Having never before owned a vehicle for this length of time, I'll go into more detail in this article...Those of you clamoring for more historical and political commentary can just suck it up and wait while I indulge myself...I've just always liked trucks of all kinds, my previous favorite being the old beater I used for the gun show circuit; its description is in the previously linked article...As I mentioned there, what I found myself missing the most was shifting gears with a manual transmission...
Therefore, nearing my birthday in 2003, I set out to locate and acquire a truly satisfactory truck that would suit my tastes, and fit any foreseeable needs for the future...I had already decided it had to be diesel-powered, but I did not want another Ford because of the fuel delivery problems I had with it, and I had already ruled out a GM product as I did not want another V-8 because I just didn't like the sound of them...
I ruled out the Class 4 & 5 GM's because I didn't want the Japanese Isuzu engine, and I wasn't ready for the expense of building a custom body for the cab and chassis...The same reasoning applied to the larger Ford and Japanese trucks, even though the Ford was available in a Class 6 with Cummins or Caterpillar inline six diesels...I also ruled out single rear wheel trucks as my thought at the time was toward acquiring a travel trailer, possibly a fifth-wheel, and I wanted the stability and load capacity of a dually...
All these limitations and requirements narrowed my choice down to a Dodge with dual rear wheels and Cummins diesel...At the time, there were no Class 4, 5 or 6 Dodges, therefore the search centered on the Dodge 3500...For any purists and nitpickers reading, I realize the brand name was changed to Ram, but I'll still always think of it as Dodge, OK?...
Having gotten this far, I registered as a member on some Dodge/Cummins discussion forums, and further verified that this vehicle could fill my driving needs and wants...After making a study of available options and features, I contacted my friend who was a sales manager for a GM dealership, and from whom I had bought many satisfactory cars and trucks...Big Al said that his boss had just acquired ownership of a Dodge dealership in a nearby town, and made the necessary introductory calls for me...
Arriving at the Dodge house on my birthday in 2003, I was met by the sales manager, and on telling him what I was looking for, he showed me what was available in inventory, saying if I didn't find one to suit me, he could order anything I wanted...I soon located the exactly equipped truck I wanted, but I noticed it already had about 400 miles on it...I was told that his boss had driven it at a corporate sales event in San Antonio, and was so impressed, he had it transferred to his own inventory and drove it back himself...
So it was that I left my Ford there for trade-in appraisal, and drove the Dodge 3500 home with the understanding that I was not obligated to buy it...I called the next day to tell him to draw up the papers, I was keeping it...I let them arrange financing after getting fair trade-in value for the Ford against dealer invoice price on the Dodge...
It had the DRW option, four-wheel drive and a 305 HP High Output Cummins diesel as I had specced...The Laramie trim option precluded my having to spec equipment such as towing package, leather seating and premium radio options...It also had the desired six-speed manual transmission...
Outward appearance included the monochrome Sport Package, and the shiniest black paint I ever saw from a factory...I did not want or need a heated rear window, and in its place I got a sliding rear glass...Heated mirrors were included in the tow package...It also had the drop-in bedliner, locking rear differential, split bench seat with console and overhead data display...
Naturally, being the old diehard hot-rodder that I am, I couldn't drive around in a stock truck forever, thus began the modifications and additional equipment...I began with adding an XM radio receiver which has been tuned to Radio Classics since that day...
One of the discussion boards sponsored a gathering at a truck equipment distributor in South Houston, and while attending, I found a Weatherguard crossbed toolbox and some Westin tube footsteps...By the time I left, they were installed and paid for...A customer of mine owned another truck accessory shop, and from him I got a good deal on AutoMeter turbo boost gauge and EGT gauge, both installed in an A-pillar mount...
At this point, even with the monochrome factory sport package, the truck somehow didn't look right without the more massive front and rear replacement bumpers and brush guards I was used to in previous rides...I was not 100% happy with the finish quality or the price that went with my traditional Ranch Hand choices of the past, and elected to shop around this time...
A lot of research convinced me to give Tough Country a chance at my business...Direct-from-the-factory prices didn't seem to have much of an advantage over a few local dealers, but once I checked with Discount Hitch, the search stopped as they were significantly more affordable and installation was included...
Tightening my belt, and scraping together my lunch money over time, I finally had enough to order not only the front replacement unit with brush guard and provision for my factory fog lamps, but also a Warn 15,000 pound winch to go with it...The rule of thumb on winch capacity is always have twice the size of your own vehicle's weight for self recovery, therefore I should be safe if I should happen to get stuck...
About this time, the original Goodyear 17 inch, Load Range E tires were worn thin and developing sidewall cracks with less than 29,000 miles...Not wanting to buy new tires every 30K miles, I looked into commercial rated tires, and found I could upgrade to Michelin 245/70R19.5 XZE's in Load Range F with a straight highway tread if I was willing to buy new wheels...
