With most magazines what you often see are rigs built to the gills with almost nothing stock.
Many times we overlook some of the local, well-built trucks that aren't quite finished yet. Well, that is, if you can ever call someone who is passionate about his vehicle "done with it."
Recently we were at a tractor pull and noticed one of the competitors, Adam Dincans, was pulling with a rather unusual truck. After his pull the first night, we were all sitting around the bar talking about the day's events and someone else mentioned Dincan's truck.
So when the second day of pulling started, we knew we had to at least talk to Dincans about his truck and get the story. You won't find many 2500 Dodge Quad Cab dually pickups out there, let alone a short bed. Dincans swapped the factory rear end out for a 2003 one-ton dually axle that a friend had. Thankfully, it was a direct bolt-in. After the axle was under the truck, Dincans installed a set of custom-built dually fenders that were extended two inches to cover the additional tire on each side and then added Recon fender lights. Then he had everything painted to match.
A set of traction bars built by Darrell's Diesel Depot were added to help with traction and to keep the massive ProComp Xtreme A/T 305/65s held by the Eagle Alloy 17-inch wheels from twisting the axle. To keep the rear tires on the studs but not touching, Dincans had to use a two-inch spacer in between the wheels.
Up front, the Ram features a 3-inch leveling kit installed by Top Gun Customz. The ride is softened and controlled by the Rough Country shocks on all four corners. To make this truck legal to pull, Dincans custom-built u-joint shields for the front and rear driveshafts. He opted to use 8-inch tubing for the back and 6-inch tubing for the front that he cut in half and put a joint in. This way, he can remove them easily without disconnecting the driveshafts. Dincans also built a set of adjustable bump stops to keep the truck from squatting while pulling.
To address the upwards exhaust Dincans turned to Grand Rock for a set of 6-inch miter-cut stacks. He then modified the y-pipe so that the exhaust now splits in the middle of the bed, not off to the side. Something we don't see very often.
For a pulling hitch, Dincans decided to remove the rear bumper and redesign it. His custom bumper is made out of 3/16-inch square tubing, 1/8-inch diamond plate and is designed to move the hooking point for the sled closer to the truck. This helps with leverage during pulling. Up front, Dincans took an old International tractor weight bar and welded two pieces of square tubing to it. He then built a custom set of receivers coming off the front of the frame. Not only is this an extremely simple way of doing a weight rack, but it also results in a very strong one that makes installing and removing the rack extremely easy-something we hope people learn from.
Since Dincans pulls in the Super Street 2.6 Class, he is somewhat limited on performance options but, nonetheless, he has put together an impressive combination. The air enters the engine through an AFE Stage II intake and goes straight into the Industrial Injection Silver 66 turbocharger. From there it is directed into the factory intercooler and up to the intake elbow. Along the way, the air passes by the BD Turbo Guard blow-off valve (just in case there is too much boost) and then passes through the Glacier Grid Heater Delete and into the cylinder head. There the air is met by fuel, being injected by Dynomite Diesel's 90 horsepower injectors controlled by the TST power module. This combination provides for 565 horsepower and 1100 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. This much power builds a lot of cylinder pressure and to keep everything where it needs to be, a set of ARP head studs were installed. From there the exhaust exits the ATS exhaust manifold and out the stacks.
Holding the 565 horsepower isn't easy but the South Bend Dual Disk Clutch was the right choice for Dincans to make this happen. Then he turned to BD Power for a short shift transmission shifter.
All and all this is one extremely nice, well-built rig. Dincans wanted something that was going to be a good daily driver, but that he could also use as a competitive sled puller and we think he achieved that.