A Nagging Itch Turns Into a Truck Builder’s Dream

IF YOU GET A BUNCH OF CAR BUILDERS TOGETHER, THE TOPIC OF ODDBALL BUILDS OFTEN COMES UP. They’re the kind of projects that most people wouldn’t do, like taking the 5-foot bed from a Chevy crew cab and putting it on a standard cab truck, for example. And although they were popular decades ago, the phantom dually seems to have fallen into that category. Back in the ’90s, it was all the rage to bolt some dually fenders onto a regular-bed pickup and slap some deep-dish rollers onto the axle. But in recent years they’ve gone by the wayside, and now the only way most people ever see them is if they stop by their local auto parts store and find an OG truck guy in the parking lot with his ’94 Silverado on 15x12s.

Lonnie Thompson of Portland, Oregon, isn’t an oddball guy by any means, but he is an old-school truck guy, having owned a phantom dually of his own back in the day. Now he runs Carolina Kustoms, one of Portland’s premier custom car and truck shops, and he regularly puts out quality rides that tour the Pacific Northwest. Because he’s an industry professional, he’s been to the SEMA Show numerous times, and a few years back he saw something that tickled his fancy: a white Dodge Ram with a mega cab bed on the back, making it a phantom dually just like his old one. He loved the concept, but since he didn’t have anything that fit the bill at the time, he filed the idea into the back of his head for later retrieval when the time was right.

Around that time, one of Lonnie’s friends happened to pull out a Dodge Ram of his own; this one dumped on 28s. His name is Ron Perkins, and he’s known for oddball builds, including a standard cab Frontier that he built back when that truck didn’t exist. The Dodge got a lot of attention at the show, not only because of the rollers, but also thanks to its flat red finish. After it appeared in Street Trucks, he drove the truck for a bit, but he eventually decided to sell it to someone who would appreciate all of the work that went into the build. A few phone calls were made, and soon Lonnie became the proud owner of a ’12 Dodge Ram R/T.

With the truck in his possession, Lonnie initially opted to keep it as is and drive it around town for a bit. The thing was, it just didn’t feel like it was his. After all, he didn’t build it, and since he owned his own custom shop, there was nothing holding him back from customizing it himself. So one morning he woke up, drove the truck into the shop, and stripped it down to nothing.

The most obvious mod on the truck is the bed, which came from a Dodge Ram mega cab. It’s a steel bed with wide dually fenders, and that made it perfect for his plan to build a standard cab phantom dually of his own, just like the one he saw at the SEMA Show years back. Once he handled that, plus a few other bolt-ons, it was time to repaint the truck using PPG products. Instead of the matte red that previously sat on the metal, he opted for Viper Red for an aggressive finish. Combined with the extra-low stance and 24-inch wheels, it was perfect.

Lonnie has built a lot of trucks throughout the years, but this one scratched an itch that was years old. The end product is one that doesn’t look like it came out of the same custom truck mold that lots of trucks seem to fall into, and it certainly made its mark on the Portland truck scene. It’s just the latest of his projects to exit the doors at Carolina Kustoms, and we know it’s not the last—not by a long shot.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER
Lonnie Thompson
2012 Dodge R/T
Portland, OR
Relaxed Atmosphere

ENGINE

• 2012 Dodge 5.7l R/T V-8
• 425 hp
• K&N cold air intake
• Magnaflow exhaust and mufflers
• 3.73 rear gears
• Automatic transmission
• Painted accessories

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

• Work performed by Lonnie Thompson at Carolina Kustoms, Portland, OR
• MMW custom-buil control arms
• KYB front shocks
• Slam Specialties RE-8 airbags
• AccuAir air management system
• Air Zenith compressors
• 12-gallon aluminum air tank
• DOT air line
• DOT brass push-lock fittings
• Custom MMW heavy-duty rear 4-link
• Watts link
• SSBC drilled and slotted front and rear rotors

WHEELS & TIRES

• 24×10 and 24×15 polished Intro Spyder
• 295/35R24 and 405/35R24 Pirelli tires

BODY & PAINT

• Work performed by Lonnie Thompson at Carolina Kustoms, Portland, OR
• R/T grille and bumper
• 2014 Dodge Ram mega cab bed
• Custom gas filler
• AVS wheel tub kit
• Painted door handles
• Tinted taillights
• Rigid LED light bar in the front grille
• SEM bedliner
• Painted PPG Viper Red

INTERIOR & STEREO:

• Work performed by Lonnie Thompson and Jacob Rohde at Carolina Kustoms, Portland, OR
• Leather upholstery
• Painted accents
• Alpine head unit
• Alpine speakers
• Two 12-inch JL Audio W3 subwoofers
• 1,500-watt Rockford Fosgate amplifier
• Dynamat sound deadening
• Kinetik battery

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “To my buddy, Ron Perkins, for selling me the truck and my boys, Dakota and Dennis, for helping me build it.”

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