We have all lost our minds fighting these factory spring clamps! 🤬🔧 Anyone who works on cars knows that these heavy-duty clamps are notorious for slipping out of normal pliers, aggressively snapping back onto your fingers, or launching themselves directly into the darkest corners of your engine bay! To completely solve this frustrating problem, this mechanic uses a brilliant $1 hack. By threading a standard plastic zip-tie through the metal tabs and wedging a small steel nut in the middle, they can safely ratchet the clamp open! This locks the spring tension wide open, giving you total, safe control to slide the stubborn rubber hose completely free without any more pain or lost tools!
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There are pliers you can get that lock closed, they’re literally called “hose clamp pliers”… You can even get a version that has a flexible cable to snake it around to the hard to reach areas. As an aside, anyone who does the research knows those clamps are a necessary evil since they provide constant tension under different temperatures. That’s why you shouldn’t replace them with the worm gear style even though those are easier to manipulate.
If you can pull the tabs together with your fingers as easily as that, you need new hose clamps.
Or you could just get the right tool one time, save a lot of time and stop fidgeting with single use cable ties.
German here... my Knipex does that for me.
They DO NOT snap back against your knuckles.
vice grips
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A solution for a problem I didn't have.
Cutting that zip tie is a knuckle grenade
I just squeeze them with my hand and slide them back on the hose. No tools needed.
Curved needle nose pliers for the ones that are oriented weird. Vice grips, channel locks, hose clamp pliers, there’s a lot of options that you should already have
Ive used vise grips on this type of clamp for years never had a problem. There the best hoseclamps .
Nice. And you can't lose them once squeezed.
Forget the negative comments. This helped me with a hose clamp in a tight place where I couldn't get a tool on it. Your the man!
I just take it to the dealership and they do it for me. It costs a little more but it always works. Built not Bought is my motto.
Please viewers, don't take your vehicle to this mechanic. He's an imposter.
As a DIY homeowner this is a great idea. I can see getting a specific tool if I did this professionally. But I like the temperature change comment. Never knew.
If you have enough room to do this the clamp isn't a problem
I just discovered some of these on my car that lock themselves open. So they are easier to remove and throw in the garbage.
There's a tool for that !