Although I could order wheels and tires direct from Rickson, being cheap I looked around, and found that Discount Tire is a vendor for both Rickson and Michelin, and not only sold me the entire package at a lower cost, but financed it for a year at zero interest...My decision paid off as by the time I had to buy new tires again, I had put an additional 52,000 miles on the truck, plus the ride was more stable and comfortable than the Goodyears...
The only drawback I noticed with the Tough Country bumper was that I had to perform my contortionist act to open the hood due to the very small clearance between the grille and the winch...That problem was solved quite by accident...Waiting for a light to change on my way to work, I witnessed a head-on collision in which one of the vehicles made a bank shot into my left front corner...
Insurance took care of the repair at the dealership where I specified and got genuine OE parts only including a replacement front axle...Unfortunately the Tough Country front end had been discontinued, but I was offered their upgraded premium model at no extra cost to me...It not only looks a lot better, I can now open the hood easily...Things seem to work out by letting nature take its course...
Being a satisfied customer of Tough Country, as finances allowed I had Discount Hitch replace the Westin steprails with TC running boards which have a much surer grip when wet, and they installed a wraparound rear bumper (to protect the dually fenders) while retaining the OEM Class V trailer hitch...My only regret is not specifying tow rings, which fortunately have never been needed...
The only TC product missing was a headache rack, and when I arrived to have it installed, I found out just how much Discount Hitch values their customers...Before installation, the toolbox had to be moved back,,,The experienced installer lifted his end to go back, but his newly hired helper just slid the box down the bedrails leaving deep scratches in the paint...Work came to a stop as the store manager came to look...
He told me he would pay to have the bed repainted to factory specs anywhere I chose at his company's expense...Knowing what clearcoat repairs entail, and in view of the excellent service they had given me up until then, I made a counter offer...I said I would be just as happy to have the bed sprayed in Line-X instead, which would save his company considerable money...He agreed, made the appointment for me, and I also bought darker tint for the front windows at the same time...
Following the Line-X treatment, the headache rack was installed (with deluxe lighting), and the toolbox was carefully re-installed...Needless to say, I am pleased with Discount Hitch, and will recommend their products and services to anyone...
Anyone thinking the truck might have been finished at this point apparently doesn't know Truckman well enough...The redneck came out in me while looking at pictures of other trucks on the various truck forums, and I got it in my head that it needed a pair of chrome exhaust stacks...However, I did not like the sound of the straight-piped Dodge/Cummins I heard around town, and designed my own system...
I decided to use new 4" steel tubing from the turbocharger downpipe to a 36" straight-through Walker muffler with 4" core...From there I specced 4" pipe through a hole cut in the bed to a manifold of my own design which used a short piece of 4" schedule 40 pipe welded to the bottom of a piece of 3X5" rectangular tubing, closed at the ends and suspended on short legs at the bottom...
This assembly was bolted to the floor of the bed,and short pieces of 5" pipe were welded to the top spaced to allow visibility from the driver's seat...Topping the 5" pipe stubs were two 5" core resonators under 5" straight chrome exhaust stacks, supported by brackets bolted to the headache rack...The best exhaust builder I've ever known, Joey at Texas Auto Pro in Conroe, put it all together using 4" flexpipe from the frame-mounted muffler to the bed-mounted manifold to allow needed flexibility to prevent breakage...
The result was as expected with a deep rumble instead of the annoying drone I've heard in so many other diesel trucks...I topped the stacks with rain caps from Berube's where I ordered the resonators...Texas Auto Pro supplied everything else...With ten years of use on the exhaust system, it still performs as expected, and nothing has needed replacement...
The truck has given me flawless performance in the thirteen years since new, with no more maintenance than regular 3,000 mile oil and filter changes (Rotella T), coolant changes, front end alignment and the occasional hose replacement...One thing I did not like early on was the slightly lower stance in front from the factory...I know it's there to allow a little squat when its carrying its weight capacity, but I like it level, and soon after I bought it, had a two-inch leveling kit installed bringing front and rear to the same height...All four shock absorbers have been replaced also...
Another thing I didn't like was driving only 500 miles on a tank of fuel...Replacing the fuel tank with a 56 gallon TransferFlow unit installed at CC Plus extended that to 800 miles...Since there is no such thing as too much power, my friend Curtis from Hot Rod Diesels installed a Smarty programmer at the 90 horsepower setting, which not only increased performance and throttle response, but allows for an impressive smoke show when desired, and still bumped my fuel mileage up about 2/10 of a MPH...
This brings us up to date, but leaves the reader wondering what happens next since Truckman is not known for letting grass grow under his truck...My greatly reduced spending ability, forced on me by retirement, has delayed some of my planned improvements such as an onboard air system with the capacity to run Nathan train horns and an exhaust brake...The factory paint is also looking less-than-shiny after 13 years, so the decision must be made between restored finish or custom design...
But for right now, I'm just planning to give the truck a new set of WeatherTech floor mats for its 14th birthday next year...Pictures of its progress so far can be found here...
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