Muscle Trux Build Off

[ engine revving ] [ Music ]

(Alli)>> Welcome to Powernation Builds. I'm Ally Walker. Anyone who knows me knows I like big trucks. So the Muscle Truck Build Off is right up my alley. Let's check it out. [ Music ]

(Austin)>> When it comes to trucks it's no doubt that the pickup is the workhorse of America, but that don't mean we can't have a little fun with it too.

(LT)>> Every now and again the factories will release a special high performance edition of a regular truck, and some time ago we did a shootout between two of them. The Chevy 454 SS and a first gen Ford Lightning, and they were each built in two totally different styles.

(Austin)>> I mean one's a small block, one's a big block. You've got naturally aspirated and one with a turbo. I'd say they're pretty different.

(LT)>> So we decided it was time for a little shootout of our own. We were each given the same exact amount of money and told to go out and purchase whatever kind of truck we could dream up.

(Austin)>> Not to mention the same budget for the build, and user's choice on where you want to spend that money. You can throw it at performance, handling, even styling and appearance. Totally up to you buddy.

(LT)>> And when we're done we're gonna compete in a series of tests to determine which truck is superior. The pickups are waiting and we can't wait to show you guys what we have picked out.

(LT)>> When it comes to muscle trucks well there are only a few choices. You've got the early '90's Cyclones and Typhoons, first gen Ford Lightnings, and the 454 SS, and then you have the second gen Lightnings and the Silverado SS, but all of those pale in comparison to what I chose. That's right, I found a Viper truck, and today this still holds the record for the world's fastest production truck. And it gets there with a massive V-10 underneath the hood, an automatic transmission, 4.56 gears out back and a posi-track. Now all that's pretty awesome and I don't know what Austin's gonna choose but I can guaranteed you this one thing. It's not gonna be anywhere near as cool as this. [ Music ]

(Austin)>> You're a fool dude.

(LT)>> How's that?

(Austin)>> Red truck, so predictable.

(LT)>> It's a muscle trucks shootout. I figured why not go big or go home and pick the fastest truck they ever made.

(Austin)>> I thought it was about us getting trucks and building a muscle truck. It's like the big guys at the gym, no, the small guy goes to the gym to get big.

(LT)>> Well speaking of small guy I see you picked about the smallest one you could, an F-150, and I'm guessing, yep you've got the little cute flower on the door. So that means you've got the V-6 underneath the hood.

(Austin)>> I'll bet you ain't rockin' turbos. Plus what are you trying to prove anyway?

(LT)>> I don't need turbos when I have 8.3 liters and 10 cylinder. Well I hope you have some serious upgrades planned for this thing but we'll get to those later on. How about we start by just seeing how these trucks do bone stock. Keep up if you can.

(Austin)>> Yeah, funny guy.

(LT)>> So the truck that I picked for the muscle truck shootout is about as good as you can buy. A 2005 Dodge Ram SRT-10. Now underneath the hood is an 8.3-liter V-10. The very same one that was found underneath the hood of the Dodge Viper, which was one of America's greatest sports cars.

(Austin)>> Yeah partner I've very away this is the muscle truck build off slash quasi-shootout, but I'm not one to be told what to do. I don't really like listening to rules and staying inside the lines, and that's why I chose the 2015 Ford F-150 Supercrew Platinum. Four wheel drive I might add. Yeah I'm crazy. I did pick the V-6 3.5 liter Ecoboost. It's not about what you start with, it's about where you go and the journey it takes to get there. That's where the fun's at.

(LT)>> The V-10 is backed up by the 48-RE, which is a four speed automatic that's normally only reserved behind the Cummins turbo diesel. So you know this is a strong transmission, and in the back we've got a Dana 60 axle. One of the strongest ones that Chrysler makes, and it has a 4.56 ring and pinion gear in it. So you want to talk about peppy, this truck fits the bill.

(Austin)>> This truck is comfortable, not gonna lie. Nice leather seats. It's got the platinum trim, the wood grain, heated seats, probably massage you, dual split a/c. I mean all the benefits and features you could ask for in a late model vehicle such as this. It's just nice.

(LT)>> I can guarantee you that we have some pretty big plans for these trucks. As far as I'm concerned the Ram, well it's getting more of everything. More horsepower, less suspension, it's getting lower, more sound. You know just about everything you'd want in a muscle truck. Yeah we'll tweak the looks a little bit but for me that's not important. What's important is what happens when you put your right foot down to the floor. [ engine revving ]

(Austin)>> As far as kind of improving it, well more power obviously. Hello, that's a given. With that comes more torque hopefully cause we're gonna need it. The stance, put some nice tires and wheels on it. That's a no brainer. Let's have fun with it. If you can't have fun what can you.

