I upgraded to the Doorman aluminum elbows and yes I replaced the O rings before installation.
Notice how the O rings are compressed flat on the plastic ones that were leaking.


Here are the aluminum elbows that were installed and a picture of one that was installed. I couldn't get a clear picture the other one.



I also replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses. Getting to the lower hose clamps wasn't easy, but I got it done and now all is as it should be.

Outstanding!

I'm kinda wondering if the the newer style elbows will do the same thing with the o-rings. At least now you don't have to worry about the elbows breaking and spewing gallons of coolant all over the place.

never had one that the oring part stayed together when trying to get it out. they all became a million pieces i had to fish out.

I changed the O rings just to be on the safe side and didn't want to keep spending on antifreeze.

It depends on how long they were installed in the vehicle. These were in for only a month that'* why they didn't break apart. A few years back the Dealer did my Lim under warranty and changed the elbows. Six months later I removed the tensioner to get to the steering pump, the O ring weren't flat and I just re installed the elbows with no leaks .

but they did eventually leak? i put some black silicone on all the connections for insurance, nothing really holds those in so i figure it cant hurt

No, the dealers never leaked. The ones that leaked were from ZZP, one of the dealer elbows cracked while removing the old tensioner otherwise I would have reused it.

Oh, never reuse those plastic ones!