Alright. Here's the deal. I have been working on a custom gauge mount for my truck. It's a fiberglass gauge pod that fits between my speedo and tach on the underside. I sanded it smooth and painted it the body color of the truck (I did the same with the pillar pod). It looks awesome. My question is this. My buddy wants to use a relay powered off of the radio to run all four of my gauges (FP, boost, tranny temp (finally), EGT). What do yall think? One of my who installs DVD systems in cars for a living says not to. He burned up his EGT gauge doing that. My other friend who said to works for Circuit City in the car audio dept. I'm running a pre/post EGT setup and I've got the double poll double throw switch (DPDT) for it and I know how to wire it. I have been running all of the power for my gauges from my fuse block like the instructions said to do. I haven't had any problems with them running them this way (at least if I don't touch them ).

Also, I plan on buying the new tranny line from Dodge to install the temp probe for the tranny. I need some info. Is the line rubber or metal? How long is it? Where is it located? How hard is it to replace? Anyone have any pics? Would it be easier to put a T-fitting in and do it? That's what my friend said we need to do.

Any help yall can give me would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to take pics as soon as I get all the gauges working. I will also take pics of the cooler line install if I can. Thanks so much for yall's help.

 

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From what I have learned in doing custom car stero and DVD installs in cars and stuff. Its better off to leave the radio power alone.I had tapped in to a line that i thought WASNT the radio power. But when I put a tracer on it and I found out that it was the radio well it burnt up the gauge. (I think it was that.) So to be on the safe side and to make it alot easier for your self just runall the grounds to one wire then run 2 gauges to a fuse. or just run each gauge to a fuse. <br>I cant help you with that other thing.<br>SD03

 

I wouldn't touch the power line on the radio after doing many stereo installs its just trouble you want the cleanest power going to the head unit you can get if it gets dirty you start hearing funny noises that will drive you insane on the road. Stick to the fuse block or straight to the batter with a switch. You will find out that tapping the readio to be trouble maybe not right away but later, if you are running amps then they will ususally amplify the bad stuff to make it even worse! I have a truck in the shop now we cannot get the noise out of a DVD deck the custom did the install himself and you know what that goes like sometimes well we start looking and sure enough he was into the radio power under the dash for his alarm and it was causing interference so we got that straightened out now he is happy.

 

When trying to get power to accessories, I use the cigar lighter circuit to activate the relays. The cigar lighter circuit is activated when the key is on. That circuit has nothing sensitive on it. There is a little &quot;not to well known&quot; issue with relays. When they are deactivated or de-energized, they can induce a voltage spike into the line that is attached to the relay coil. This is normal and can be prevented by installing a 1N4001 diode across the coil of the relay with the cathode going to the positive side of the coil. It shorts the voltage spike and protects other stuff on the circuit. I have installed an auxillary fuse panel from Buss (AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts for about $7). I use the cigar lighter circuit to power a relay coil that connects it to the battery. PM me if you need any help with electrical stuff. I'm an Electrical Engineer by trade. It's what I do

 

My dad's an electrical engineer as well. He works as head of automotive at Texas Instruments now but he started out as electrical engineer. That's what I thought about the wiring. I'll just leave it on the fuse block. Save myself some money and having to re-re-rerun the wires. This should be fun telling him no . He kind of likes doing things the hard way.

 

My gauge power runs from the Painless wiring kit from Geno's garage. I am using the 3 constant, 4 ignition setup. Works great.<br><br>Tim

 

Alright. I'm debating on whether or not to install the Trannt temp probe in the cooler line or not. I was reading the forums at DTT and it sounds a lot more complicted than what I thought it was going to be. So I'm thinking maybe I'm just going to drill into the pan. I know that the temps won't be as accurate or quick responding, but is it really that big of a difference? If any of yall have installed the crossover line, please let me know how hard it is. Could I install it in an afternoon? A day? A couple of hours? I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have a lot of tools so I'm pretty well off. I'm just starting to get real worried about how hard it's going to be to install the thing. Thanks for the help.

 

It's not hard at all if you get the factory cooler line w/ guage port. Also like said above, the Painless wiring kits from Geno's are awesome.<br>Tim

 

I used the Factory Crossover line and it took about two hours start to finish, and lost about 1 1/2 - 2 qts of ATF in the install. Use a BIG drain pan. <br>Didn't even use a jack to get under the truck.<br>But then I wasn't as &quot;Horizontaly Challenged&quot; as I am now. :

 

Do yall think it is worth the $100 or so? Or should I just cut the line and install a T-fitting with some clamps on it? I'd like to do the line but don't want to blow a lot of money. $100 for some hose seems a little high to me. Especially if I can just T into it and it be just as good.

 

My problem with the &quot;Cut &amp; T&quot; method is I'd always be wondering when it would come loose.<br>(I don't trust my own work) [undecided]

 

I sometimes trust my own work. I figure as long as it doesn't leak or anything it's cool. Which side of the cooler is the &quot;inlet&quot; side? I'm trying to figure out where on the tranny this hose is but I have no idea where to begin to look. To many hoses.

 

get the factory line youll be happier. I was all set to do the tee method and just couldnt find the fittings that would make it as clean as i would like. some have said use weatherhead brass fitting but after looking at the line it is doubtful the quality of the compression union , they work best with malleable(examble brass lines)not the stainless lines on the cooler. there are however compression unions for stainless grease lines in industrial apps but couldnt get that clean look.I have a pretty good selection of weathead fittings from a out of bussiness napa store and still went factory line

 

Maybe I will. But I still don't know where in the world this line is. Does the Doge line come with instructions on where and hot to put it in?