HD cooling rubber to silicone

I was thinking of changing from the rubber hoses to silicone but I noticed that with the HD cooling system there is a section of metal pipe taking the place of part of the lower radiator hose, and was wondering if there was any specific reason for this other then to maybe make sure the hose can't get hit by the mechanical fan.

The silicone hoses are not as flexible as the standard rubber. They are hard to keep from "weeping" at the joints.

I would think it is to keep the hose from being damaged by the fan. It could also be a "repair" instead of replacing the hose. If you use the proper clamps, and tighten them enough, they will seal.

the steel part I think is original as it has a tab that is used to hold it to the bracket for the mechanical fan components and it has the look of original.

Plus looking up parts the HD system has two small hoses for the lower while non HD has one on all the part places I've looked at.

But would the silicone hose be stiff enough on it's own to keep it from bouncing around and possibly contacting the mechanical fan or would I be better off just sticking with the original system and the rubber hoses.

""would I be better off just sticking with the original system and the rubber hoses.""

Works for hundreds of thousands of miles on millions of cars.

Silicone hoses were provided on Public Service vehicles that spent their lives idling and running most of the day.

OEM stuff works fine for a daily driver.

I do plan on doing performance upgrades to the engine once I get the money saved up for having the engine rebuilt, that was why I was thinking about upgrading to silicone hoses now while I'm already getting them rather then get new rubber hoses now then get new silicone hoses later even if the rubber ones are still fine.

Silicone hoses were designed for lifetime installations on 9c1 police vehicles, which also came with the heavy-duty cooling system (mechanical primary fan) for most PDs. The metal intermediate pipe was indeed to keep the rubber hose from contacting the mechanical fan, but the silicone hoses are somewhat more rigid and didn't require it. The metal pipe works fine and doesn't seem to leak with the rubber hoses unless the pipe is badly corroded or the hoses are nasty. I converted to dual electric fans but kept the Rubber/metal lower hose because the parts house had the rubber in stock and needed to special order the silicone ones for 3x the money. I don't really see a benefit one way or the other unless you plan on keeping the car going for another 25+ years in which case the silicone has the edge. I will be dead by then and if I have my way the car will be completely worn out so I didn't bother.

Rubber hoses work just fine and have for decades.

Silicone is more for heavy duty, long time use. They seal up just fine and many of them are extremely flexible. I use it every day at work.

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The metal pipe on the fan drive cars is so that it can be secured out of the way of the giant prop bolted to the front of the engine that will shred any rubber hose that contacts it.