Cummins Gone Crazy
Go Big Or Go Home
You would think that a bright red Dodge Mega Cab 4×4 diesel would attract plenty of attention on its own. But give it 14 inches of lift, wide 40-inch tires and custom touches both inside and out and you end up with a truck that REALLY stands out in a crowd. This is part of the motivation behind Justin Levasseur’s 2006 Dodge Ram custom build, other than to also have a platform to showcase the products and vehicles put out by his company, RaceMesh Trucks. The Glendale, Arizona, resident had built a few other high-profile vehicles in his career, including a 600+ horsepower twin-turbo GTO and 2005 D-Max, so working on the Ram came naturally.
For openers, the truck was fitted with a custom four-link long-arm suspension setup front and rear. The front end utilizes giant 4.0 King coilovers, while the rear leaf springs were swapped out in favor of a RideTech custom air ride suspension system, complete with ride height sensors. Providing the air for the system is a set of twin chrome Viair 480 compressors, which feed a 10-gallon chrome tank that’s plumbed into the truck’s train horn system.
Panhard rods and sway bars keep things tracking straight while plenty of custom painting and chroming provides the undercarriage eye candy. The lift provides plenty of room for huge 40.15.5R.22 Toyo Open Country tires mounted on wide custom-painted 22×14 KMC XD wheels.
One of the things that makes Justin’s Mega Cab highly desirable among the diesel crowd is the 5.9L Cummins under the hood with minimal smog equipment as compared to the 6.7L version that followed. To keep things simpe and reliable, Justin went with an AEM intake system that feeds more air to the stock turbo. From the turbo, the air charge flows through a Banks intercooler and eventually to a Banks High Ram intake. A Magnaflow 4-inch unit handles exhaust.
Fuel is pushed forward via a FASS fuel system to the stock injectors. A Smarty tuner provides significant power increases, while a Snow Performance water/ methanol kit keeps EGT within the safe zone. Advanced Auto Works is credited for working over the Dodge automatic to handle the added power, complete with a Sun Coast torque converter.
What sets this Dodge apart from the crowd, other than its stance and wide tire and wheel package, is the attention to detail on the body. Justin and his team at RaceMesh Trucks swapped out the factory hood for an SRT 10 hood, fitted with color-matched RaceMesh. Both the grille and bumper were also given the color-matched RaceMesh treatment.
Bushwacker fender flares, fitted with cool black billet spikes from Metzfab Industries attempt to cover the wide tire and wheel combo. The truck is also fitted with a full complement of RaceMesh Trucks LED lighting, including a 50-inch unit on the roof and 30-inch unit below the front bumper. Other custom touches include a color-matched spray-in bedliner and AMP Research slim design retractable steps.
“What sets this Dodge apart from the crowd, other than its stance and wide tire and wheel package, is the attention to detail on the body.”
On the inside, attention to detail is just as good as the outside. Several stock body and trim panels were removed and body color match-painted. Bell Upholstery added the custom red and gray suede headliner. The killer sound system consists of a Pioneer head unit and 1,000-watt JL Audio amps feeding Focal components speakers and tweeters. Filling the space behind the rear seat is a custom subwoofer box fitted with a combination of subwoofers and Focal speaker. The stock leather seating gets the custom touch of red leather inserts with RMT custom floor mats as the finishing touch. And there’s also a 17-inch drop-down video screen mounted in the roof.
As most custom truck builders claim, the truck is “never” done. But in terms of creating a head turner, and a rolling showcase for RaceMesh Trucks, Justin is at least on the right track. DW
