Fueled by the Power of Diesel

FINDING ONE’S CALLING IS AN EXCITING THING; SOMETIMES PEOPLE GO HALF THEIR LIVES NOT KNOWING WHAT TRULY MOVES AND CAPTIVATES THEM. Men of a certain age usually get locked into playing golf or cards with their buddies on the weekends; while the feeling of launching a golf ball down the fairway or winning a hand can be thrilling, an electric golf cart doesn’t really compare to rolling coal on the highway in a brand-new, jacked-up diesel truck. Jeff Dyer has never been much of a golfer, but he has been heavily intrigued by customized vehicles and everything in the power sports segment for years. It wasn’t until a little more than a decade ago, however, that he took notice of where his true calling lay.

THE RAM WAS BUILT WITH JEFF’S OWN INSPIRATION AND PERSONAL TASTE IN MIND, A REFLECTION OF HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE POWER SPORTS INDUSTRY AND THE EPIC CREATIONS THAT EMBODY IT.”

Jeff got mixed up in trucks back in 2003, taking an immediate interest in diesel performance while working on the road for Fox Head, Inc. He was on the road so much during those days that he would end up spending weeks on end surrounded by custom rigs and bikes of all kinds. “I put in about 50,000 miles a year on some of the trucks I was driving around while I was a road rep with Fox Head, Inc. When I would go to trade in one model for a fresh one, I was always impressed with the value retained by the diesel trucks I was driving.” These days, paying close attention to resale worth is a huge factor when looking at a vehicle that you plan to dump a whole lot of time and cash into. Money isn’t everything when it comes to a hobby, but if said hobby requires money to keep the good times chugging along, it isn’t a factor that can be dismissed too quickly.

With each and every new custom truck Jeff got behind the wheel of, the bigger and more impressive his creations became. Ideas and themes were constantly built upon, and the execution of the builds started to mature as well. In the case of his most recent ’16 Dodge Ram 2500 project, Jeff took on a great deal of the modifications himself, especially for the truck’s most noticeable facet, its aggressively tall suspension setup. For the best results possible, an 8-inch McGaughy’s lift kit with extended links was combined with a full set of none other than Fox Racing Factory series coil-overs and bypass shocks. American Force wheels and Toyo rubber tied the Ram’s aggressive new look together. When the dust settled, it was apparent that nothing and nobody would be stopping this truck in its tracks.

To complement the Dodge’s rough and rugged suspension system, the rest of the exterior had to undergo a solid reconstruction phase. With the height increase, a set of three-step N-Fab running boards was installed to make hopping in and out of this truck without pulling any leg muscles a reality. Front and rear Fusion laser-cut American steel bumpers have taken residence on the Ram and add to the truck’s already strong, rough and tough demeanor. Jeff’s vision of building a bold yet understated tank of a pickup truck started to come together.

SIMPLE AND UNDERSTATED, THAT’S JUST HOW JEFF HAD ENVISIONED A GOOD DEAL OF THE TRUCK REMAINING EVEN AFTER IT HAD BEEN CUSTOMIZED.”

Aside from the suspension setup, the build was never meant to get too intensive. Of course, while its dominating and capable demeanor stands at the forefront of what onlookers notice first about the big Dodge diesel, a lot of details were scaled back to fall into formation with the truck’s subdued styling plan. Inside the cab are tons of custom touches from the custom Roadwire leather seating to the full-scale JL Audio sound system. Some of the more overlooked touches are the Edge CTS2 gauges and painted pieces. Simple and understated, that’s just how Jeff had envisioned a good deal of the truck remaining even after it had been customized.

Even if it hadn’t been slated to debut at SEMA 2015, Jeff would have put this truck together exactly the same way. The Ram was built with Jeff’s own inspiration and personal taste in mind, a reflection of his experience in the power sports industry and the epic creations that embody it. “At this point, I am not working on the road nearly as much for Fox Head, Inc. anymore, and I hardly drive my vehicles as much as I would like to,” he admits. “The most refreshing part of any trip is landing back home at Logan Airport, jumping in my lifted dually and sending it flying down the Mass Pike.” There is no question that for all of the pride Jeff has in his Ram, he will go all out on yet another build in the future. It’s what he has done for so long now, completing grueling ground-up truck builds, all to quiet the roaring beast inside calling out for the next challenge. “I’ll continue to push the envelope further because the older I get, the more I hear that certain things can’t be done. But as the Massachusetts traffic laws get tougher every year, I always do my best to stay ahead of the curve and enjoy my builds the proper way in this uptight state.”

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Jeff Dyer
2016 Dodge Ram 2500
Charlton, MA

ENGINE

• 2016 Cummins 6.7L diesel
• S&B air intake
• Edge CTS2 tuner
• MBRP 5-inch polished exhaust
• MBRP muffler
• 68RFE auto transmission

SUSPENSION & CHASSIS

• McGaughy’s 8-inch lift kit with extended link bars
• Front Fox Factory series 2.5-inch coil-overs with reservoirs and 2.5-inch triple bypass shocks with reservoirs
• Rear Fox Factory series 2.5-inch reservoir rear shock
• EBC slotted rotors
• ATS diff cover

WHEELS & TIRES

• 24×16 American Force Swift multi-piece wheels (satin black polished)
• 40×15.5×24 Toyo Open Country M/T tires

BODY & PAINT

• Performed by owner/Johnson’s Auto Body
• Fusion stainless steel bumper
• N-Fab three-step running boards
• Retrax Powertrax bed cover
• BedRug bed lining kit
• Diode Dynamics smoked LED taillights
• Diode Dynamics HID LED headlights
• Graphics by Aggressive Graphics

INTERIOR & STEREO

• Shop: Seamless Customs/SoundCraft (audio)
• Roadwire leather upholstery
• Dashboard painted
• iPad remote used for ride control
• Factory head unit
• JL Audio wiring
• JL Audio ZR650-CSi ZR series two-way components
• Two JL Audio 12W6 subwoofers
• Two JL Audio 1200.1 amps and two 600.4 amps
• Audison Bit One processor
• Dynamat sound deadener

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “RAM brand for accelerating a 2016 build, McGaughy’s Suspension, Soundcraft Custom Audio, Seamless Interiors and American Force Wheels.”

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