Fittings & Hoses

Automotive fittings and hoses serve a crucial role in the functioning of a wide range of critical system essential for the safe and efficient operation of your vehicle, including the engine, brakes, transmission, and cooling systems. Fittings are the connectors that link different parts of a vehicle, while hoses are flexible conduits that transport fluids, such as oil, coolant, and fuel, throughout the vehicle. See our detailed breakdown on all the different types of fittings, hoses and accessories in order to understand what goes where and what goes with what. You may also wish to peruse other categories in order to complete your installation, such as heat proof sleeves found in our cooling upgrades category.

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Automotive fittings and hoses serve a crucial role in the functioning of a wide range of critical system essential for the safe and efficient operation of your vehicle, including the engine, brakes, transmission, and cooling systems. Fittings are the connectors that link different parts of a vehicle, while hoses are flexible conduits that transport fluids, such as oil, coolant, and fuel, throughout the vehicle. See our detailed breakdown on all the different types of fittings, hoses and accessories in order to understand what goes where and what goes with what. You may also wish to peruse other categories in order to complete your installation, such as heat proof sleeves found in our cooling upgrades category.

Automotive fittings and hoses serve a crucial role in the functioning of a wide range of critical system essential for the safe and efficient operation of your vehicle, including the engine, brakes, transmission, and cooling systems. Fittings are the connectors that link different parts of a vehicle, while hoses are flexible conduits that transport fluids, such as oil, coolant, and fuel, throughout the vehicle. See our detailed breakdown on all the different types of fittings, hoses and accessories in order to understand what goes where and what goes with what. You Read More

Automotive fittings and hoses serve a crucial role in the functioning of a wide range of critical system essential for the safe and efficient operation of your vehicle, including Read More

The brilliance of automotive fittings and hoses lies in their ability to ensure the seamless flow of essential fluids and gases while maintaining the structural integrity of the system they are a part of. From preventing leaks to accommodating the expansion and contraction of fluids due to temperature variations, these components must meet rigorous standards of durability and reliability. In the dynamic world of automotive engineering, the right fittings and hoses can make all the difference in terms of performance, safety, and longevity. The below summary identifies the types, application suitability and importance of the various kinds of automotive fittings and hoses.

Hoses

100 Series Hose, sometimes called Cutter hose, usually consists of some formulation of rubber protected by a braided sheath. Suitable for fuel, oil and water, under a range of temperatures and pressures, it presents a cost-effective way to replace ageing OEM lines or to fit out a custom installation. The braid is typically a black or silver stainless steel, later revisions have made use of nylon, providing a significant weight saving.

200 Series Hose makes use of an impermeable teflon or PTFE inner hose protected by a braided sheath. The teflon tube can transfer most liquids under greater temperatures and pressures and significantly, is somewhat resistant to odours escaping. Accordingly, this type of hose is very useful when installing fuel systems in the boot of a car. The outer sheath is typically a stainless-steel braid, but lightweight versions made from nylon or kevlar are also available.

400 Series hose is often referred to as 'push lock’ and is designed to simply push onto its connectors. While more versatile and easier to work with than the previous braided types, push lock is not able to withstand the higher pressures and temperatures that 100 and 200 series hoses are capable of.

AC braided hose, as the name implies, is a braided hose designed specifically for air conditioning applications. Typically consisting of a nylon tube with a stainless braided sheath, these hoses can carry refrigerant at immense pressures.

Nylon hose might seem insignificant next to more industrial alternatives, but is useful for plumbing air, fuel, oil, and other liquids in smaller spaces. Very useful for connecting sensors, gauges and wastegates for a reliable connection.

Vacuum hose can often seem like regular silicon or rubber hose, but careful design of the construction allows the hose to hold both positive and negative pressure. Some might have observed heater hose 'sucking' closed when used in the wrong application. Vacuum hose is reinforced and capable of maintaining profile regardless of whether there is a positive pressure exerting forces upon it.

Brake hose takes on the appearance of smaller-than-usual braided hose, but unlike the others, must be made to meet ADR specifications for road use. Typical construction consists of a PTFE inner tube, a stainless braided sheath and a protective clear nylon or PVC coating to prevent abrasion of the braid.

Hard lines are available in steel, stainless steel and aluminium, and provide a neat and compact way to plumb liquids in and around the engine bay.

Hose Ends

100 Series/Cutter style hose ends are suitable for rubber braided hose, the name 'cutter' refers to the action of the inner section of the fitting cutting into the hose when assembled, creating a tighter seal.

200 Series/Teflon hose ends are designed to seal the teflon hose against a brass olive (hollow insert), providing a dependable seal.

Push lock hose ends take on the appearance of a heavy duty barb, but feature an integrated sealing washer. Not required, but is recommended to use crimp clamps.

AC hose ends are made from stainless steel and designed to handle the temperatures and pressures of AC refrigerant.

Nylon hose ends cater to the much smaller nylon tubes, and often come in some form of quick connect fitting.

Brake hose ends are, feature wise, very similar to 200 Series connectors but are often made from stainless steel.

Tube fittings refer to the myriad of connectors added to hard lines. These installations are usually permanent, and sections of tube may need to be re-made when making alterations.

Quick connect EFI fittings are relatively recent additions, particularly in OEM applications. Often found on ethanol content/fuel composition sensors, they are also suitable for other parts of the fuel system.

Fittings

Banjo bolts and fittings allow for compact installations, especially when hugging the side of the block or hanging off the sides of a turbocharger, pedal box or brake master cylinder. Banjo bolts are available in a range of aluminium and steel, as well as different length and angle outputs.

Bulkhead fittings allow plumbing to pass through firewalls and other obstructions without having to rely on an unreliable workaround or a vulnerable hose left rubbing against a sharp surface. Bulkhead fittings allow neat and direct connection with greater ease of serviceability.

'AN fittings' is a term that covers a wide cross-section of components. AN fittings originate as a Army/Navy specification. The AN terminology means that parts can be designed or built all over the world and still be usable together. AN or 'dash' sizing may seem daunting, but the number refers to increments of 16 of an inch. -04AN would mean 4/16th of an inch, -06AN would be 6/16th and so on.

AN 'flare' fittings are the most common fittings (unless specified in the name), and the fitting seals against a 37-degree taper after the threaded section. 'Inverted Flare' means the sealing section faces inwards, so must be used with inverted flare specific hardware. The closest relative to AN Flare is the ORB or O-Ring Boss fitting, which is simply an AN fitting with an O-ring sealing surface. Alongside these AN fittings, metric threads are used across the world, as are BSP (British Standard Pipe) and NPT (National Pipe Thread). Adapters to convert from one to the other exist in almost every variant conceivable, as well as extensions, thread expanders and reducers, as well as male plugs and female caps.

Engine Bay Dress-Up

Sometimes the job extends to cosmetics, and having a matching accoutrement for your engine bay does not have to break the bank. Braided hose covers are a stainless braided sheath that can be applied over rubber or other types of hose. Hex finishers are clamps that secure hose covers, and come in any colour to match the rest of the car. Braided hoses can be secured neatly with billet hose separators and p-clamps, which enhance the visual aspect but also prevent lines rubbing on anything sharp or abrasive when used correctly.

Specialty Tools

As the fittings are mostly aluminium, a wide range of special tools has been developed to use them without the risk of galling (a common occurrence with steel and aluminium parts working together) or simply mechanical deformation by steel tools on aluminium parts. From an array of tube straighteners, benders and cutters, which allows one to neatly fashion hardlines in-situ, to vise clamp 'soft jaws' attachments, which allow secure holding of the fittings without crushing them, there is always another AN related tool to make the job easier.