so is there a special tool or can i do it myself at home? or even worse do i need to take them to a hose place?
It does take a special die to swedge the fittings to the hose. Our NAPA in town makes up hose assemblies, you should be able to find someone to do it reasonably cheap. John
I've seen them in rod catalogs for $200 to $300. Unless you're going to install alot of systems, I'd take it to an ac shop. before you take them in, mark how the fittings are located on the hose. That's pretty important if the fittings have any angle bend on them.
since i have to go to a shop to have the system charged up should i just assemble everything then take it there let them crimp them and charge the system?
If you have the fittings and just need them crimped, most AC shops only charge from $1-3 a crimp. Pending on what your toll might cost it is sometimes easier to have it done some place. Plus they might guarentee the crimp job. DuckusCrapus
i have all the fittings and hoses im just mounting the under dash unit and drier tonight so im ready to rock as soon as i can the fittings crimped on
I bought one of those pricey crimping device kits and it works awesome. I used it on my A/C lines and started finding other uses too......like air hoses and other stuff. I'm a slightly derranged tool nut and I like to have anything cool that will allow me to do it myself.
Mastercool makes a hydraulic one ... kind of pricey but NICE ... A friend has one ... so I plan on using his ...
I've got the hydraulic one, and it works great! Got tired of driving 15 miles or so, one way to pay $4 a pop for crimps. I've been installing AC in all my cars, and had a couple customer ones lined up as well, so it pays off for me! If you use all rubber, like the aftermarket kits sell, there's about 8 per car. $32+tax. So after 10 cars, it's paid for. AND I don't have to waste 2 hours every time I need them done. There is a manual one from MasterCool, as well. Probably less than $200 on the net.
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