Turning Heads: The Stunning Redesign of a 2012 Ram Mega Cab for Diamond Eye

As the owner of Diamond Eye Manufacturing, Dennis Olson knows how important marketing is to help a company grow and thrive. After purchasing his 2012 Ram Mega Cab 3500, he had a 12-inch lift and 40-inch tires installed, then wrapped the truck to display in the Diamond Eye booth at the 2012 SEMA show in Las Vegas. While the truck looked good, it didn’t draw the attention he was looking for.

Olson wanted a true jaw-dropper for the 2013 SEMA show, so he handed the truck over to Street To Sand (S2S) in Reno, Nevada, for a complete transformation. He wanted the truck to stand out among the sea of head-turning vehicles at SEMA, and being familiar with S2S’s outstanding work, he left the design and construction of the truck completely up to them.

S2S spent nearly a year on the truck, and Olson was blown away by the results. The new truck was exactly what he was looking for—an amazing showvehicle that could also tour the country promoting the Diamond Eye Performance brand at shows and events. From every angle, there’s something on this truck at which to marvel—be it the custom paintwork, painted suspension components, custom interior, dressed-up Cummins, or the little details like S2S logos (no fewer than 28) integrated throughout the truck.

Diamond Eye Manufacturing is an environmentally responsible manufacturer of high-performance aftermarket exhaust systems and components, all of which are emissions legal, so the team was determined to keep all of the emissions equipment on the truck. In order to improve performance of the big 6.7-liter Cummins, they started by installing an S&B Filters cold air intake. Installing an AirDog 200 system high on the frame near the 60-gallon Titan fuel tank improved fuel delivery and filtration. Tuning was enhanced with an Edge Evolution programmer and monitored with an Edge CTS. A set of ARP head studs keeps the cylinder pressure from lifting the heads, and exhaust gasses exit the engine through the factory DPF system, which was coated black to blend into the chassis. A black 5-inch DPF-back Diamond Eye Performance exhaust system terminates behind the rear axle with a downward-firing 6-inch tip.

The combination of added power, 4.56 gears and large 38-inch tires would have strained the factory transmission, so S2S installed an ATS Stage 4 68RFE transmission with a triple-disc ATS torque converter. Power is transferred to the rear differential through a custom one-piece driveshaft, while a lengthened front drive shaft is used to drive the front wheels when 4WD is needed.

One of Olson’s intentions for the truck was to take it out on tour to promote Diamond Eye’s line of products. In order to make the truck more streetable, S2S replaced the original 12-inch suspension lift with an 8-inch BDS long-arm system that they modified to provide 10 inches of lift. Up front, the BDS suspension system uses huge coil springs and dual Fox Racing shocks, with long-travel Fox shocks out back. Dual Fox Racing steering stabilizers help keep the big truck pointed in the right direction. Most of the suspension components were painted bright white to match the body, though the rear BDS leaf springs are painted alternating black and white.

The Ram rides on a set of 38X13.50 R24LT Nitto Trail Grappler M/T tires wrapped around BMF M-80 24X10.5-inch wheels. To make the wheels stand out even more, the flutes were painted white while the lip was treated to ghostly airbrush work with skulls and the S2S logo. Both front and rear differential covers were replaced. S2S used a heavy-duty fabricated steel cover up front and a custom aluminum machined cover in the rear, both painted white to match the rest of the paint scheme.

In the spot where the factory spare tire used to reside, S2S installed a set of train horns from Kleinn Automotive Air Horns. The horns, compressor and air tank are mounted to a white-painted plate with the S2S logo machined into it.

Fusion bumpers adorn the front and rear of the truck along with a host of Rigid Industries LED lighting including a pair of Dually back-up LEDs in the rear bumper. The front bumper is home to a pair of Q-Series square driving lights in the corners with 10-inch E-Series and 10-inch SR-Series light bars in the center. An additional pair of Dually driving lights is molded into the headlight assemblies along with an HID projector to light the way. Yet more light comes from a 50-inch Rigid E-Series light bar installed above the windshield, mounted with custom S2S mounting brackets. Smoked LED lights from Recon replace the taillights and third brake light.

For decoration, S2S handed the truck off to the paint experts at Elite Customs in Sparks, Nevada. Elite applied a beautiful two-tone metallic black and bright white paint job, accented with a section of skull graphics highlighted by a bright blue accent stripe. The factory hood was tossed aside in favor of a fiberglass hood with an SRT-style scoop. To finish off the front of the truck, they installed a BMF grille insert and painted the grille shell. Of course, the door handles, mirrors and doorjambs were also painted to complete the look.

Naturally, the interior of the Mega Cab Dodge was not neglected. S2S started by recovering the seats with black leather, featuring perforated centers with an embroidered S2S logo and video monitors in the back of the headrests. Black suede replaces the factory headliner, with a 15-inch fold-down LCD monitor mounted just behind the factory sunroof. A custom switch panel in the center console controls the air horn and auxiliary lighting. To complete the interior, they smoothed and the interior plastic components and painted them either black or white to match the exterior.

The audio system underwent a major transformation, with the factory head unit feeding audio signals to a JL Audio signal processor, which passes them off to a pair of JL Audio HD-series amplifiers mounted between the subwoofers behind the rear seat. An HD 1200/1 sub amp drives two JL Audio 12W3 subs, while an HD 600/4 powers JL Audio C5-650 component speakers, which are mounted in custom painted pods in each door. A custom grille featuring the S2S logo protects the electronics and subs.

The Diamond Eye Performance Ram may look like a trailer queen, but it’s built for the road. Company representative Tyler Schneider has put more than 24,000 miles on the truck as he tours the country and attends events to help dealers and customers learn more about Diamond Eye Performance products. S2S’s fantastic work has held up just fine to life on the road—so well, in fact, that all it took was a thorough detail job to ready the truck for the 2014 SEMA show, where it once again stood tall amongst the crop of show vehicles. DW