Worried about blowing one of those rubber oil lines on my diesel.

[72timemachine]

I have read about folks losing their engines due to the rubber oil line hose that goes from the block to the radiator just like on my 1984 6.2 diesel.

I tow with this crew cab 3500 and the last thing I need is to loose the engine out in the middle of no man's land.

I confess that on my 1985 6.2 diesel Burb I notice that same line starting to weep oil so I took them off and capped the supply and return at the block.
I ran it for sometime with no problems.

I am sure cooler oil is better but don't diesel engine depend on heat for ignition purposes?

Are there any better aftermarket hoses out there?

Thanks for any help in advance.

[D13]

Diesels run on heat, yes. Heat is the enemy of oi and therefore bearing life. If you to the cooler makes a noticeable difference. All of the lines are subject to breaking or leaking at the crimps and the aftermarket parts are no better.
Common solution is to cap them (bad), put in hose nipples and run a loop of rubber hose (not good, less leaks but no cooling), replace them with aftermarket or OEM (better), have a hydraulic shop build you a custom set of hoses to replace them (figure out your routing first) (good) or replace them with braided hose (probably the best).

[Corts60]

If you still have your original hoses, take them to your local hydraulic shop and have them replicated. That is what I would do.

[hatzie]

Those are a common leak point.
Dorman makes the lines for the T400 chassis 6.5L... I bought a set from Rockauto in 2007 to replace the hoses on my 2000 6.5L and they are still leak free.
The Dorman 1985 6.2L upper and lower cooler hoses are available from Rockauto for around $25 each with all the seals etc needed to install.