Ok so after much cursing I am finally annoyed enough to buy a nice set of Spring Hose Clamp Pliars.
What does the Hive reccomend for a buy it once pair of these pliars.
Slowly getting rid of all the silly screw/bolt type and bringing it back to the nice constant pressure spring clamps that can't be over / under tightened.
I have the OTC 4525. They are good and work well. No complaints whatsoever.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Yup. Get a set and ask yourself why you waited so long. It's like cheating.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I used to be a philistine. I would deface and ruin spring clamps and then replace them with worm gear clamps. Then I learned the sound reasoning behind spring clamps and bought the right tools to service them properly. Now I consider myself enlightened. My path to wisdom has been slower than I wanted it to be.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
I bought the remote variety with the head on a cable. I was replacing the water pump on my truck at work and cursing when my snapon rep came in. He laughed at me, went back outside and set them on the fender. I angrily grabbed them and instantly whipped off the clamp that was giving me grief, turned around and handed him my credit card.
They were overpriced and very much worth it.
In reply to Trent :
As I get older I pay more money to get better tools and I yell at myself I should've bought the better stuff 30-40 years ago.
Tools and shoes (boots), spend the money.
Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I used to be a philistine. I would deface and ruin spring clamps and then replace them with worm gear clamps. Then I learned the sound reasoning behind spring clamps and bought the right tools to service them properly. Now I consider myself enlightened. My path to wisdom has been slower than I wanted it to be.
I remember yanking all the spring clamps off and brilliantly replacing them with work gear clamps 15 yrs ago. Yeah - duh. So enlightenment comes later for some.
Alright so 1 vote from Cousin_Eddie for the below remote style.
I was actually thinking of the pliars style but not sure I truly have an opinion having never used any of them.
The ones I recommend go for 33 bucks at Amazon. Keith and Trent also recommended them too by the way.
I have the hand pliers too like your second picture but they have limited uses. The cable type allows you to sneak down into heater hose clamps and all kinds of tight situations. If I could only have one, it would be the cable ones.
I'm counting at least three votes for the remote style.
Never do a Mazdaspeed Miata intake without them.
You don't have only one screwdriver, right?
Cable style, pliers style, Knipex general pliers, all are very useful. The cable gets in the way in a lot of locations like up against firewalls, or working in a hole like a Chrysler 3.6 bypass hose.
And curse the Ford clamps with the locking tang that gets in the way of the cable style unit. I have been known to cut those tangs off 
84FSP said:Alright so 1 vote from Cousin_Eddie for the below remote style.
I was actually thinking of the pliars style but not sure I truly have an opinion having never used any of them.
Why not both ?
I worked at a medical X-ray film processor OEM and we used hundreds of these Corbin clamps. If you didn't use the proper tool you could shoot your eye out or lose a tooth. They were deadly. Get the right tool.
Those Lisle "hose clamp pliers" are for the click on/click off clamps typically found on German cars. They make life SO. MUCH. EASIER.
I cannot think of the name of those clamps. These f'ers.
Held one way they release them, held they other way they click them back into place. Utterly impossible without The Tool.
I have this style and like it.
Datsun310Guy said:I worked at a medical X-ray film processor OEM and we used hundreds of these Corbin clamps. If you didn't use the proper tool you could shoot your eye out or lose a tooth. They were deadly. Get the right tool.
Knipex pliers are awesome at these!
This type:
The jaws are serrated to grip flat spring type extremely well end-on, and notice that the ends have indentations? They are serrated the other way and are great at getting the flat spring type from the side.
And they are absolutely phenomenal at those old style wire type clamps.
Yes, they are expensive. I think $90 each. But they are also made out of some of the finest steel I have ever seen in a hand tool and I have not noticed any wear on them yet despite them being my go-to for just about everything. The slip joint has six or seven locations, and they are assembled as a fork and blade and not just two halves that attach in single shear.
"They are engineered and built with all of the high quality and attention to detail that prevented Germany from winning two world wars"
Keith Tanner said:I'm counting at least three votes for the remote style.
+1
Only way to work on certain British supercars without complete disassembly.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Those Lisle "hose clamp pliers" are for the click on/click off clamps typically found on German cars. They make life SO. MUCH. EASIER.
I cannot think of the name of those clamps. These f'ers.
Held one way they release them, held they other way they click them back into place. Utterly impossible without The Tool.
Oetiker clamps
Ok pressing the buy it now button this afternoon. Need to order up the missing larger spring clamps. I snagged a kit of like 15 different sizes with 10 each cheaply a while back to clean up some scruffy caddy clamps.
Complete set from Amazon for $44. Much cheaper than the set I bought from the Toolwarehouse almost 20 years ago and includes some a few more useful tools.
On OE style spring clamps on cooling systems, I've had very good results over the years using simple 90* long reach pliers like this
I usually have to use channel lock pliers for larger clamps like those on radiator in/outlets.
What improvements will these pliers you're all talking about provide?
In reply to amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) :
They don't slip off, they don't slip under and destroy the clamp (if it ain't round anymore, it is garbage), the cable type and the clamp-specific pliers type are usually locking, which is amazing to have, because if you are reusing a hose the clamp MUST go exactly where it was before, or it will probably leak
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Every Porsche owner should have these turns aos replacement from hours into 20 minutes
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