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September Cummins of the Month

  • mattman84

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Wombat Ranger

    Votes: 15 50.0%
  • wedgeheaded

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Alabama Mud Machine

    Votes: 1 3.3%
  • BigGoat

    Votes: 4 13.3%
  • GMCRanch

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Delveaux

    Votes: 6 20.0%
  • Dually12v96

    Votes: 0 0.0%

September Cummins of the Month VOTING Thread

7K views 31 replies 16 participants last post by  rubberfish 
#1 ·
The September Cummins of the Month contest is live. Please read carefully below.

THIS MONTH'S THEME: Off the Beaten Path. Lets see your Cummins on an adventure. Thanks to @gsbrockman for this month's theme.
  • The last week of each month, a poll will be added to the thread with all the entries and you will have 7 days (or 5, depending on how quick I am to get the poll up and how well the thread is moving) to cast your vote.
  • You must own the submitted ride.
  • I would strongly suggest submitting pics with no people in it (dogs are fine) or at the least, crop them out of it.
  • Feel free to give a little backstory on your ride. Whether that be the modifications it has, how you came to own it, or just a fun story. Don't be afraid to share your ride's story.
  • If you have won in a previous month, you can no longer enter for the rest of the year. However, if you have a second car that meets the above criteria, you can enter that.
The winner at the end of the month will win a free 1 Year Premium Membership for the forum and a custom badge under their username. If the winner is already a premium member, their subscription will be extended an additional year.

Winners will be featured on the sites gallery, found here.

Congrats to August's Cummins of the Month winner, @gsbrockman!

933709
 
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1
#4 · (Edited)
Life is always exciting when you live and work entirely off the beaten path.

933888


933889



Updating post to share a bit more as requested.

I've been self employed for several years, which has grown into me running a construction company that I started from scratch, now employing 3 others in addition to my wife and myself, and constantly growing.

For many years my single wheel 3/4-1 tons worked fine for me. Though I worked them very hard, grossing 20-25k most of the time, I took good care of them and they mostly took good care of me. At the point that I knew my gross combined loads were going to regularly start exceeding 30k and often 40k, I began looking for a medium duty truck.

I didn't (and don't) want a fleet of trucks to maintain, license, insure, etc. I am pretty set on the 2-truck plan working well for me. Additionally, I live in a remote, mountainous, northern area where we regularly have snow inside of 7 months out of the year. We live a mile up a road that we maintain, there is one neighbor another mile up, that's it. So we require 4x4. So a pickup based medium duty just makes sense. I knew I personally was going to own this truck, not the business, and I would use it for personal use in addition to daily work related use.

What I need is:
  • A truck that can gross up to 50k, big payload AND big trailer
  • A truck that can fit my crew or my family in relative comfort
  • A truck that I can afford (not into payments) and be able to justify the $$ I will spend to make it what I want it to be
  • A truck body that has tool storage
  • 4x4
  • Manual transmission

What I REALLY wanted was my 2004, exactly the way it was, with twice the load capacity. I toyed around with the idea of putting heavier suspension and axles under it, but for a variety of reasons that idea never took off. I'm better off than I would have been doing that.

All that narrows the options a lot, and I have a LOT of experience with Dodges, so a Ram just makes sense for me. When I found this 2009 4500 4x4 G56 for sale for a great price, I listed my 04 for sale, it sold fairly quick, and I went up and bought this one for a fraction of the proceeds. Here's a pic of it when I first bought it, with 293k miles.

Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Snow



I pulled the previous owner business stickers off, as well as some of the outfitted accessories that I have no use for off pretty quick. The PVC tubes, 1200lb crane, & a pipe vise are what I can remember.

Immediately we began using it for our work, and it does well for that. One day we were on the way to work and had to turn around because there was a nice fresh opportunity in the ditch.

Vehicle registration plate Automotive tire Tire Vehicle Tree



Tommy gate was real handy for that. We put close to 200lbs of meat into the freezer from her, certainly worth missing a day of work.

Here's the same truck grossing 40k hauling the backhoe to a job.

Wheel Tire Land vehicle Vehicle Automotive tire



As you might be able to see, I need this truck to be a do-everything pickup that can haul heavy. One thing about this particular body setup I dislike is that I cannot pull a gooseneck. And the boxes + overhead rack catch a lot of wind and drag down my fuel economy. So I have some plans to make it even better.

