With more than 600 hp on tap,...
With more than 600 hp on tap, the Ram has no problem turning the rear tires into piles of smoking rubber. At the dragstrip, David Salazar launches his DSALRAM in four-wheel drive to limit the tire spin, but it doesn't make for very dramatic photographs.
When your name is David Salazar, you are expected to drive a diesel truck. "D" for David, plus "Sal" for Salazar, equals "DSAL," or diesel. For years, David's license plate read DSALF250, as Salazar drove a heavily modified Super Duty with a 7.3L Power Stroke. The Power Stroke put down 476 hp, but that was after David made a significant investment in the engine. Adding insult to injury, DSAL was getting beat on the dyno and at the dragstrip by guys in Chevys and Dodges who had programmers and an exhaust. When an unsolicited offer came across the table to purchase his Ford, Salazar sold it without a second thought. As soon as the check cleared for the Ford, DSALF250 became DSALRAM.
Seen-It Cummins
The Ford's replacement is an '06 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab with a 5.9L Cummins (of course), a 48RE automatic, and four-wheel drive. In the first few weeks that he had the truck, David added a Smarty programmer, High Tech Turbo HTB2 turbo and 5-inch Farmboys Diesel exhaust from the turbo back. At this point, he was already making more power than he ever got from his 7.3L Power Stroke. While it is fairly easy to get torque from a 6BT, Dodge transmissions were not built to hold much more than factory power. To remedy that problem, the next upgrade was a fully built Goerend 48RE. The new transmission uses a billet triple-disc torque converter, a custom valvebody with increased line pressure and revised shift points, billet shafts, Torrington bearings, and six-pinion planetaries. The line pressure is further controlled by a DTT Shift Enhanser. David got a smoking deal on the transmission when he traded a friend who was returning his truck to stock.
With the transmission ready to withstand big power, David turned his attention back to the Cummins. To get more air into the engine, a custom intake was built utilizing a large, conical Amsoil dry filter. The HTT turbo was also replaced with a BD Super B Special that uses a 64mm compressor, 71mm turbine, and 14mm exhaust housing. More fuel was also added to the equation, as the common-rail injection system is one of the Cummins' biggest advantages over the Ford HEUI architecture. Starting at the tank, an AirDog 150-gph lift pump was bolted to the frame to deliver plenty of clean fuel to the CP3 pump, which David modified himself with the help of a DIY Arson III kit from Wicked Diesel. "I like to do the work myself instead of paying someone else to do it, which leaves me more cash to buy even more mods," says David. Vulcan Performance Fireball 90hp injectors deliver the fuel from the CP3 pump with help from the Smarty TNT tunes.
 The Farmboys Diesel 5-inch...  The Farmboys Diesel 5-inch turbo-back exhaust exits through a polished tip in the stock location. A graphic artist by trade, David made the custom Super Bee decals on both sides of the bed. |  Rolling stock consists of...  Rolling stock consists of 22-inch KMC XD Monster wheels wrapped with 35-inch Toyo Open Country M/Ts. Two-inch leveling spacers on top of the factory coils allow fitment of the meaty tires. |  A conical Amsoil nanofiber...  A conical Amsoil nanofiber dry filter delivers air to the BD Diesel Super B Special turbocharger. A custom heat shield allows the intake to draw cool air from behind the headlight. |
 The Super B Special bolts...  The Super B Special bolts in place of the factory turbocharger, but it flows 80 pounds of air a minute with BD's extended-tip technology. David has the wastegate set at 45 psi. |  David added blue highlights...  David added blue highlights to the engine bay to distinguish it from the crowd. Head studs are in the near future to keep the head gasket intact with high cylinder pressures. A set of Vulcan Performance Fireball 90hp injectors make a whole lot of smoke before the Super B Special spools up and cleans them up. |  The AirDog 150-gph lift pump...  The AirDog 150-gph lift pump from Pure Flow Technologies was bolted to a bracket welded on the driver-side framerail. The AirDog delivers high volumes of clean fuel to the CP3 injection pump. |