The Shorty is a never produced 1995 Dodge Ram regular cab short bed that now sits on a Duramax four wheel drive chassis with independent front suspension and a compound turbo 6.7 common rail, and it is an absolute riot that cleans up at around twelve hundred on the street with the potential for roughly fifteen hundred.
In this episode of the Power Driven Podcast, Mario from Power Driven Diesel walks through his daily driver and covers the full build and the backstory. He explains how it went from a chopped two wheel drive 12 valve manual to an auto swapped common rail, why the Duramax frame made it possible to stay low and still have four wheel drive, and what changes made it reliable enough to drive while still wild enough for dirt drags, burnouts, and street hits. For diesel performance fans, this is a clear look at how real world packaging, fueling, and control strategy come together to make power that actually hooks and lasts.
Under the hood the Street Fighter 6.7 runs a Stage Four cam with springs, pushrods, and a ported head that was used in stock versus ported head testing when the truck was still two wheel drive. The old five nine combo ran a 351 84 based setup, but the current compound arrangement uses a 467 on the manifold feeding an Aggressor 98 on the atmosphere with a GT55 tucked over under thanks to the frame swap. Fueling is handled by DDP 200 percent over injectors, a twelve millimeter pump plus a factory six seven pump on the belt for a dual pump setup, and an Air Dog 5G 220 with boost referenced regulation to keep pressure where a big common rail wants it under load. Mario also moved from an 848 ECM to an 849 so he could add a proper staging limiter at about two thousand four hundred rpm tied to the brake, and he kept the second gen cluster happy with a clever tach pickup using magnets on the dual pump pulley. A line lock helps the burnouts without cooking the brakes, and a third gen hydroboost with a Wilwood proportioning valve keeps the pedal feel consistent.
Chassis work is everywhere. New shock mounts add travel and use readily available factory style shocks. Traction bar geometry was changed so the bar climbs uphill to fight squat on launch. The tall Duramax frame was notched to match second gen dimensions so the axle and frame meet at the right time, which keeps it low without smashing bump stops. The swap brought a factory Duramax fuel tank back under the bed so the full six foot bed is usable again. Inside the truck carries a full manual valve body shifter, pressure gauges for lift pump, engine oil, and transmission line pressure, and the usual battle scars that come from actually driving it. Drivetrain wise it runs a 48RE with a manual shift transfer case chosen with future flexibility in mind, and heavy duty steering bits have held up to hard four wheel drive launches on OEM style CVs while the 305 50 20 Nitto 420s turn to rubber confetti. The backstory ties it all together, from a reliable 12 valve that made about five hundred fifty to a weekend common rail swap that went straight to the dyno for one thousand sixty five, to the moment a high sevens two wheel drive pass convinced Mario that four wheel drive was the only way to put the power down.
If you are into diesel performance and Power Driven Diesel tech with Cummins engines, VP44 era history, dyno testing, turbo upgrades, drag racing, and real truck builds, you will find plenty here, including long tail goodness like Duramax frame swap Cummins, regular cab short bed Cummins build, compound turbo 6.7 Cummins with GT55 and 467, 849 ECM staging limiter setup, Wilwood proportioning valve hydroboost plumbing, and Air Dog 5G 220 dual pump fueling. Subscribe for more episodes, follow along for future updates, and check out more Power Driven Diesel content to keep your own projects running harder and smarter.
Power Driven Diesel is a specialty performance shop engaged in the engineering and development of high-performance turbo diesel technologies.
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