Martin Barkey's Description Of His '96 Diesel Dually Pretty Much Sums It Up.
Well, there's more to Martin Barkey's 3500-series extended cab Ram than that, but in a nutshell, its sheer size and pavement-scraping capabilities are the first things that grab your attention. Sure, the wild paint and awe-inspiring interior make you stop and stare real slowly, but anytime you whack a full 18 inches out of the rear ride height and another foot between the front wheel and fender, you can't help but stop in your tracks!
The truck started life as a fully loaded shop truck for Martin's Ontario, Canada-based MBRP Incorporated, manufacturers of custom exhaust components for high performance cars, trucks, and snowmobiles. Remember, in Canada, winter is longer than summer, so they've got to fill their need for speed somehow! The truck saw daily duty for about a year before Martin decided to start using it as a promotional tool for his business.
"The truck would have never happened if it weren't for Mike Blakely of Bracebridge Boatworks and Collision Centre in Bracebridge, Ontario," Martin said. Mike thought the custom work on the truck might bring a little more business his way too, so he pulled out all the stops on Martin's heavy hauler. Hundreds of hours were spent shaving the taillights,antenna, door handles, tailgate, and stake pockets to smooth out the truck. He then fabricated a flush-mounted LED brake light system in the rear roll pan, and a matching third light into the back of the cab's roof. Up front, Pro Finish in Avilla, Indiana, was responsible for the hood, front bumper, and trick Semi Truck-styled dropped front fenders, with the headlights removed and replaced with round units recessed in the bumper cover. Pro Finish also created custom inner fenders to clear the lowered suspension up front. Then it went back to Mike, who molded a custom one-piece grille into the hood. Terry DeLong of Pro Finish flush-mounted a set of LED marker lights into the front fenders and then Mike prepped the whole thing for the wild purple paint.
After the purple canvas was applied, the truck was sent to MAJA Murals in Port Sydney, Ontario, where over 100 hours were spent applying the trick design. That's 100 hours of actually applying paint-that doesn't count the masking and additional prep Mike Blakely and Mike Menchoffer spent designing the scheme and masking it off!
While the truck was conceived and colored in Canada, its construction was a multi-national effort. To get the desired stance, it was shipped south of the border to Bewley's in Indianapolis, where the slamming began. A complete rear subframe and custom air bag suspension was designed, which was good for a final drop of 18 inches. When the bags are emptied, the frame rails are on the ground! This necessitated a rear kick-up that actually comes into the bed of the truck-"When the suspension is deflated," Martin told us, "the third member is actually higher than the original bed floor." Among other things, new inner wheel tubs were fabricated, a new bed floor, and the rearend was narrowed a couple of inches so the tires would clear the stock Dually fenders. Up front finds Bewley-fabricated custom upper and lower control arms, hydraulic 6-inch rams with a drop spindle, a Suspension Techniques coil spring that was cut in half, and more air bags. Rolling stock consists of six MHT Concept Neeper N-8 wheels, two BFGoodrich 225/60ZR16 tires up front, and four BFGoodrich 245/75ZR16s out back. Due to the drastic drop, a custom low-profile oil pan and fuel cell were fabbed by Reynold's Sheet Metal in Huntsville, Ontario, to keep the concrete away from the fluids.
With the air bags inflated and the chassis off the ground, "the truck rides nicer than stock!" Martin said. "It's a very soft ride for those long trips. And all the chassis work and suspension is so accurate that at well over legal speeds you can let go of the steering wheel and this tank goes perfectly straight down the highway."