2003 5.3 Heater Hoses

[HitIt]

So I am replacing belts/hoses among many other things (100k service) and ordered a bunch of parts from rockauto. I as hoping that the new heater hoses would come with the new quick connect fittings but they didnt. I want to either remove or replace them since I have heard that they tend to break.

 

Part numbers for quick connects from this thread:

 

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46925

 

are 15151875 and 1503206. I already got the quick connect removal tool J-43181 to get them off. Anyway, I was hoping to get opinions on whether I should replace them with the factory fittings (around $40) or just remove them and use hose clamps to directly connect the hoses to the heater core.

[wawa]

i would use the connectors. i've never seen or heard of them leaking.