Stock lines are 3/8" for feed and 5/16" for return. I'm stepping up to 1/2" for feed & keep debating on possibly going to 3/8" rather than 5/16" for return for ease of using AN fittings as 5/16" = -5 are they are pretty much non existent.

Gotta pull the trigger soon though as I need to order the tubing.

I also saved all the dodge hard lines & have tons around from old Fords I parted, but in looking none would really work out as cleanly as just running new, & I like blowing the budget with stainless so I'm doing that. I figure do it right the 1st time, cry once at the price & be done with it for a LONG time.

Oh - and I found the 20' rolls of 1/2" dia. stainless hard line on Amazon.com of all places. Was having a hard time finding it for a while.

 

That sounds awesome! I need to re-do all the lines on my truck, they're in pretty sad shape

How do you get the stainless line straight? I'd think that a roll of the stuff would be perpetually "wobbly" no matter how hard you tried to get it "really" straight!

-Brad

 

I just straighten in by hand. It's annealed so it's not bad to work with. It's not as straight as buying the stuff by the stick but I'm ok with it. If you look close you can tell it was straightened but it's not as bad as one would think. They roll it with a 2' or so diameter and that large of a bend is pretty easy to straighten. Granted this is with the 3/16" line I was using for the brakes. Haven't messed with the bigger stuff yet.

 

Do you think it would be possible to lay it down on a piece of wood and very gently roll it with a large diameter dowel to get it straight? I'm just curious because I'm probably going to be re-making fuel lines pretty soon (rather than buying a pre-fabbed set). I'm not wild about having rubber lines all the way from the tank up to the motor.

-Brad

 

I think you would flatten the tube more than you'd get the slight wave out of it by doing that.

Use the email me feature on here or just PM me your email address & I can send you the pics I have & take a couple more for you tomorrow night if you want.

 

Do you gain anything from going that big??? Is the inlet in to the pump that big and is stepped down in size for stock trucks??

 

Inlet seems to step down quite a bit based on looking at the fitting I took out.

This thread is what made me go 1/2" 1/2" fuel line - should I? - Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum

Read the link in post #3.

My thought is I'm running custom lines now and 1/2 can't hurt - especially if I mod the motor a bit later. I'd hate to have to go back & redo a bunch of this...

 

Worked for a bit again last night. I was messing with the clutch master pushrod attachment to the clutch pedal mainly & then a little bit on the reinforcing plate for the firewall.

It was another one of those nights where I was there & worked for 4 hours or more & left feeling like nothing had gotten done...

Here's the starting of the big mount for the clutch pushrod.



The rod was almost 3" to the left of the pedal if looking from inside the truck so this boxing mount thing is HUGE. Also I again briefly debated on whether or not I should cut the pushrod length & thread it with a coupling nut to I could adjust the length of it. I said "awe screw it" and pushed the rod into the master. A couple minutes later after checking lengths I was almost regretting it. I pushed on though & figured if I HAVE to cut & thread it later I still can - it will just be trickier to do.
I have all the plates cut for this setup & they're tacked together. I just didn't have time to test the thing before i had to leave.

I also left the reinforcing plate on the welding bench ready to be welded.



I may add another rib at the bottom before it gets painted but I'm not sure yet if I want to do that.

 

I know that feeling!

I think this needs a few more clamps

 

I bought a 20' straight piece of SS 3/8" from my local metal supply company for 30 or 40 bucks. When i ran my lines it was almost a straight shot with one gradual bend.

 

Actually I think I may add another clamp or 2 before I weld it tonight... That is 1/8" steel & I want it to still be straight/flat when I'm done welding that rib. With less clamps than I have there is enough weld surface area to make it as wavy as a bag of ruffles...



My local hydraulic guy wanted well over $60 if I remember right so I saved a bit by going to the rolled stuff that ships from a larger supplier.
But yes my run down the frame rail was pretty much a straight shot.

 

Had a couple brief stints in the shop this week. Like 1/2 hour here or there type stuff. I did make a little progress though.

I got the clutch reinforcing plate pretty much done.

I also cycled the clutch pedal & realized I had to relocate the hole for the pushrod mount. Drilled a new hole, re-tested & we're good.

If I get into the shop tonight I'll lay down some beads on that & call it done! Then it's back to running brake & fuel lines.

 

On the 1/2 line...You are making a custom tank so I won't be an issue...but what about if you are running stock tanks like me...think it would be a waste of time to try and run 1/2 inch lines??

 

probably. Unless you'll be turning the motor up a bunch. If you're using the stock tanks save yourself the headache and use the stock lines.



I had some "real" time in the shop again last night. Wrapped up some of the small stuff I had been fiddling with and started messing with other new stuff.

1st - clutch plate is done and off to powdercoat. There's a new powdercoating place right by the shop so I stopped there on the way to work & dropped off a few small pieces. The guy said they should be done by lunch so I'm going to head up there in a bit



Once that was done I ran the 2nd brake line within the cab, so the prop. valve & line lock are plumbed now.



In between all of the above I was doing a bit of welding on the clutch pedal.




I also put in the fuel line I had made for the jump from the frame to the lift pump. -8 an fitting stuff to go with the 1/2" hardline I need to order.




Then a buddy stopped by to drop off some parts & chat for a bit. If you read this - thanks for stopping by brotha!


Next I started messing with the exhaust again. This is where I ran into a couple snags I have to think out.
1 - do I NEED any flex pipe section in the exhaust? The front section shown below is VERY tight (like .5" max top & bottom) between the trans x-member & the floor. I'm worried about movement of the motor causing this to possibly hit either. This brought me to the question of if I need flex line somewhere in here. I'm new to diesel stuff & I think EVERY swap I've seen has flex line in the exhaust system so I was wondering if that was how people dealt with the movement of the motor vs. the semi rigidity of the exhaust system.


Question 2 comes at this point - here is where the pipe pictured above end - it's right at the trans case. I can make it by this point fine as is, but my question is whether or not I want to "clock" the 205 for ground clearance. I've read about guys doing this & think I may want to as every inch matters for ground clearance in the middle of this looong stretch of truck. I just need to do that before I run the exhaust if I do.



Anybody got any thoughts on the flex pipe or clocking the 205? I need to start looking up the articles I had found before about how much to clock it, etc.

 

I only used a flex for my setup for ease of getting around my tranny crossmember, and since the rear section of pipe i am using is straight (no fancy bends to get around t-case crossmember, etc.) i was kind of limited to where it was going to end up. My dodge doner truck had one solid pipe, and my buddies 03 dodge cummins with 4" exhaust has no flex pipe in it. Not sure if this helps.