are the original hoses? I just replaced the heater hoses and my rad hoses are about 3 years old. Am I missing any other hoses that could fail? Just being cautious.
  • Those two hoses are probably about at their mid-life in terms of age.. When I worked on buses for a living, When we got a new one in from the factory we would go over everything in the engine compartment, checking clamps and making shure that nothing was overlooked.. One important thing we did was look at all the hoses and look for any place they were rubbing on a bracket or sharp metal edge.. If one was found we would cut a section of heater hose 3-4" long and slice one side so it would slip over the hose and make a wear pad so it rubs on the edge instead of the hose, and secure it with a zip tie.. This saved many road calls...
  • DO you do your own maintenance or have a mechanic do it. If you have a mechanic do it he should be checking all of that regularly.
  • I suscribe to the theory of fixing wear items before they break. It's called preventive maintenance. Hate interrupting fun times because I was to lazy to fix or replace a part that was showing signs of wear. Bought my Moho with 64k miles on. First thing was a 100,000 mile severe weather service including all fluid hoses in egine compartment and all belts. On recommendation replaced front brake hoses.
  • I subscribed to the theory if it isn't broke don't fix it and we broke down on the Interstate twice on this winters trip!!! Cost $$$$$!!
  • I subscribe to the theory that if it isn't broke, don't fix it.
  • Not an expert on this but do the hoses show signs of wear, cracked, seeping fluid. If you are uncomfortable about it pick up some new ones as spares or just bite the bullit and replace them. On my cars and vans I have had over the years I always changed out hoses at 100,000 miles, belts as they showed signs of cracking or sever glazing. I did have a failure on a radiator hose that had been replaced with about 20,000 miles on it. So you never know. Preventative maintenance sure is cheaper and easier than reactive maintenace on a trip on the side of the road! My RV had 63K on it when we bought it. Like everyone else I went through it and serviced what I thought had been neglected till I was comfortable taking it where ever we wanted to go.I now have about 84K on it and would load up tommorrow and take off in it!
  • Brake lines to the front brakes are usually flexible and subject to deterioration.
    Check with a local hydraulic shop. They may be able to replace your hoses with higher quality braided stainless steel/silicone hose material and cost less than the original rubber type parts you would get from the manufacturer.