Does anyone know what the best brand of coolant hoses are out there. I opened my hood today to do some work, and the top raidator hose was hotter then hell! Is there anything I can do to lower the temps?

 

bumpity

 

Your rad hose has nothing to do with the cooling of your car, and will be about as hot as the coolant in it. only thing to check about the rad hose is for soft spots and oil saturation.

You should check to make sure your car is running at the right temp. A aftermarket rad ($500) will help with cooling, and makesure you don't have any clogs in the system. Try having your current rad professionally flushed by a rad shop if you cannot afford an expensive aluminum upgrade. Run your hand along the rad when the car is heated (CAREFULLY) to check for any spots that are hotter or colder than others. if there are spots like this, you have a clogged rad.

Other things to just check/replace:
Check your thermostat for proper operation. Might wanna just replace it with a MAZDA one.
Replace your coolant.... High quality coolant cools better than contaminated coolant.
Check your rad cap.
Check timing/fuel mixture. Misadjustments here can affect combustion temps, and thus coolant temps.
Check for proper operation of your


Only other upgrade you could do to the system is an electric water pump... But we are getting into some seriously modded cars here. No way you should ever need that.

Stock hose is fine for the most part. Most upgrades are for cosmetic purposes only. I am about to switch to braided stainless steel lines AN coolant lines, when I go with my new rad, but just so it will match the other lines on my car. They have some stainless steel braided coolant hoses that you can just attach with normal worm-gear clamps; they will be more resistant to heat and oil saturation, and far less likely to ever burst, but also shouldn't be necessary.

Sorry this post is so scatter-brained... I am tired.
Sean Cathcart