Sooner than later plans include:
  • A lower profile hybrid service body/flat bed that can haul a gooseneck and provide more versatile cargo carrying ability
  • Kelderman Air Ride with engine driven onboard air compressor system


Further in the future plans include:
  • Reversible single wheels spec'd to run 285/70r19.5 tires. Single wheels do much better in snow than duals, and I would like a taller tire to raise the final drive ratio. 1st and reverse will suffer proportionately, but I believe it will be worth it. Also, see next list item.
  • Get back around to a project I started long ago, putting a medium duty manual transmission behind a Dodge ISB engine, for better gearing and strength than the G56 can offer. I have a Spicer 6+1 syncronized overdrive manual transmission that I got as far as physically bolting into a 2003 Ram 3500 before the project stalled for various reasons. This transmission would drop my 1st and reverse ratios, keep my overdrive where it's at, and the gear train is multiple times larger & stronger.


Since buying this truck 10 months ago I've put 15k miles on it, Odometer is around 308k presently. I currently have a 9.5' V-plow on order for this truck as well. Hopefully I can keep this truck working hard for me for many years and hundreds of thousands more miles to come.


PS I intend to start a thread about this truck once I feel I've done enough to/with it for it to become interesting.
 
#12 ·
Life is always exciting when you live and work entirely off the beaten path.

View attachment 933888

View attachment 933889


Updating post to share a bit more as requested.

I've been self employed for several years, which has grown into me running a construction company that I started from scratch, now employing 3 others in addition to my wife and myself, and constantly growing.

For many years my single wheel 3/4-1 tons worked fine for me. Though I worked them very hard, grossing 20-25k most of the time, I took good care of them and they mostly took good care of me. At the point that I knew my gross combined loads were going to regularly start exceeding 30k and often 40k, I began looking for a medium duty truck.

I didn't (and don't) want a fleet of trucks to maintain, license, insure, etc. I am pretty set on the 2-truck plan working well for me. Additionally, I live in a remote, mountainous, northern area where we regularly have snow inside of 7 months out of the year. We live a mile up a road that we maintain, there is one neighbor another mile up, that's it. So we require 4x4. So a pickup based medium duty just makes sense. I knew I personally was going to own this truck, not the business, and I would use it for personal use in addition to daily work related use.

What I need is:
  • A truck that can gross up to 50k, big payload AND big trailer
  • A truck that can fit my crew or my family in relative comfort
  • A truck that I can afford (not into payments) and be able to justify the $$ I will spend to make it what I want it to be
  • A truck body that has tool storage
  • 4x4
  • Manual transmission

What I REALLY wanted was my 2004, exactly the way it was, with twice the load capacity. I toyed around with the idea of putting heavier suspension and axles under it, but for a variety of reasons that idea never took off. I'm better off than I would have been doing that.

All that narrows the options a lot, and I have a LOT of experience with Dodges, so a Ram just makes sense for me. When I found this 2009 4500 4x4 G56 for sale for a great price, I listed my 04 for sale, it sold fairly quick, and I went up and bought this one for a fraction of the proceeds. Here's a pic of it when I first bought it, with 293k miles.

View attachment 934151


I pulled the previous owner business stickers off, as well as some of the outfitted accessories that I have no use for off pretty quick. The PVC tubes, 1200lb crane, & a pipe vise are what I can remember.

Immediately we began using it for our work, and it does well for that. One day we were on the way to work and had to turn around because there was a nice fresh opportunity in the ditch.

View attachment 934152


Tommy gate was real handy for that. We put close to 200lbs of meat into the freezer from her, certainly worth missing a day of work.

Here's the same truck grossing 40k hauling the backhoe to a job.

View attachment 934153


As you might be able to see, I need this truck to be a do-everything pickup that can haul heavy. One thing about this particular body setup I dislike is that I cannot pull a gooseneck. And the boxes + overhead rack catch a lot of wind and drag down my fuel economy. So I have some plans to make it even better.

Sooner than later plans include:
  • A lower profile hybrid service body/flat bed that can haul a gooseneck and provide more versatile cargo carrying ability
  • Kelderman Air Ride with engine driven onboard air compressor system


Further in the future plans include:
  • Reversible single wheels spec'd to run 285/70r19.5 tires. Single wheels do much better in snow than duals, and I would like a taller tire to raise the final drive ratio. 1st and reverse will suffer proportionately, but I believe it will be worth it. Also, see next list item.
  • Get back around to a project I started long ago, putting a medium duty manual transmission behind a Dodge ISB engine, for better gearing and strength than the G56 can offer. I have a Spicer 6+1 syncronized overdrive manual transmission that I got as far as physically bolting into a 2003 Ram 3500 before the project stalled for various reasons. This transmission would drop my 1st and reverse ratios, keep my overdrive where it's at, and the gear train is multiple times larger & stronger.


