Life of the coolant hoses

[RobboMC]

Progress report - road trip went without a hitch ( except for the frypan that got left on the Prado roof! ) but returned with loss of about 2 litres of coolant.

Refilled and lost coolant again - cause: dripping radiator.

A chain ( or a cooling system ) is only as strong as it's weakest link.

[RanJ]

I'm a bit of a stickler for old parts that are easily replaced. Just bloody well do it... provided you use a quality part...

Gates have a belt and hose kit that could be worth your while. Replaces all the hoses and the accessory belts and they come in a nice handy plastic storage container, to pop your old ones into, plus anything you might want to take along as an emergency kit

[oceanracer]

Every time you do the water pump do the lot

[RobboMC]

I would replace the top hose if it looks swelled up and feels soft, also the hot heater hoses if easy
to get to.

Mate I've recently taken the engine and gearbox out of an MGF, after that anything on a Prado is easy to get to.

[LeighW]

Top hose and heater hoses that carry hot coolant are the ones most likely to go, I have had
hoses on the cold side nearly 30 years old and still ok.

I would replace the top hose if it looks swelled up and feels soft, also the hot heater hoses if easy
to get to.

[Hobes]

I have a little story, purchased a Jag that had all Coolant hoses replaced during a major service in the book (lies), to my surprise top hose burst (about 400m from front door), upon removing every single hose was stamped 2087 (20th week 1987) they where exactly 17 years old when it burst. They all looked fine which was more distressing. I have always changed hoses (and sometime radiators) @ 10 years or before if they looked swelled/damaged cheap insurance.

[RobboMC]

I'm thinking of getting a complete hose kit and replacing all the coolant hoses as a set; since they are 17 years old;
and am planning a decent road trip in the Spring.

Has anyone done this, are any of the hose clamps difficult to access? Was it worth it?

I have another way to get to work so it could be a job spread over a few days if I need to.

I wish I could wait for the 240k coolant replacement to do the hose work ( car now has 212k ) but that will take us until 2020.
The road trip will add 10k at least, but still not get us to 240k, so should I just suck it up and replace the coolant now anyway
or try and catch it and just top up.

I think 18 year old hoses are too old to risk on a long trip.