(Alli)>> Coming up, we'll see who handles their suspension upgrades better as the Muscle Truck Build Off continues.

(Alli)>> Welcome back to Powernation Builds. These trucks might be going low but they won't be going slow.

(LT)>> We could tell early on with our testing out at the track that neither one of these trucks is gonna handle all that good in its stock condition. So we're gonna start out by bringing the center of gravity a little bit closer to the ground. We're gonna lower these trucks.

(Austin)>> And to make that happen Summit Racing sent us over each lowering kit. For the F-150 the front is going to get dropped three inches with this strut and coil over assembly, and the rear, that'll get taken care of with an axle flip kit, not to mention we're gonna add a heavy duty sway bar cause these trucks didn't even come with that from the factory and that'll just eliminate all my body roll.

(LT)>> I think my favorite part is the pre-assembled strut because even an amateur can install it.

(Austin)>> I'll be done before you even start.

(LT)>> Now to get the Ram closer to the ground it's going to be lowered two inches in the front and four and a half inches in the rear, shorter coil spring, and a flip kit and longer shackle combination. We'll show you more on that later but we're also gonna freshen up the ride with a new set of shocks. And to keep that rear axle under control a set of Caltrac traction bars.

(Austin)>> And since you're already on the lift I'll take the working man's truck and the working man, we'll go handle mine on a set of jack stands.

(LT)>> Oh you're so gracious. What a nice guy. [ mechanical humming ] [ Music ] [ mechanical humming ] [ drill humming ]

(LT)>> So what's the story man? You gave me this high and mighty speech about having to use a floor jack and you've got a portable lift?

(Austin)>> Yeah, I went and looked for the floor jack in all fairness and I saw that, and I'm like try it out.

(LT)>> Man you've got such a hard life.

(Austin)>> I've still got like six jack stands under there or something. Alright so the first thing you're gonna notice with this old F-150 is that this rear spring hanger is actually coming from the bottom. So that shackle's sitting right on top. Unlike the Viper truck where the hanger's up top and the shackle's hanging, kinda floating down with the spring. So the main difference with this kit is that they give you a shorter shackle to allow for the proper travel, but up front they give you a dropped spring hanger. This will mount in the original hanger location. Your spring will mount right up here, drop it down, give you the travel you need. [ Music ] [ drill buzzing ] [ Music ] [ saw buzzing ] [ Music ] [ drill vibrating ]

(Austin)>> And the last little part of teardown. All we've got to do is swap these center pins. That axle's gonna sit on top, lock it in place. Don't even have to take the whole leaf pack apart. Clamp it down and just swap them one at a time. [ Music ]

(LT)>> In order to get the Caltracs installed on the Viper truck I've got to remove this pressed in rubber bushing from the front of the spring pack and it's gonna get replaced with a solid aluminum sleeve. Now these rubber bushings are held very firmly in place, and my go-to tool has always been the shop press, but you guys give me a hard time and I get it. Not everybody has something like this in their home shop. So I'm gonna show you a way to do the job with something that's a little more attainable. This is the new Matco Tools long barrel air hammer, and this thing lays down 2,300 impacts per minute, and that means it'll move a ton of metal in hurry. It's power is delivered with a 3.75 inch stroke, and the forward drift design allows you to easily control the chisel on the work piece, and as a plus the rubber dampener reduces hand fatigue. The chuck design allows for quick and easy bit swaps, and in no time at all the bushing walks right out. So the one thing you do not want to do is drive this aluminum sleeve back in with an air hammer or even a regular hammer because it will mess it up. Slow and steady wins the race here. A little bit of anti-seize on the bushing will help it slide right in and prevent any galling. [ Music ] Man get that thing out of here. I don't need a bed step.

(Austin)>> I'm just messing with you man. They're hideous and they're heavy. Well looks like you're almost done actually.

(LT)>> Yeah, got that driver's side wrapped up and almost done with the passenger. How about you?

(Austin)>> I'm in assembly mode too. Slap some springs on, moving to the front baby.

(LT)>> Well get back to it, and take your step with you.

(Austin)>> I guess. Sell it on eBay or something.

(Alli)>> More Muscle Truck Build Off up next on Powernation Builds.

(Alli)>> Welcome back to Powernation Builds. Are you Team Viper or Team Eco-boost? Either way a lot of upgrades are on deck.

