John Mata Jr. October 11, 2023 Diesel World
Joshua Cuenot, a heavy equipment operator from Louisville, Ohio, may not have needed to attach an 8-foot long bed onto his already lengthy Mega Cab-equipped Dodge Ram, but he simply wanted to—and who could argue with that? Aside from a concept that Dodge released a while back testing the waters with such a configuration, a production model failed to materialize. The market segment of consumers willing to pull the trigger on a Mega Cab truck with the long bed option must have been a lot slimmer than the factory had imagined, but you can never discount the enthusiast crowd to build what they truly want to see.
“I essentially wanted to create the ultimate tow rig/weekend warrior,” Joshua says.
“What started out as a truck that was just going to remain stock quickly turned into a no-expense-spared, front-to-back build with no fastener being left untouched.”
While locating a Ram 8-foot bed wasn’t the hardest part of the transformation, making the correct alterations to the existing frame to accommodate for the swap did prove to be slightly more challenging. While the project was a little more indepth than we’re letting on, what essentially was required to make it happen was to stretch the rear frame section far enough to mount the 8-footer.
To finish off the chassis work, Joshua bolted on a pair of front Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks as well as Thuren Soft Ride leveling coils. This suspension combo bumps up the front end a couple of inches to match the rear end, as well as providing a welcomed cushy ride quality with plenty of control. To finish off the chassis setup, a foursome of 24×12 Forgiato Scanalato wheels were selected alongside 33×13.50R24 Venom Power Terra Hunter R/T tires for a sporty yet luxurious rolling gear lineup.
Aside from the long bed swap, a complete 5th Gen body conversion was also completed to give the truck a slightly more modern appearance. Joshua recruited Nick Applegarth and Aaron Drummond to hop aboard the project to coat the new bed and body with a fresh ChromaBase deep auburn pearl paint job, which almost looks like a sparkling glass of ice-cold root beer in direct sunshine. The inside of the bed was covered with a color-matched Line-X treatment, and all other exterior plastics and lighting houses, including the Morimoto headlights, were also painted with matching auburn pearl color. To assist in piling into the Mega Cab, AMP Research motorized folding steps, always a great inclusion on a full-custom truck project, were mounted and wired into place.
The next order of business was to properly tune up the factory 6.7L, which D&J Precision Machine in Cambridge, Ohio was more than happy to assist with. Since Joshua was looking to build the ultimate tow pig/weekend romp machine, he sourced a ton of product from D&J, such as their X-Beam billet rods, stage-2 cylinder heads, HD pushrods, as well as a billet intake manifold, which was properly topped off with a Banks High Ram intake horn. To make it even more power, a Taterbuilt turbocharger was thrown into the mix, as was a Steed Speed 5-inch exhaust system and an EZ Lynk programmer for customizable performance gains. To make the most of all of these upgrades, Kendrick Byler of Ultramatic Diesel in Rural Retreat, Virginia, put together “one of the best 68RFE transmissions in the business” for the truck. At the end of the engine overhaul, the Ram boasts an estimated 1,176.8 HP count with 1,649.5 ft-lbs of torque—an incredible feat that Joshua makes sure to take full advantage of any chance he gets.
The interior of the Mega Cab features well-appointed Laramie Longhorn-style black and orange upholstery and trimming, as well as matching Auto Meter gauges and a black suede headliner with a 1,100-piece twinkling star lights. Joshua didn’t need anything drastic or over-the-top within the confines of the cab. His only concern was that everything remained as clean and comfortable as possible.
In just 18 months, Joshua finished off the quite extensive project—which he’d never even truly planned on. “I couldn’t have done this without my twin brother Jacob, and Justin Zeigler of Zeigler Diesel in Canton, Ohio”, he says. “My brother’s fabrication skills and attention to detail resulted in a build that is truly a work of art.” After learning from the many setbacks that presented themselves during the build process, Joshua and crew worked through the trials and errors in order to find the setup that worked perfect for optimum towing and driving experiences, as well as for occasional pulls on the dyno.
“Overall, I am very thankful to complete a build of this caliber,” Joshua exclaims. “Even though the Ram didn’t turn out to be the truck I had envisioned when I first bought it, I think it’s safe to say that it turned out bigger and better.”
OWNER
Joshua Cuenot
Louisville, OH
2015 Dodge Ram 2500
ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN
CHASSIS & SUSPENSION
WHEELS & TIRES
BODY & PAINT
INTERIOR
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