Stone White Sleeper

     When many of us buy our first diesels, we make the purchase for the reliability of the engine and the ease of towing. Rick Heide's Dodge was just like any other truck that you might find on the road today. He originally bought his Stone White 2011 Ram 2500 ST for work and to pull his enclosed trailer. But before long he had a strong desire to stand out in a sea of stock Ram work trucks.
     At first glance, Heide's truck looks like any other Ram to roll of the assembly line with stock white paint and chrome wheels. But what makes this truck so unique may be a little hard to spot at first glance. Unlike most trucks, this Dodge is a regular cab with a short box. If you’ve been around the heavy-duty truck market long, or even went out on a website to “build your own,” you’ll know that no manufacturer today offers a heavy-duty truck in a regular cab with a short box. Not GM, not Ford and not even Dodge.
     “The truck was a blast to drive, but after seeing a few third generation RCSB Cummins I got to thinking that I'd like to have the first fourth generation done,” explains Heide. So the Texas-native from Seminole bucked the trend and built an RCSB of his own.
    To make the dream a reality, Heide found a donor short bed on craigslist and a fuel tank from a salvage yard. After all the parts were in his hands, he got ahold of Ele Cass and  the boys at Southbound 87 Fab in Lubbock, Texas to do the cutting and welding end of things for him.
Southbound cut the frame under the cab and behind the rear wheels to get the length just right. But that still left drivelines, exhaust and other parts with almost an extra two feet out the back with nowhere to go. Heide went to Allied Machine & Drivelines in Amarillo, Texas to shorten and balance his driveshaft to finish off the project. In no time the truck was done and Heide’s RCSB was a reality.
     If you think that he just wanted the short box done to his truck and that’s all he was going to do to it, you’d be wrong. Long before the frame was even touched, Heide had his truck tuned up to run like a scalded ape.
     He started off with an H&S Minimaxx Programmer and a 5-inch Flo Pro turbo-back exhaust to give the truck some much-needed power gains and that coveted sound of a truly beefy diesel. But soon the tune and exhaust didn’t cut it for power and Heide had horsepower running through his mind. He of course wanted more.
      To get that extra power he wanted, Heide upgraded to the Industrial Injection Silver Bullet 66 Turbo to build up plenty of boost. Plus to let a breath of fresh air into the 6.7L Cummins he added an aFe Cold Air Intake, a Wild Card Customs Intake Horn and a Shibby Grid Heater Delete. With all the extra air coming in, an AirDog II Lift Pump was installed to compensate and improve throttle response.
     With all this newfound power, the transmission was sure to go, and when it did Heide had ATS Diesel Performance hook him up with a 68-RFE transmission upgrade package that would handle the newfound power of the Cummins.
     As you can tell, Heide’s Ram is definitely a sleeper truck. With an estimated 500 horsepower and a showroom floor stock look, this is one truck that is sure to catch you off guard. As for any other upgrades in the future, he isn’t sure. He likes the stock look he has now but is thinking about a set of 22-inch wheels to give it some flair. Whatever Heide decides, it’s going to be one lean, mean, Stone White machine.