LINE LOCK INSTALLATION FOR DODGE RAM SRT-10 I purchased the Hurst Line Lock kit from JEGS: It was about $100. It comes with the solenoid, (crappy) switch, (crappy) indicator lamp, a 4A fuse holder/line splice, (3) sheet metal mounting screws, cardboard brake line gauge, and instructions: While at JEGS I also picked up a tubing bender ($10). At Sears/Craftsman, I bought up a flaring kit ($25) and a brake bleeding kit ($9...and much nicer than my old one!): Initially, I bought a line flaring kit to do the ends of the new brake lines. This proved to be a mistake. LOL It's better to form/bend your own lines, then take them to a PROFESSIONAL who has a flaring kit and been doing it much longer than you have. The manager at my local Midas was very cool and hooked me up with one of their techs to do the lines/fittings. 10 minutes and a couple of twenties later, I had 2 perfect lines ready to install. The tubing bender is certainly required, and you'll have to bleed your brake lines after the install. You'll also need a tubing cutter (I already own one). They're about $10-15. Materials you'll need are: - Pre-flared brake lines. I picked these 3/16" lines up from NAPA. 8" and 10", both stainless steel. - Wire. A nice sturdy gauge is a good idea. I opted for 16 ga., both red and black. 40' of each. - Switch. My cool switches hadn't arrived in time for the photo shoot. I opted for a nice toggle with an emergency safety cover. Pics of the switch and it's mounting location coming soon. - Connectors. It's great idea to solder wire to the switch leads......until it comes time to work on the switch. These connectors crimp on the end of the wire (plus heat-shrink of course), then push onto the leads on the switch. Makes install and maintenance a bit easier. If you want, heat-shrink the connector to the switch lead, or solder it. Your call. - Zip Ties. Can you ever have enough? LOL Whatever wire is not covered in heat shrink will be zip-tied. This also helps with a clean install. Wire looms are another option. Or you can hide the line lock wires inside an existing split loom tube. Again, your call. The switch covers showed up on Friday. The actual switches are coming from the UK. In the meantime, I'm going to be using a 20A toggle, then swap it out when the 'real' switch gets here: You'll also notice (2) NPT plugs in that pic. The Hurst system comes with one, but after drawing things out in my head, and seeing other installs, I believe these will come in handy. They were a few cents each at NAPA. I also picked up a practice piece of brake line. After doing a ton of reading on shaping/bending brake lines, this is probably a wise idea. I think the 20" section of 3/16" line was $2.99. THE BRACKET Unless you want to drill into the fender or firewall of the truck, we need to make a bracket for the line lock solenoid to mount on. I used a piece of cardboard to get the general shape I wanted and some basic hole placement. With my bracket, I utilize both nuts on the master cylinder housing. I added the bend in the bracket for a couple of reasons- A. So the bracket wasn't able to slide/more secure mounting. B. To place the line lock solenoid slightly back (towards the bed) in order to help facilitate where the new brake lines are going to be. Gives a little more room to work and looks cleaner/more pro. The cardboard was then turned into plexiglas. I used 1/8" for the L-shape, and thicker 1/4" for the solenoid mount: I decided on 1/4" for the solenoid mount section to help with strength, and also to save me from having to use nuts on the back side to mount the solenoid. This allows me to get the plate closer to the larger section of the master cylinder, and a much cleaner looking install. NOTE: The two screws on the master cylinder are NOT level. The upper one is closer to the bed of the truck by about 1/4". You can form/bend your bracket to compensate for this if you want. I left mine flat and will let the pressure from install form it. Also, the nuts on my truck are two different sizes: -Upper= 1/2" -Lower= 13mm Weird, huh? Once the plexi template was finished, I moved on to 5052 Aluminum. The bracket came out a little more 'blingy' than I thought. With the solenoid on: I used M6x12 zinc-plated screws with matching lock washers (and threadlocker) to mount the solenoid to the bracket. I like the contrast, but may switch them out to stainless. My only other option would have been to put it in the milling machine and 'face' it. I must admit, polished aluminum looks REALLY nice. NOTE: If you like my bracket design, you can contact JMB Performance. I gave them the design and they now have the brackets available in a ton of colors. BRACKET INSTALLATION The bracket goes on, and the nuts are tightened: Final check with the torque wrench (221 in-lbs./25 N-m each). Bracket is on and we're ready to mount the line lock solenoid and get some brake lines in there! THE SWITCH With it being so late I decided to tackle some things I could do in the middle of the night. First up- Switch Placement. Now for a line lock, lots of drivers like having it on the shift lever or within thumbs-reach. That's cool, but I'm mounting mine elsewhere. LOL On the instrument bezel, there's a great spot on the lower right hand corner. It's a perfect