2003 Dodge Ram 3500 1-ton - Cotton Gin

Students of farming history already know that the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1792, had nothing to do with the liquor of the same name. It was a slang term for an engine (or device), which leads us to Carl Cotton's '03 1-ton Dodge Ram 3500. You see, besides the obvious play on words, his engine of desire also displays some inventive thinking. Granted, it's not as revolutionary as Whitney's machine that separated cotton fibers from seedpods, but for diesel pickup owners, this rig shows an innovative way to increase ride height and improve performance at the same time.

Take a closer look at those...        read full caption Take a closer look at those wheels and tires. Kinda big, don't ya think? Yeah, those Alcoas measure 22.5x8.25 inches and are shod with the same size of Hankook rubber used on a semi truck that rolls down the interstate. Super-sized wheels on pickups aren't anything new, of course, but how do you mount a big rig's 10-lug rim on an eight-lug personal pickup?	Ah, that's where the genius...        read full caption Ah, that's where the genius of Whitney comes in, because Cotton was able to have some custom adaptors made to match up the wheels, bravely handled by "Fearless" Fred Goeske.	The inventiveness of Cotton's...        read full caption The inventiveness of Cotton's gin doesn't stop there, though. Under the hood, the 24-valve Cummins breathes easier with a K&N filter and a 4-inch MagnaFlow exhaust system. Banks upped the power output considerably with its High-Ram intake and intercooler along with a Six-Gun tuner and Speedloader. Just dial up the knob and this gin makes hay, er, cotton, like nobody's business.
Adding to the practicality...        read full caption Adding to the practicality of Cotton's long-haul Ram is a Mile Marker winch that mounts on either a front or rear receiver ("Just in case I need to pull a Ford or Chevy out of a ditch," Cotton said with a smirk).	The result is a truck that...        read full caption The result is a truck that stands about 6 inches higher, even though it only has a 2-inch front lift to level out the stance, achieved by using a spacer in the springs. As for performance, Cotton claims he's dropped his revs significantly, so much so that he's picking up several miles per gallon in fuel efficiency.	A rearview camera helps him...        read full caption A rearview camera helps him back down safely when hitching up a trailer (that's Cotton's big mug in the close-up of the monitor.)
	For cooler gear temperatures,...        read full caption For cooler gear temperatures, Cotton added a Mag-Hytec transmission pan and differential cover to hold more oil. Firestone airbags bring up the rear, literally, since he carries a lot of fuel and tools in the bed.	Not that he's short on fuel...        read full caption Not that he's short on fuel capacity. He installed dual 60-gallon fuel tanks, one in the bed and the other is an underbody unit, both supplied by Aero Enterprises. That gives his truck an effective range of about, well, a gazillion miles.

Getting back to Whitney, while he is best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin, it is often forgotten that he was also the father of the mass-production method. In 1798 he figured out how to manufacture muskets by machine so that the parts were interchangeable. It was as a manufacturer of muskets that Whitney finally became rich.

Hey, why not let history repeat itself? Wouldn't it be cool if Cotton's custom gin were mass-produced like those muskets? Imagine if everybody had this much diesel-fueled firepower! After all, as the sign on the rear window says, "Real trucks don't have spark plugs."