John Koloski wrote:
>
> I sprung a leak last night.  Removed the spare tire, tightened the hose
> clamp, added coolant, bled the radiator, added more coolant, put the spare
> tire back.  Everything's fine, EXCEPT the hoses feel a little stretched,
> soft, pliable, "well broken in".  The vanagon has 180K+ miles, and almost
> 10 years on its hoses.
> So I went to http://www.busdepot.com to look into replacing them.  The
> vanagons got LOTS of hoses,  at approximately $50 each.   I wasn't brave
> enough to add them up, but I estimate at $500 to $750!
>
> IS THERE ANYONE  WHO HAS TRIED USING REINFORCED RUBBER HOSE-BY-THE_FOOT
> instead of molded hoses?  I'm thinking about not replacing them all (until
> they split), and I'd like to carry some non-molded hose, anti-freeze, duct
> tape, and extra clamps in case I need them some cold winter's night in the
> middle of nowhere.  I was wondering if there was anyone as "THRIFTY" as
> myself out there who could tell me what inside diameter of generic rubber
> heater hose to pack in my "emergency kit".

John,

Someone on the list did an excellent job of cross-referencing the VW
hoses to generic NAPA hoses. I have a copy and the address I have is
scribers.midwest.net/midwesty/vw/Vanagon/vwtonapahoses/ This looks like
good reading for you. Also get rid of that idea of waiting until a hose
bursts to replace it. A cooling system is only as strong as it's weakest
link, if you're going to do it-replace them all! The price of Autobahn
coolant and rebuildable cores should balance the economics for you.

Good luck,      JP