TrailBeast
AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
I installed a new line lock and found through research that it is illegal for a street car to not have brake lights on when the lock is engaged.
Don't really care about the legality, but don't like the idea of possibly getting rear ended by a distracted driver just because the brake lights go off even thought the lock has the car at a standstill.
So looking farther into the solutions for ways brake lights are integrated with the lock I realized I HATED all of them for one reason or another.
Most, if not all solutions were to add more ugly plumbing to the front brake lines for a pressure switch (which also added more ugly wiring for the switch)
I also didn't like all the suggested added fittings and adapters crap to connect the lock in the brake system, but that solution is kind of a different subject and this is geared more towards the brake lights being on when the line lock is active.
Whenever I change something out of the ordinary in the electrical/wiring system I document it with an accompanying schematic and put in in the documentation for the car. (kind of an added section for mods)
Below is the diagram with a really simple solution that I have not seen anywhere before in ANY suggestions or instructions by ANY manufacturers or users of line locks.
My setup even adds a couple of new features for any standard electrical line lock from any manufacturer. (and I will sell it to them if they want to use it)
The one single difference in my hookup is the added wire with the diode inline.
This allows power from the line lock circuit to bypass the brake light switch and activate my LED brakelights directly from the line lock power supply.
The diode allows power to ONLY flow to the lights when the lock is active but not back into the line lock circuit activating the lock during normal driving.
Without that diode, the line lock would activate the second the brakelights came on when the brake pedal is pressed, and stay locked until the pedal was released and the brakelight turn off.
The line lock will allow fluid to enter the front brake system when in the lock position but not allow it back out until the brakelights go off and release the lock.
So what would happen is the front brakes would retain thier pressure until the pedal was fully released (so basically the car would continue to brake at rate of the highest fluid pressure until the car came to a complete stop)
I tested all of this on the streets over the weekend, and it performes exactly as expected.
Doing it the way my diagram shows give a couple of side benifits also.
1. You can now flash your brakelights with the line lock switch when someone is getting
too close in traffic without touching the brake pedal at all.
2. If the diode fails allowing the lock to activte when the pedal is pressed the red line lock light on the dash activates warning the driver that there is a problem and it can be worked around to safely bring the car to a stop.
This system is not designed for your everyday normal car driver.
There IS one thing specific to this system the driver needs to learn and know how to manage.
This is;
(If the diode fails)
If you are driving normally, apply your brakes and the red light comes on for the line lock you need to realize that your brakes will only fully release when you get off the pedal completely and the brakelights go off.
This is because the diode failed closed, allowing 12 volts from the brakelight circuit to backflow through the wiring and activate the line lock. (But also activating the warning light, so the driver knows what is happening)
Obviously there are possible problems when changing anything on your car from factory.
Line locks can and do fail, as well as electronics.
The worst case scenario of a failure in this system compared to other designs is that the car could come to a full stop (with brakelights) until the brake pedal is fully released and the brakelights go off releasing the lock.
A disconnect switch can be added in the line where the diode is to disconnect this feature in case of diode failure.
Have fun all, and be safe.
Don't really care about the legality, but don't like the idea of possibly getting rear ended by a distracted driver just because the brake lights go off even thought the lock has the car at a standstill.
So looking farther into the solutions for ways brake lights are integrated with the lock I realized I HATED all of them for one reason or another.
Most, if not all solutions were to add more ugly plumbing to the front brake lines for a pressure switch (which also added more ugly wiring for the switch)
I also didn't like all the suggested added fittings and adapters crap to connect the lock in the brake system, but that solution is kind of a different subject and this is geared more towards the brake lights being on when the line lock is active.
Whenever I change something out of the ordinary in the electrical/wiring system I document it with an accompanying schematic and put in in the documentation for the car. (kind of an added section for mods)
Below is the diagram with a really simple solution that I have not seen anywhere before in ANY suggestions or instructions by ANY manufacturers or users of line locks.
My setup even adds a couple of new features for any standard electrical line lock from any manufacturer. (and I will sell it to them if they want to use it)
The one single difference in my hookup is the added wire with the diode inline.
This allows power from the line lock circuit to bypass the brake light switch and activate my LED brakelights directly from the line lock power supply.
The diode allows power to ONLY flow to the lights when the lock is active but not back into the line lock circuit activating the lock during normal driving.
Without that diode, the line lock would activate the second the brakelights came on when the brake pedal is pressed, and stay locked until the pedal was released and the brakelight turn off.
The line lock will allow fluid to enter the front brake system when in the lock position but not allow it back out until the brakelights go off and release the lock.
So what would happen is the front brakes would retain thier pressure until the pedal was fully released (so basically the car would continue to brake at rate of the highest fluid pressure until the car came to a complete stop)
I tested all of this on the streets over the weekend, and it performes exactly as expected.
Doing it the way my diagram shows give a couple of side benifits also.
1. You can now flash your brakelights with the line lock switch when someone is getting
too close in traffic without touching the brake pedal at all.
2. If the diode fails allowing the lock to activte when the pedal is pressed the red line lock light on the dash activates warning the driver that there is a problem and it can be worked around to safely bring the car to a stop.
This system is not designed for your everyday normal car driver.
There IS one thing specific to this system the driver needs to learn and know how to manage.
This is;
(If the diode fails)
If you are driving normally, apply your brakes and the red light comes on for the line lock you need to realize that your brakes will only fully release when you get off the pedal completely and the brakelights go off.
This is because the diode failed closed, allowing 12 volts from the brakelight circuit to backflow through the wiring and activate the line lock. (But also activating the warning light, so the driver knows what is happening)
Obviously there are possible problems when changing anything on your car from factory.
Line locks can and do fail, as well as electronics.
The worst case scenario of a failure in this system compared to other designs is that the car could come to a full stop (with brakelights) until the brake pedal is fully released and the brakelights go off releasing the lock.
A disconnect switch can be added in the line where the diode is to disconnect this feature in case of diode failure.
Have fun all, and be safe.
