Went to my local Ace hardware yesterday to buy some hose clamps since they are (were) the only place left around here that had good American made clamps, in this case Tridon which is about the best IMO. I was really disappointed to see that the only Tridons they had left was the 1" and every thing else was no-name "made in you-know-where" I searched all over town and finally found some at Advance Auto (Ideal brand) that are quality USA made but Ideal clamps seem made more for plastic pipe than rubber hose so the smaller ones are quite bulky and awkward but at least they are dependable and very strong. Some of the clamps I looked at could be easily, and I do mean EASILY, twisted out of shape and even broken with your bare hands and I am sure that they would break long before they got tight enough, I have no idea what they could be used for but certainly not a radiator or heater hose! Don't know for sure where I will get hose clamps now but I use quite a few of them so I guess I need to find a source for the Tridons and stock up. This scrounge of Chinese junk is going to be the end of us all if it continues but I see no end in sight and I guess part of the problem looks at me from the mirror every morning but this just may be the wake up call I needed.

I've been using T-bolt clamps on anything I want to stay put. Not cheap, but they work.

Available in a large variety of sizes from the aftermarket:
http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...303986&D=303986

Also available from McMaster Carr.

Wurth is a German company and they make some of the best clamps out there. Standard equipment on most Eurpoean cars. They are kinda hard to find; usually found at places specializing in parts for European cars.

http://www.wurthusa.com/project/en/...ath=07.0178.jpg

Wurth also carries a bunch of other high quality products, too. Heres their catalog...

http://www.wurthusa.com/project/en/...tartpage_1.html

Jamie

I am still buying the same hose clamps that I have used for years at NAPA. I just bought some last week.....I really can't say where they were made at...might be contracted out overseas, but the quality is still good.

I prefer the lined clamps, see page 240 of the online catalog,
http://www.mcmaster.com/ (Look for hose and tube clamps in the
first section) mainly because they don't cut up the hose...

K

Lowes has USA made clamps in the plumbing section. I'm still running the Factory clamps on my '67 Falcon, '51 Chevy also, but they are the weird old style, kinda like the high preassure clamps