In October, 2008, we bought a 2007 Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500, DRW, 4x4, 5.9-liter Laramie from a dealer in Wisconsin. It was a factory overstock with 92 miles on the odometer. The most desirable aspect of this truck to us was the engine.
It was one of the early model 2007 trucks that shipped with the 5.9-liter Cummins, rather than the EPA challenged 6.7-liter engine. It also had a bunch of other great features: leather, power everything, sunroof, satellite radio and the rest of the accoutrements you'd want in a $55,000 truck.
The second best part of this deal was the sticker price-$36,999. Who doesn't love a good deal? But the best was yet to come because this truck was the baseline for our Project LBMC (Long Bed Mega Cab).
In a week's time, we began to build our heavy-haulin', cross-country cruisin', hot-shot pullin', daily driven project truck. Since then, we've logged more than 53,000 miles on the odometer. Our goal was to build a great truck that would suit the needs of a light-duty transporter while at the same time be something fun enough to drive on the weekends without a load. As we built this truck, we put it through the paces. Almost all of these miles were "action miles." We hauled heavy payloads in the bed and pulled giant trailers, ranging from 15,000 to 24,000 lbs. We drifted the rear end around corners on dry asphalt and we spun the hell out of four, 16-ply commercial truck tires. We pushed this thing to its limits to find out what they are and this is our report.