It all started back in 2004 when my dad was looking to replace is beat up '94 Ranger. He had me search around the web for used trucks in the area. I came across an ad of a silver 2003 Dodge Dakota SLT Club Cab V6 with just under 18K miles for about $17K at Enterprise car sales in Simi Valley, CA. We made the 30 min drive out there to check it out, we test drove it and we fell in love with it. He was going to try and trade in the Ranger but he decided he'd let me have it. I ended up driving it back home with him behind me in the new Dakota.
A year later I get in a huge wreck with the Ranger and it was gone. I scraped all my money together to find another means of transportation and found a '93 Mazda 626 V6. It was enough to get me from point A to B. But after a while it was constantly breaking down on me, nickle and diming me here and there. So sometime in '07 my dad fell ill and had to get dialysis done twice a week. He was getting worse to the point that he had to go on disability and leave his job. So now that he was no longer working, the truck was hardly ever moved. My piece of crap car called it quits on me way out in Garden Grove (2hr away). So enough was enough and he let me have his truck on the condition that I finish paying it off. I now had a nice reliable vehicle. I took over at about 39K miles.
At first I wasn't too thrilled with it, it was just a truck, but over time I was starting to fall more and more in love with it. It first began with minor customizations like clear headlight and corners, a nicer stereo and better speakers. Then, I kept getting crazier with the mods like custom sub box under the seats and cold air intake, R/T wheels, lowering kit and sway bars. I've always had a thing for the R/T, I had known about them even before I got my truck.
Then in 2013, it hit me. Why not make my own? I've already got had look down and the 3.9 was just not cutting it for me. So that's when I decided to read up on the forums on 5.9 swaps. I spent months just reading as much as I could, asking questions and getting input. I went out to the junkyards with some buddies to find a suitable donor vehicle. I decided on a 2000 Durango 5.9. We pulled it out and brought it home. I disassembled it and rebuilt it myself in my shed. Then on Labor Day weekend, it was in. I was ecstatic! I finally had the kind of power under the hood I had dreamed about.
In October it had its maiden voyage all the way up to Sacramento to the 2013 DRTC "trifecta" meet. It was about an 800 mile round trip. I was a little nervous on the way there and back hoping nothing would break. I even had a the chance to dyno it at the meet, it made 254HP and 302 ft-lbs of torque! A lot of the guys wanted me to try out drag racing, but I was too afraid of breaking something especially since I was still on the 42RE.
A few years (and mods) later and here we are! I rebuilt the top end last year with bigger valves, put in a cam.
My current mods are now:
SBE 360
FRP tuning
EQ heads with 2.02 stainless valves
210/220 @110 LSA cam from HiPoTek
HS 1.7 roller rockers
Fastman 52mm TB
2bbl Mopar M1
Mopar midlengths
2.5" True dual exhaust with MF high flow cats and Hooker AeroChambers and X-over
Grand Cherokee Fan with Hayden controller
A crate 46RE that I built up myself (Red Eagle/Kolene Steel power packs(1 extra clutch and steel in forward drum and OD direct), 47RE planetearies, Kevlar bands, billet servos and accumulator, 4.2 lever, hardened band strut and anchor, and Transgo shift kit in VB)
2800 stall PATC converter
LPW Deep pan
Hayden trans cooler
Still running the stock 8.25 rear but now with 4.10 gears and trac-lok.
Hotchkis springs up front and rear sway
A massive 2WD Durango front sway bar
Stampede kit (found it on CL for $600 in my color)
20% tint on the front windows and 5% + 20% on the back window (yes, 2 layers of tint)
Pioneer DEH-80PRS head unit
CDT Audio 6.5" mid-range speakers on the doors and back panels
2 12" Alpine Type-S Subs in the back
A small Kicker 4ch amp under the seat for the speakers and an old school MTX 81000D for the subs
Acura RSX seats
Completely blacked out interior (headliner, pillars, center console)
3 gauge pillar pod (WB, trans temp, coolant temp)
Snuglid tonneau cover
Bed Rug
Had a best time of 13.85 @ 99mph
100 shot coming soon!
Enjoy some pics of it!
After and before:
Doing truck things:
In its "transition" phase:
Donor:
In my driveway:
Going in:
At the meet:
Sweet burnout shot by Kevin (GoFastGray)
New true dual exhaust and tips put on:
Deep pan:
New seats put in:
Interior shot of headliner done by me:
Instagram post from yesterday. https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkU5EogjLx/ Going to a Mopar car show tomorrow!
Thanks for the nomination!
PS. In 2010 my dad had a successful kidney transplant and soon after he recovered, he got himself a Patriot blue '01 4x4 QC 4.7 Dakota and has been back at work ever since.