2005 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 - Built To Launch

To properly envelop the upsized rubber at each corner, flared fiberglass fenders and bedsides were custom-created by David Schwartz Jr. and David Schwartz Sr. of Eurobody just for this truck. The fronts flare 6.5 inches per side, while the rears add 4.5 inches per side.

Granatelli Motor Sports took care of the paint, mixing Burnt Tangerine and Go Mango for the desired hue. The custom tone was applied on the top half of the truck and looks great next to the OEM Granite Grey on the truck's lower regions.

With the truck properly suspended, shod, 'glassed, and painted, it rode smoothly, had plenty of grip, and looked great. It only needed to do one more thing: move faster.

To move faster, the Cummins needed to be able to breathe better. Enter a Granatelli Motor Sports cold-air intake and a Granatelli Motor Sports Mega-5 5-inch stainless steel exhaust system.

Today's electronically fuel-injected turbodiesel engines have a lot of performance potential hidden inside. To tap into that potential, Joe added one of his company's Big G Diesel Power Modules. The easily installed module adds over 120 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque, and users can choose between five levels of enhanced power as the driving situation warrants.

These bolt-on power adders brought numbers of 455 hp and 645 lb-ft during dyno-testing.

An upgraded engine called for a few tranny tricks. The stocker is pretty good, but a Granatelli valve-body upgrade and a TCI 2,100-rpm stall torque converter with lockup capability were the final steps to bring the tranny up to par.

The "diving board" front bumper is also a Granatelli-built item. It's as huge as it looks in the photos. It's also meticulously crafted and houses a 5000-series Superwinch winch beneath a Dzus-tabbed, diamond-plate aluminum skidplate. The diving board's front edge is home to a collection of Pro Comp halogen and HID driving lights.

SEMA '05 has come and gone. Unlike a lot of trucks that debuted at that show, Joe's Dodge has spades of real-world performance to back up its great looks. This is proof in print that it's built to launch.