THIS YOUNGSTER BUILT THIS TRUCK WITH HIS OWN HANDS!

At some point in their lives, most truck lovin’ boys daydream about their future rides. Jacob Johnson from Knoxville, Tennessee, was only 18 years old when he completed his project two years ago, proving that dreams really can come true. Johnson grew up in a gear-head family and remembers being involved in mechanical work since he was three years old, so being able to build his own truck by driving age was a given. With a mechanically inclined heritage, Johnson planned to do all the work on the truck himself, with a bit of help from his buddy Wesley Lawson. Having the capable chassis of an ‘06 Ford F-450 but wanting to toss the unpredictable “6-leaker” Power Stroke engine, a “Fummins” conversion quickly became the goal of the young Johnson. But simply swapping the motor into his truck was not going to create his dream machine.

The heart of any Fummins conversion is, of course, the Cummins engine; and in search of high power, Johnson wasn’t planning to use a stock motor. Tearing down and reassembling the motor himself, he upgraded the engine with a set of Carrillo rods and coated Mahle pistons swung bocharger with a color matched compressor cover.

Cody Hale at Anarchy Diesel Tuning in Riceville, Tennessee, tuned the Cummins using ingenuity shines in his custom transfer case, showing his out of the box thinking. Marrying the front half of a Dodge transfer case to the back half of a Ford transfer case, he created what he around by the factory 6.7L Cummins crankshaft. For the camshaft, valve springs, rocker arms and pushrods Johnson used Hamilton upgrades that were a proven combination to make good power in a Cummins engine. The engine was mounted in the Ford F-450 chassis using Destroked motor mounts.

With the rotating assembly and valve train bolstered, the need for more air and fuel was next on the punch list. For the fuel, Johnson went with a FASS 220 fuel filter and pump system to feed into his Industrial Injection R-series 125% over injectors. When it came to air, an AFE Power intake elbow manifold and air filter were installed to optimize airflow. The factory Cummins turbo was replaced with a 66mm Borg Warner tur-EFILive to get the most out of the engine combination. Expelling the used air from the engine is a four-inch straight pipe exhaust system that terminates at a black 6-inch diameter tip in the stock location. This package has put down an impressive 752 horsepower and 1,358 pound feet of torque on the dyno. But in Johnson’s dream truck, a powerful engine needed to look good too. Still doing the work himself, he painted the head, intake, turbo compressor housing and its inter- cooler piping to match the deep metallic True Blue paintjob on the trucks body.

To get the power heading toward the wheels, Johnson used a Dodge NV 5600 6-speed manual transmission, upgrading that with a Valair dual disc clutch and upgraded hydraulics. Johnson’s dubbed the ‘Frankincase’ to perfectly go between the Dodge transmission and Ford drive shaft.

Johnson didn’t want a powerful trailer queen, he wanted a versatile daily driver, so to set up his truck to be a rig ready to tackle whatever terrain he sought out, he opted for a few upgrades for the stock chassis. To gain the stability and ride quality he wanted, ProComp was the choice as he installed their traction bars and used their shocks both front and rear. This gave the truck a great stance along with aiding its on-or-off the road performance. Johnson also wrapped his 20-inch American Racing ATX Mojave Teflon Black coated wheels with the aggressive and grippy 33X12.50R20LT Toyo M/T Open Country tires all the way around.

Continuing to prove he had a specific vision and would stop at nothing, Johnson began to critique the outside of his blue rig. Streamlining the look of the large truck, Johnson color matched his front and rear bumper to the body’s dark metallic True Blue color. He also paint matched the Bush Wacker front and rear fender flares that added to the look of the slick off-roader. In addition, Johnson outfitted a hardy Waag brush guard equipped with Hella Predator off road lights with red accents that matched the painted Ford emblem and the accenting red stickers. To keep the truck looking slick while driving but to add some accessibility to the rig, Johnson also added AMP drop down running boards. Along with the utility aspect of his dream machine, Johnson had the bed coated with Line-XJ ProComp traction bars tighten up the large, heavy truck while their red inlays on the logo add to the red accents across the blue paintjob. and installed a toolbox. But, was the dark blue truck flared with bright red accents finally complete?

Not yet. What dream truck would be complete without a customized interior and sound system? The Lariat model already came equipped with plush leather and wood trim, but Johnson wanted more from his truck. Augmenting the A-pillar with a triple-gauge pod and DiPricol Optix gauges that feed Johnson with extra information to keep an eye on his high horsepower rig. He also outfitted the small ScanGauge to his dash to the left of his steering wheel for engine temp and a secondary RPM gauge. A unique personal touch to the interior was a 15-ball from a pool table adapted as his shift knob. To upgrade the stereo system, Johnson swapped in an Alpine INA- W910 double-DIN A/V head unit. And to sur-round himself with higher sound quality, he ran Polk 5×7-inch door speakers running off a Polk Audio PA200.4 amp matched with two 10-inch Kicker L7 subwoofers powered by Kicker 1000.1 amp resulting in all the boom necessary for a good sounding ride.

Jacob Johnson had a design in mind and proved that a hard-working, self-motivated individual can make a dream come true, regardless of age. Pulling and swapping an engine, painting and applying graphics, and all the other wrenching performed by Johnson showed that the truck that’s been roving around your mind is possible to achieve. With an eye for detail, John-son carved out a road (or off-road) worthy beast with over 750 horsepower of Cummins power caged into the body of a very capable Ford F-450. Dark blue, workable, ready-for-any-adventure, the Fummins was a dream come true for young Jacob Johnson. So, what’s your dream? UDBG

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