Dodge Ram Mega Cab Long Bed - Diesel Tech

Clint Hardman, Fausett, and a helper rolled the rear half of our donor truck out of the work area so that the front half of each frame rail could be prepped for the stretch.

Accuracy is the key in any type of frame-related modification. Here, Fausett rechecked his work to make sure the truck was sitting perfectly level.

Here, you can see Fausett removing a bit of leftover bracket from one frame rail in preparation for the sleeving process.

Once the frame rails were ready, a section of rectangular steel was added to the truck's front half.

One final check gave Fausett and us the confidence that we weren't about to make a $50,000 mistake.

Out came the plasma torch. Fausett followed his marks and separated the front and rear sections of the frame. We watched nervously from afar. It's one thing when your truck is being modified by someone you don't really know that well. However it's a whole different story when the truck's owner never even had a chance to drive the vehicle, and you cut it in two. needless, to say we were anxious to see the two frame sections joined back together again.

With each sleeve welded in place, Fausett rejoined the rear section of the truck to the front half. Just to be safe, Fausett triple checked the accuracy of the fit.

Here, you can see Fausett welding the sleeve to the rear portion of the truck's frame. We were impressed with his welding skills. He explained that his background in large steel structure construction gave him a knack for this type of work.

Here, Fausett smoothed out the welds joining the new extension to the frame rail. This step was followed by test-fitting the rear bumper, which has mounting brackets that slip over the end of the frame rails.

These are the rear frame extensions fabricated by Fausett for the conversion process. believe it or not, the rear of a long bed's frame is not the same as a short-bed-equipped pickup. As such, these custom extension brackets must be installed to lengthen the rear of the short-bed frame. These extensions are the most laborious part of the conversion process. Completely fabricated by hand, these little brackets are truly works of art.

We had Fausett hold up one of the original rear frame termination sections next to his custom-fabricated extension bracket. As you can see from the photo, Fausett's parts are made from thicker material, which should translate into additional frame strength.