I currently have a 9.5' V-plow on order for this truck as well. Hopefully I can keep this truck working hard for me for many years and hundreds of thousands more miles to come.


PS I intend to start a thread about this truck once I feel I've done enough to/with it for it to become interesting.
Love the truck and the story man! Seems you are up against some tough competition this month (with the older hotrods in the mix), but I hope folks will take a moment and appreciate the nearly 300k mile workhorse you have and what you do with it. It’s a winner in my book!
 
#5 ·
This is going to be a great month! I'm looking forward to seeing the various pavement princess' with a lil' bit~o~mud on 'em!
 
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#10 ·
I've had muscle cars over the years and loved them except for the MPGs, I couldn't afford to drive them. I was looking for a 4BT for the 80 stepside in my sig when I found this truck for less than a 4BT. I bought it planning to shorten the frame, swap on a 76 SW bed, doors, fenders, etc to have a classic looking ride with older skin and a diesel for MPGs and a cool factor. I started on this truck and it was nearly rust free. It drug a 5th wheel camper to FL from Indiana every winter so I missed the salt. It did get used hard and was beat up from head to toe. They'd even dropped the 5th wheel camper on the bed side. That bed side bugged me. I started just trying to fix that and it got way out of hand. At some point I decided I couldn't cut up such a clean truck. Everything I've done to this truck could be changed back to stock in a weekend. I have an extra hood, this one was badly mashed in the front, so no big loss if I messed it up so I played. The 6 pack scoop led to a Super Bee theme. My 6 pack is just in a row. I bought the 3rd gen wheels and had a machine shop drill out the bolt holes to fit the 1st gen. I reformed the dually flares to fit better and no longer need the fender welt. Much cleaner. I lowered it a bit, fixed everything I found wrong or questionable. The rear bumper is for a 2000 B1500 van, I had to tweak it a bit but I'm happy, cleaner than the OEM step bumper. New glass front and rear along with the seals. New mirrors and door handles, door felts, fuzzies, and seals. I refinished the dash with spray on bed liner, block sanded and sprayed with SEM dash texture paint, also sanded and dyed, I got lucky, it looks like leather, I'm very happy. I found the shotgun in a dump with a busted stock when I was 10. I'm 61 now and found it hiding in my closet corner so I put it back to use. I cut off the shoulder stock, removed the firing pin, welded up the hole, cut and tapped the barrel, fits like it grew there. I had the OEM bench seat reupholstered as the very nice Laramie sets take up too much space. A shame after all the time invested in making everything fit and work. I still need to refinish the door panels. This winter I think. I sprayed in a raptor bed liner and built a false bottom compartment to hide 12 cinder blocks which helps the ride and are easily removed if needed. I had a local guy custom make the Super 6BT stripe and bought the "six pack" decal from ebay. The ac works, the cruise doesn't, probably a broken clock spring. Another winter project. I think that's about it. OBTW, I'm getting almost 24 MPGs and drive it a lot. I tow with it but not since the refresh, though I'm looking forward to it. I'll add a couple pics, the fender flares fit and a couple as bought pics. Thanks
 

Attachments

#9 ·
Here's my Cummins doing some work delivering a FULL pallet of rebar (notice the squatted rear), when it was less than a year old...

This photo was taken with my truck sitting DIRECTLY in the middle of the (at the time) future homesite of the George Jones... Yes, THE POSSUM himself! This was at the new house he was building in his subdivision in Enterprise, AL called "The Legends". Right next door is/was a house built by Kid Rock, and just down the road was a house belonging to singer Joe Nichols. 😏

Wheel Automotive parking light Tire Automotive side marker light Vehicle


RIP Possum!

 
#13 · (Edited)
Tire Wheel Car Land vehicle Sky


Hello All!

Meet Big Goat. I bought it to pull my family across the country this summer, from Buffalo, NY to Cannon Beach, Oregon pulling our 35' Jayco TT. We stopped at 13 national parks, 20 states, drove 9,234 miles in 105 hours over 36 days of driving all said and done. This is at Mount Rainier in Washington. I got out to take a picture of the mountain and thought, "Damn that truck looks good here!" It may be the best non-person picture I've ever taken, and I have taken MANY.

