Fabricating Aeroquip "Socketless" Hose

[tom h]

I just attempted to insert an Aeroquip "Socketless" series steel hose end into 1/2" (-8) "Socketless" hose.

Spread engine oil onto both the barbed fitting , and the inside of hose.

Clamped fitting into a vise ... pushed & twisted the hose ... I just could NOT get past the 2nd barb / ridge on the fitting ... this hose is tough, it is not your run-of-the-mill soft hose.

Where I bought the hose (Baker Precision), they said they usually don't have much trouble with the smaller 1/4 and 3/8 Socketless hose, but offered no advice on my 1/2 hose.
I thought about maybe sticking the hose into boiling water to soften it up first (??).

Aeroquip makes a special FBM3632 assembly tool, sold online for around $28 + S/H, but hate to spend $30 on something I'm not likely to ever use again...

Anyone ever done the 1/2 Socketless ?? What is the "trick" ?!

 

[Matt Weiser]

Yep, been there, done that on a different car. And you are right, the hose is a real tight fit on the fittings. But you shouldn't have so much trouble especially after lubing with motor oil. I got mine assembled all the way onto the fitting with no lube and no vice (but a lot of huffing and puffing and grunting). Stupid question, but are you sure you have the right size hose for the fitting?

Just keep at it, it'll go. At the least it will give you confidence the bugger won't leak later!

 

[tom h]

Originally posted by Matt Weiser
Yep, been there, done that on a different car. Stupid question, but are you sure you have the right size hose for the fitting?
... At the least it will give you confidence the bugger won't leak later!

Yes, was very careful about selecting correct part numbers, and the fittings and hose look the right size ... mismatched sizes would have stood out.

When the fittings finally DO get on the hose, I will have exceedingly high confidence they will stay on and not leak ... they will be tight!

I'm pushing on the stupid hose with both hands and my body weight, and the darn work bench with attached vise (200-300lbs total bench weight) just slides across the floor ... my strength is not enough to hold hose in left hand, fitting in the right hand, and squeeze them together.

I'l make another attempt when I'm not so irritated. If that fails maybe I'll just buy the $30 Aeroquip tool.

 

[Nashty]

My advice consists of "good luck". I nearly slit my wrist pushing that on while underneath the car and my hand slipped and brushed against the external filter I was installing. I bled like a stuck pig.

Try the boiling water trick or better yet, buy the tool, I'll buy it off of you when you're done. That's a serious offer if you're interested.

Roger

 

[strikeeagle]

Sounds like you're confirming that there's a reason for the tool.

I'm not sure how much confidence I'd have in a boiled hose.

Hey, one trip to the ER will pay for that tool...

 

[galoush]

Its not you that stuff is a pain which is why i used the standard AN when i made my fuel syst. , I dint even know they had a tool for the socketless stuff . $30 sound like a deal to save alot of hassle.

 

[turbojimmy]

I don't have a vise. I lubed the hose and fitting up with WD40 and used vise-grips on both the hose and fitting (put a rag between the grips and the fitting so as not to scratch it). It wasn't easy, but they went together. Still holding after about 2500 miles (trans cooler).

Jim

 

[tom h]

Think I will just buy the tool! Summit has them.

The picture of the tool in the catalog shows a pointy mandrel for pushing the fitting ... looks fine for a straight fitting, not obvious how an angle fitting would be installed. Will give it a try anyway, Aeroquip didn't call it a "Straight fitting install tool".

 

[Nashty]

How about a link to that tool?

The hose is rated for 250º on the low end and higher for better hose. Water boils around 220º so you should be alright.

 

[tom h]

Originally posted by Nashty
How about a link to that tool?

Due to the way Summit Racing uses frames on their web page, it doesn't seem possible to do a direct URL.

But at Summit's web http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=search.asp ,
search for Aeroquip # FBM3632 or summit catalog # AER-FBM3632 .

Here's a picture of the tool
http://www.hydraulic-supply.com/pdf/performance/54.pdf
(must be an older catalog, the tool is called # FT1268 in this pic).

Having difficulty visualizing how an angle Socketless fitting would be inserted.

 

[tom h]

from my aeroquip catalog, I also notice the aluminum Socketless fittings seem to have a bit different design than the steel fittings (which I am using). Alum fittings have 3 ridges/barbs, steel fittings have only 2.

Can't tell if the height of the barbs is different between steel and alum.

If & when I get the darn fittings pushed on, I will also have to be careful to push on the 2nd angle fitting in the correct rotation ... otherwise the hose will have a bad twist in it.

 

[tom h]

success!

Success!

Heated the hose and fitting with a heat gun ... got it pretty warm, but not uncomfortable to touch.

Was able to finally push the hose past the 2nd barb on fitting, and bottom it. It changed an impossible task into merely "very difficult".

Decided against immersing in boiling water, because didn't want to risk trapping water between the steel fitting & hose, and create rust. Maybe with the oil I used to lube everything, wouldn't have been a problem, didn't want to take chance.

 

[MG8T7GN]

Save your money for the tool. It does only straight fittings, not the 45* or 90*. How do I know? Well, I'll sell you my new, useless tool!
Here's how I assemble the fittings: Oil the barbs and i.d. of the hose. Stick the fitting in a vise against the collar with the barbs pointing outward. GENTLE is the word when tightening the vise against the hose end. Heat the hose with a heatgun and the hose will slip right onto the hose end all the way to the ring. No grieve. No cussing. Most importantly, no leaks. For straght hose ends, same procedure except I put the hose end against the front of the bench and push the hose onto it. I do it this way for all the trans cooler lines I use on our race cars we build. HTH.

Mark

 

[tom h]

Thx, Mark. I'll certainly remember these lessons for next time!

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

I had a line made up for my car yesterday.

I had em make me a 1/2 fuel line and he pushed then on by hand most of the way then put it in a press that clamped on the hose and a piece come out to push the fitting the rest of the way in

this 1/2 line sure is a whole lot easier to blow thru than the stock line

 

[BlackMagic]

Here's my suggestion on how to put them on easily..

1) Take your AN fittings and put them in a ziplock bag inside your freezer for an hour +

2) Boil some water on the stove.

3) Remove a fitting from the freezer and lay it on the counter beside the stove.

4) Oil up the edge and inside of the hose. Put on a leather work glove, and immerse the end of the hose in the boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes and keep it moving around. Grab the fitting with your non-gloved hand, pull the hose out of the boiling water, and immediately push the hot hose onto the cold fitting.

The hose will go onto the fitting with minimal fuss if you follow those 4 steps.

 

[S10xGN]

Originally posted by BlackMagic
Here's my suggestion on how to put them on easily..

1) Take your AN fittings and put them in a ziplock bag inside your freezer for an hour +

2) Boil some water on the stove.

3) Remove a fitting from the freezer and lay it on the counter beside the stove.

4) Oil up the edge and inside of the hose. Put on a leather work glove, and immerse the end of the hose in the boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes and keep it moving around. Grab the fitting with your non-gloved hand, pull the hose out of the boiling water, and immediately push the hot hose onto the cold fitting.

The hose will go onto the fitting with minimal fuss if you follow those 4 steps.

I used the boiling water trick to assemble my -10 oil lines and the fit was loose enough to scare me! I ended up with a pair of tie-wraps on each fitting end for my own "security blanket".

 

[disco stu]

I am about to assemble some lines with these fittings for an oil cooler. Do I have to use the Aeroquip hose or can I use the Parker pushlock hose, or something else?

 

[BlackMagic]

I would stay with the same brand hose and fittings to make sure they mate up good.