Tool Review: Lang Tools 2-pc Hose Removal/Installer Set
Hose removal and installation can be tricky. More so, removing a hose without damaging it and subsequently having to replace the hose is something all technicians strive for when performing such a service. Clay Koon, owner of Diesel Medic in Booneville, Mississippi, says that the Lang Tools 2-pc Hose Removal/Installer Set, No. 854, can remove a wide variety of hoses without causing damage.
Koon says that using the Lang Tools 2-pc Hose Removal/Installer Set is faster than previous methods of hose removal he has seen in the past. “Many times, a guy will stick a screwdriver in there and try to pry up on [the hose], and what will end up happening is they’ll end up tearing the hose. These (the Lang Tools Hose Removal/Installers) prevent that from happening,” Koon says. “They break the suction from the hose and the connector and you’re able to pull [the hose] off.”
Not only is using the Lang Tools set faster, but it is also more efficient, as it does not damage the hose being removed. “The big benefit is you don't tear the hose,” Koon says. “It saves time and money because you don’t have to replace hoses that were torn up during the repair job.”
Koon uses both pieces of the Hose Removal/Installer Set to safely and efficiently remove radiator hoses, charge air cooler hoses, heater hoses, and “pretty much anything that slides over a barb-type fitting.”
Koon says the set arrived at Diesel Medic in a carboard box, no manual included – and none needed. “It’s just like pulling a screwdriver out of a toolbox drawer. There are no parts to assemble. You just grab it and you’re ready to go to work,” he says.
Koon’s favorite feature of the tool are the striking caps on the end of the handles, something he utilizes on the straight tool particularly. “One of them is straight, for hoses that are facing you. If [the hose] is really tight, you can take a hammer and tap [the striking cap] and [the tool] will slide itself between the rubber and the coupling,” Koon says.
When asked if there was anything he disliked or would change about the tool, Koon replied, “I mean, they’re perfect. I wouldn’t change anything about them … this is just getting picky, but maybe a soft-grip version that had a rubber cover over the handle. But as far as the functionality of the tool, I give it a 10 out of 10.”
Koon says he will continue to use the Lang Tools 2-pc Hose Removal/Installer Set at his shop for clean hose removal services, and closed his review stating, “They designed the tool, they did their homework, and they got it right.”