I was forced into getting one as my 2005 Yukon XL2500 8.1 Lost A/C just 2 days before we were scheduled to leave and keep reservations. I had no time to repair, so The day before we left, I drove 6 hours each way to pick up this guy to save the trip. It was as easy and dependable as turkey on thanksgiving for the entire trip, averaging 10.2mpg pulling the 10k trailer. Sunroof, heated and cooled leather, Alpine stereo, 22.5 Alcoas with new Sailuns...I mean COME ON...trip of a lifetime in the ride of a lifetime!!!!! Best summer EVER.

I just joined the forum and saw the contest. Cant wait to hear and learn from the expertise of the 4th gen crowd! I've been a Ram owner 4 times. This Laramie Mega 6.7HO 4WD Aisin is absolute king now where I live, as you can imagine. It is a dream come true owning it!
Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Plant
Wheel Tire Plant Car Vehicle
Car Land vehicle Wheel Vehicle Tire
Water Sky Mountain Plant Azure

Mountain Sky Working animal Highland Bedrock
Wheel Tire Cloud Sky Land vehicle
Tire Wheel Car Land vehicle Vehicle
 
#16 · (Edited)
My 2014 2500 Limited towing my Kubota from a brush clearing and grading job. I ended up stumbling on it the same day I sold my previous truck and was sweating about not having a replacement lined up. Little did I know I'd get a great deal on grandpa's truck. 74k miles when I got it one owner garage kept and dealer service it's whole life with all wix filters etc. I have since deleted the chrome door trim, added the Bilstein B8 leveling kit with 5100 shocks all around, a set of 2019 longhorn rims wrapped in 295 General Grabber X3's and oem mud flaps since these tires love chucking rocks. Ive done the mirror light mod, steelcraft cab length steps, a chest style toolbox in the bed, along with lights in the box and bed that come on when you open the lid/tailgate respectively, I'm probably forgetting something. It's my first Ram and my first diesel and it's been an awesome truck thus far. My future plans are getting the bumpers wrapped to match and adding the oem CHMSL camera, airlift 7500 airbags with the compressor and a B&W turnover hitch so I can upgrade my flatbed to a gooseneck. Included below is a picture of how it looked before I leveled it etc.
Tire Wheel Sky Vehicle Land vehicle
Wheel Tire Land vehicle Vehicle Plant
Tire Wheel Automotive parking light Plant Vehicle
Automotive tire Automotive lighting Automotive design Wood Automotive exterior
 
#19 ·
As someone that's driven through the areas where @Wombat Ranger lives and works, i can vouch he is definitely well off the beaten path Although i did hear a rumor that the railroad is talking about finally making it up there j/k. Gorgeous country up there, almost hit you up when i was in that area picking up my gooseneck but i was doing a turn and burn run to get it and didn't want to be gone for more then then 13 hours ish i already was.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Tire Wheel Land vehicle Car Vehicle


Tire Wheel Sky Cloud Vehicle


Tire Wheel Sky Car Land vehicle


Finally one I can join!!

This is my 2003 QCSB. I wanted a truck like this since high school. The 5.9 CR idle just did it for me. I went through various vehicles over the last 10yrs and finally got a Cummins to keep. I couldn’t be happier and w 233k I should have a long time left to enjoy it.

These photos were taken at Bridgeport OHV in Texas. My buddy brought his 4Runner w a mild lift & MTs and I served as guinea pig/sacrificial lamb - if I couldn’t do the trail, neither could he :)

Right now the truck has an 8” lift, 37x13.50R20 Toyo RTs, Bilsteins all around, 1 ton front end & steering, BDDiesel steering brace, Bilstein steering stabilizer, built trans, built motor, injectors, fass lift pump, cam, front & rear ranch hands, Banks cold air + Monster Ram, 4” straight pipe, Banks tuner and iDash monitor, Bushwhacker flares, BMC 80gal fuel cell & toolbox, BT stereo, two 10” subs under the rear bench, two 600W amps, running boards, and a brand new paint job in July which I was not treating gently when these photos were taken.

In the near future I’d like to convert the interior to a 4th Gen Laramie and drive the snot out of it. Later on, I’d love to get a killer dually like BigGoat, and convert this one into a rock rig with a flat bed. Til then it’s my daily and by far my favorite vehicle I’ve owned. Happy & grateful to be part of the CTD and CF communities.
 
#31 ·
October thread will go up on Monday. Also, if anyone is interested in taking ROTM over for the site (with me helping out), I would not say no. My workload is increasing lately and I'm not able to give these contests the love they deserve. If theres no interest, I have no problem continuing on solo.

-Mike
 
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