size for a single covered switch (almost like they designed it that way. LOL). That's where mine is going. I think it'll be close enough that I can flip it off with my right hand and keep my left hand on the steering wheel. Should work fine. Before we take anything off inside the cab...... DISCONNECT YOUR NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE!!!! I can't stress how important this is. Let me try: Airbags are miniature bombs. Do you want them to go off when your cheek is 2" from the airbag? Me neither. Disconnect the negative battery cable. Takes 1 minute. Go get a cool drink and come back to the truck a couple of minutes later (lets the caps discharge): Now we can start taking dash pieces off. I start with the center dash piece. There's one screw by the 'purse hook': Remove that, then CAREFULLY but with a little bit of muscle, pull the center section off. The clips are 2-way so they're tough to jack up. Don't yank too hard- there are wires attached back there. You'll need to disconnect them (starter button, heater/AC, pass. airbag switch): Once those are off, you can set the center piece to the side. Second one is the steering column cover. There are (2) screws WAY underneath for this one: Those need to come out, then a firm pull along the top edge will slip the 2 push connectors off up towards the steering wheel. That one is easy. Next is the drivers side air vent/light switch cover. This one is clips-only. A quick tug and it should pop off. Be careful of the bottom edge on this piece. It has a lip that goes behind the lower section of the main dash. It's important to see that now, but more important when you put it back together: Don't yank too hard; you'll need to disconnect the light switch cable too. Lastly is the instrument bezel. This one has (2) screws under it's top edge: I use a ratcheting screw driver like the one pictured. Works well for those two guys. Once the screws are out, the bezel can be tugged off it's clips and removed. TIP: Pull down on the top edge of the bezel starting here and get the two 'dimples' to clear the top edge of the dash: Then you can pull the lower push-connectors straight out. There's a small square piece of foam behind the lower left corner of the bezel. Save this piece. We'll be putting it back later. I know where the switches are going, but I need to tweak them a little. Very little sticks to the bezel (some kinda teflon-y plastic), so I used some wide masking tape and wrapped it all the way around the two sections that are getting switches. This gives the masking tape on the switch covers something to grab on to. I love masking tape. I now put the bezel back in (no screws). I re-install the center section of the dash and the drivers side air vent. Not totally; just the edges closest to the bezel. Using a fine ball-point pen, I mark the edges on the masking tape on the bezel. This will tell me how much room I have to work with, and where the edges are: I remove the center section and the left side air vent, then pull the bezel out (again. LOL) TIP: If you have a tonneau cover, spread a towel on it behind the drivers side. You can rest the loose dash pieces on the towel. They're close by and not getting scratched (or doing any scratching). Quite handy. Because I'll be installing a power inverter later on, I'm taking care of that switch placement now while I have the bezel off. I'm not sure what's going in that 3rd slot, but I'm sure something will come up down the road. LOL Using the lines I marked while it was on the dash, I tape the switch covers in their temporary locations: I then check to make sure there's room behind the bezel for the switch itself: There is. Mark off the center of the switch cover hole(s): Drill the hole(s). I used a 15/32" bit. It's slightly smaller than 1/2" and provides a snug fit for the switch. When drilling, make sure not to drill too far and take out any of the bracing on the back of the bezel. It's there for a reason. Use a drill stop if necessary. The plastic of the bezel is VERY soft. The larger drill bit might grab the bezel so keep a firm grip on it. Holes are in, and it's time to test fit the switches: We'll do it first without the covers.... ....then add the covers: To help with strength a little (it is a plastic bezel after all), I used the little ON/OFF metal labels that came with these switches. They were trimmed to clear the ribs on the backside, then placed to support the back side of the plastic a little: I'm not sure if it really helps, but at the very least it acts as a spacer making the nuts on the front of the switch rest quite flush. Looks nice. (NOTE: The switches used in the prior pictures are NOT the ones that will be used for the line lock. The actual switches are shipping over from the UK and didn't make it in time for the photo shoot tonight. These are the same dimensions and will be used until the others arrive.) The little foam square from earlier is measured against the new switches that are in place: Rectangular slots are trimmed using an hacksaw blade (for nice straight cuts). The foam now slips between the switches and into it's original position: Excellent! Our switch for the line lock is ready to go. CONTINUED IN PARTS 2 AND 3. ©2007 Kevan J. Geier All Rights Reserved
