If you look around at a rodeo, you’re sure to find plenty of diesel trucks. Hauling animals is a major part of the setup and takedown process at the event, and for that you need a large vehicle with a powerful engine. Power is something diesel engines know a little something about.
At just 11 years old, Austin joined the rodeo, longing for the pure adrenaline rush that comes from the most exciting eight seconds in sports: riding a bull. He got his wish, but may not have expected to pick up another major hobby during the process. But hey, he was around diesel trucks all the time! What else was going to happen? Try spending time in a diesel and not wanting one of your own. Not so easy.
One friend in particular who helped Austin in his diesel journey was Kade Rose, a childhood friend who helped show him the ropes. Austin’s first truck in the journey was a 2004 Dodge RAM 3500 Dually 6-speed that he loved and cared for — until it tragically blew up. Ouch.
After bootcamp Austin bought a 6.0L Power Stroke, but it wasn’t the same as his original pickup and he traded it in for a 2008 Duramax. A year later someone offered to buy the Chevy and he agreed as it freed him up to go back to his first diesel love: a Cummins engine. He found a 2003 Dodge RAM 3500 4×4 6-speed manual flatbed and bought it off the original owner in North Carolina.
“I instantly fell in love with this truck,” Austin recalled. “She was completely stock including stock wheels, stock exhaust, stock everything. At first I thought I would keep it stock and only put a small lift and wheels and tires but I decided against that and wanted more power.”
“My thought process was to keep it simple but clean,” said Austin. “I didn’t want to do too much but just enough to make it stand out from everything else. I also wanted to keep the farm look of the truck. I wanted to change the little details, the details that people notice and make the truck beefier looking.”
Jolene has a 2.5-inch Skyjacker lift kit with Rough Country shocks and a Rough Country dual-steering stabilizer. It sits on Jessie James 22×12 wheels with 33-inch tires. Austin’s favorite modification is his Smeding Diesel s363/68/12 turbo, because, as he says, “Just the whistle and power it added made a huge difference and made me want to drive the truck even more.”
Other performance-oriented modifications include a 5-inch turbo back to 7-inch cat stack, an aFe stage 2 intake, FASS 165 lift pump, Bean’s Diesel Sump and a Valair street dual disk clutch. Austin performed the work on each modification himself as he didn’t want to have to say that a shop touched it. That seems to be the plan going forward as he prepares for several aggressive changes in the near future.
The diesel will soon see a Ranch Hand bumper that will help keep the farm look on the truck. Austin also plans to install 60 percent over injectors and a 10mm injection pump, which will help him achieve his power goal of 650-700whp. Next, he’ll add Reaper traction bars, powder-coated white, to help with axle hop when getting the truck going. Finally, Austin plans to powder-coat the suspension system to make it a little more of a show truck.
“The biggest reaction on the truck is for the flatbed, stack and bright rock lights which leads to everything I’ve done to the truck,” Austin said. “I really want to keep doing mods to catch even more attention everywhere I go and inspire other people to build what they want.”
As for selling it? This is completely out of the question.
“This build means a lot to me,” he concluded. “This build means a lot because I’ve started from ground zero. I’ve spent many hours and days doing what I’ve wanted to this truck. I’ve had people offer me way more than what I paid for it and have turned them down because I would regret getting rid of it. This is definitely one of my dream trucks and my dream build is coming to life.”