Thread: coolant elbows. Yes, coolant elbows

I mean if you use dielectric grease then you might be safe, but not a sure thing

All I know is, after having one of the plastic elbows explode on me while driving...I feel much better having metal ones in there!

Originally Posted by Burbman

I'm not sure I agree....you may be right, but the flip side is that we don't know what the metal elbows are made of, they are some sort of aluminum alloy which may or may not have corrosion issues. Also, the only thing that holds these elbows in the hole is the O-ring, there's no metal-to-metal contact for seating or sealing purposes where corrosion would make it difficult to remove.

I am *hoping* that the Dorman engineers took these things into account when they designed the elbows, but only time will tell I guess. Besides, if they don't leak there is no need to remove them

any time you have 2 different types of metal put together, there is always a chance of some kind of corrosion.

i just did my lim gaskets, the upper elbow was less then a year old ( plastic) that O ring was almost flat, and the tube was quite snug in the holes.

if you never saw a corrosion problem by mating 2 types of metal together, its a mess. and sometimes one of the metals looses out, and corrodes away.

ever use a galvanized nail in copper? with in year the hole in the copper from the nail will be twice the size of the puncture, and where the head meets the copper, it will corrode.

and al and cast dont mix either. they are chromed looking, so that may save them from this, but if they are polished AL it could happen, ive yet to have a set im my hands.

like Bill said its a waiting game to see how they work out.

I see crud build up around the plastic ones.. I know it's not corrision..but crud is crud and I'm just saying.....let's hope I'm wrong.

like you said BIll time will tell.

I like this thread because it makes me feel young again. Because when I started it I was. Oh what a difference a year makes.

add water or moisture to the equation and corrosion speeds up big time, the 2 metals make a electronic charge, and then one gets eaten.

if you were to use regular nails to hold the copper straps to hold the pipes to the wall studs, so they dont shake, the nails will corrode a lot slower. but still rot out over time, and sooner or later the pipes will start to rattle.


on them 8 lug wheels, i always used anti-seize on the lugs and back of the rear wheels to the hub. ( you want some between the lug and wheel too) i also towed my boat, and dunked the ass end in the salt water river 4 times a weekend. ( wheels deep) lugs would lock up, and the wheel got stuck once. never a problem again after using anti-seize.

heres one for ya, next high way trip you take in your truck, when you stop, go feel how hot the back tires are, vs the fronts, i have no idea why this happens, but my back tires/wheels were always way hotter then the fronts. i think the heat has something to do with the back wheels locking on. i noticed this with my 97 and 03 GMC p/u's both 4x4, happened with the factory wheels and the 33's i put on both of them. only had a problem with the aftermarket al wheels. the steel wheels always came off.

the heat would burn off tire shine faster too, very odd. fronts still looked great, the rears all dull and dirty looking..

Not sure on the method you want to use for installing the elbows. On my 97 I used a fair amount of RTV and it leaks on the LIM side. On my 99 I didn't use any and it never leaked...so I dunno.

that was my only thought as well, like what else could be getting the tires hot, never mind the whole wheel as well. mine both got hot no matter what, much warmer/hotter then the fronts.