Clean And Simple

An Indiana farm boy’s journey to owning a diesel

September 2021 Feature Seth Harper

This article originally appeared in the July 2021 issue.

Josh Myers, born and raised in Greentown, Ind., has bought into the “buy what you build” philosophy. He works at the Chrysler Transmission Plant in Kokomo, Ind., which led him to buying his 2018 RAM 2500.

He bought it brand-new and has put all of the work into it himself, sans transmission work. He says this fills him with a sense of pride, knowing his blood, sweat and tears are why his truck can be shown off.

“It makes you feel proud when someone asks you about it you can say I did this or that,” Josh explained. “‘When I was doing mine I ran into these issues,’ or ‘You’ll need this to do it properly.’ It makes you proud of what you’ve done. All the long nights and money and everything make it worth it because I’m finally accomplishing one of my dreams.”

The Journey

The 32-year-old’s truck journey started long before he took a job at a Chrysler plant. Josh grew up on a farm, working with his dad and grandpa. From transporting materials to simply getting from one side of a field to the other, every farm could use a dependable farm truck and they had a few.

“I’ve always been around trucks and always liked them,” Josh said, “the usefulness of them and how you can do pretty much whatever you wanted with them.”

Josh bought a new Silverado 1500 gas truck when he was 20, followed by a 6.0L Power Stroke, which got him in the diesel game. Eventually he traded his Ford in for his current Cummins.

His original need for a truck was for something to haul his snowmobiles around.

“I was pretty big into snowmobiling,” Josh added, “so I needed a truck to pull my trailer with because my half-ton wasn’t cutting it anymore. I knew with the weight and towing capability of the Cummins it would do what I needed it to do.”

Josh doesn’t snowmobile as much anymore, so he’s been able to transition it from a daily tower to more of a show truck, all while keeping its functionality.

“I wanted a good, all-around built truck that I could still use like a truck,” Josh continued, “but I could also clean it up and be competitive in the show and shine.”

Upgrades

Josh saved up parts and money to turn his RAM into a competitive show truck. He installed a Thuren leveling kit with a King steering stabilizer and FOX 2.0s all around, a Stainless Diesel 5-blade S468 turbo, a coolant pipe and coolant tank from Wehrli Custom Fabrication with a Full Send Diesel coolant hose, an Edge CTS3 tuner, and an Isspro diesel gauge. He received help putting in a WP Diesel 750 series built transmission with a BD Diesel deep pan.

To help with exterior looks, Josh got headlights and Morimoto fog lights from RetroShop, a Billet Badges rear Cummins emblem, Recon smoked cab lights, 20x10 OG Weld Cheyenne wheels with 295/65 Nitto Ridge Grappler tires and N-Fab steps with color-matching done by Knockout Kustomz.

On top of all of that work, Josh has also put in Send Diesel turbo drain and feed lines, a Maryland Diesel valve cover, ARP 625 head studs, Manton valve springs and push rods, Exergy 100 percent injectors, a Fleece Performance coolant bypass, an AirDog 4G 165 fed from a Bean Machine sump from Beans Diesel and finally, a BD diesel rear differential cover.

A far as future plans goes, Josh wants to add in subs and switch out his speakers for improved ones. In the winter he will put in a front rear 4-link kit from Flight Fabrications and have it powder-coated to match what he’s done.

Shows And Fun

Josh’s diesel truck doesn’t have big tires and it doesn’t have a big lift. It’s clean and simple, just how he likes it.

“That’s what I was going for when I was building it,” Josh explained. “It’s not real flashy, just something that is subtle. I would rather have someone notice the little things on it that draw people’s attention rather than something like a wrap.”

His favorite show where he’s shown off his “subtle” truck was a Firepunk show in 2019. There he got to meet and interact with friends and other people, which he loves to do.

“Meeting people at truck shows that share the same interests is what really keeps me going,” Josh said.

Outside of shows, Josh enjoys dirt dragging and drag racing when he can. He only dirt dragged a couple times last year because he was still on his stock transmission and didn’t want to burn it up. In drag races, Josh says it holds its own on the track and while it’s not the fastest, it’s definitely not the slowest either.

“The thrill is actually building it so it’s not just a showpiece to where I can put that power to use and see how it stacks up against other trucks,” Josh said.

Josh generally finishes in the top ten at drag racing competitions, and although he’s named all his other trucks, this one hasn’t quite earned a name yet.

Sources:

A.E. Concepts

407-835-8000

www.aeconcepts.com

AirDog

877-421-3187

www.pureflowairdog.com

ARP

800-826-

www.arp-bolts.com

BD Diesel

800-887-5030