Well Engineered

As a mechanical engineer, yourmind becomes programmed acertain way and everything needs to serve a purpose. Everything needs to be precise and it needs to be able to stand the test of time. In the case of this 2007.5 6.7L Dodge Cummins, owned by Nick Child of Price, Utah, who just happens to be a mechanical engineering student at the University of Utah, it’s been built with those three main principles in mind. Just 22 years old, Child bought the silver Ram 2500 as somewhat of a project truck to spend time tinkering on when he wasn’t hunched over a computer screen in some library building on campus. It was somewhere he could apply his vast knowledge of how things work and put something together that works flawlessly as a dual-purpose daily driver and weekend quarter-mile track star. With countless hours wrenching and a long list of parts, it’s been transformed from a well-used dirty farm truck to a super-clean 700-hp street king.

- Jacob White

After first purchasing the former farm truck in 2009 for next to nothing, the Dodge had to undergo a major deep cleaning, as years of dirt roads and muddy corn fields had taken their toll on the undercarriage and interior of the truck. Child figures he lost more than 100 pounds of weight off of the truck just by removing the dirt that had collected inside the frame rails and atop the drivetrain.

Once cleaned up, it was time to do something about the grandpa look the truck had. For this, Child ordered up a set of Street Flares from Bush wacker that he opted to leave unpainted as the matte black gave a good contrast to the silver paint. To go with the new flares, Child turned to Robby Colunga at First Choice Body and Paint in Price, Utah, where the factory chrome grille and front bumper were removed and prepped for a satin black paint finish. The lower rocker panels were also covered in satin black paint, along with a new rear roll pan that replaced the stock bumper. To help tie in the non-chrome theme, the factory headlights were swapped out for a pair of black Night Runner light assemblies.

On the suspension side of things, the front was left stock while the rear was dropped just over two inches, helping to level out the truck’s stance and bring it a little closer to the ground for a more streetable look. The 17-inch stock wheels and tires were replaced with a set of black Fuel Off-Road Hostage 20x10 rims wrapped in sticky in 305/50R20 Nitto 420S tires, both front and rear. The Nitto 420S is an extremely popular tire for the drag race crowd as the wide footprint and sticky compound hook up really well on the quarter mile track, all while offering great road manners on the highway. To help plant those tires to the pavement, Child bolted on a set of BDS Suspension ladder bars. Front and rear differentials remain stock with the factory 3.73 gear ratio being perfect for the current tire size and potential quarter-mile trap speeds.