(LT)>> When your engine is operating near its red line the valves are gonna be opening and closing thousands of times a minute, and there's a lot of mass that's moving around, and the valve spring is the only thing that's responsible for pushing the valve, the rocker arm, the push rod, and the lifter back down onto the base circle of the cam shaft so it can all be opened back up again the next time the engine turns around. Now when you install a performance cam shaft like we've done here often times the stock valve springs won't be able to keep up with the increased lift and duration that the aftermarket cam shaft has. We're gonna be installing some Comp 918 Bee Hive springs that we picked up from Summit Racing, and they are a direct replacement from the stock valve spring. They'll work with the existing keepers and the retainers. [ Music ]

(Austin)>> So it's out with the old and in with the new. Summit Racing sent us over a set of Ford Performance turbos, which are gonna spice things up. Now physically and dimensionally on the outside they're exactly the same, but it's the inside that counts. These upgraded turbos have a 39 millimeter inducer wheel compared to the old stock 37. Now I know it's a measly two millimeters but these little dudes will still support up to 300 horse a piece, and can't really go wrong if you ask me. Now I've already oiled up. Time to squeeze them on in. This turbo setup is quite unique in the fact that it uses oil cooling during operation and after engine shutdown it uses thermal passive syphoning, which pulls that coolant in and cools it down nice and slow. This direct fit factory replacement intercooler will increase cooling capacity since we're forcing all that air from these upgraded turbos.

(LT)>> This system is made from stainless steel. So we know it'll last a lifetime, and it's specific to the SRT-10 Rams as opposed to a regular Ram 1500 because it has the dual exits on the passenger side where there's a nice cutout in the bumper. Now the muffler is polished. So it looks great and it's a straight through design. So it's gonna sound even better, and our installation starts up front with the cats. The system easily installs by sliding one pipe into another, and the connections are secured with a band clamp. Finally the chrome tip fits perfectly in the cutout in the bumper.

(Austin)>> That little bity V-10 sporting some three inch exhaust. Might as well put it on the EcoBoost. What better way to finish off these turbos than with some stainless three inch high flow cat down pipes and stainless exhaust all the way to the back. Finishing it up with some clean black tips.

(LT)>> I went to EBC Brakes and picked up a Stage 9 kit, which comes with some u-s-r slotted rotors, which will help the braking surface run a little bit cooler, and I picked their most aggressive pad, the Yellow Stuff. Now together this will give the truck a 30 percent improvement in stopping power, and it's a direct bolt in replacement. With this style of caliper the pads can come out first, and then the caliper unbolts from the spindle, which allows the old disc to be swapped with the u-s-r slotted rotor. And with the caliper back on the Yellow Stuff pads slide into their new home.

(Austin)>> Well here we are all assembled. JLT Performance helped us finish up this engine bay. We installed this catch can. It'll eliminate all the oil vapors coming from the crank case before it goes back in that intake tube. Then we wrapped it up nicely with this cold air intake. It fits seamlessly and it's gonna feed these turbos all the air they're gonna need to make that power. I'm about wrapped up man. Where are you at?

(LT)>> Pretty much in the same boat. I've got the cam in, the headers on, the exhaust is done, and I upgraded the brakes. So the truck's just about ready to fire up.

(Austin)>> Alright so how much money you spent so far?

(LT)>> Well I've got some notes here. So the last time I spent $2,494 dollars on the chassis. Today I spent $5,199 dollars on the engine, $1,158 on the brakes. So that means out of our original $15,000 budget I've got $6,149 dollars left. How about you?

(Austin)>> Okay so last time on suspension alone I spent $1,890 dollars. Today just on performance parts in total $7,315 dollars. That leaves me with right at $5,800 left. So we'll be going places.

(LT)>> Well you're definitely gonna need it to take on the SRT, but we can't finish the day without at least hearing one of these trucks. So let's fire this thing up.

(Austin)>> Crank this dude up. [ Music ] [ engine starting ] [ engine revving ]

(Alli)>> It's SRT versus F-150 in head to head competition up next.

(Alli)>> Welcome back! It's time to crown the winner of the Muscle Truck Build Off.

(LT)>> Hey will that little six cylinder even do a burnout?

(Austin)>> I don't know.

(LT)>> Before we have Tommy and Marc add up the scores a little head to head for bragging rights is a good way to go out.

(Austin)>> How's that for a burnout?

(LT)>> It sounded like there was a little six cylinder Honda running next to me or something.

(Austin)>> So no joke these trucks are close.

(LT)>> I know, I've been impressed with that truck. Still not as fast as the SRT even though it's 10 years older, but it's still okay.

(Austin)>> Whoever's standing back here is gonna have a hard time telling the difference from my taillights and your pretty red truck.

(LT)>> See if you can keep up. [ Music ]

(LT)>> Here we go! [ engines revving ]

(Austin)>> Oh yeah, let's roll baby!

(LT)>> Oh it feels good! I think we got it.

(Austin)>> Give me the goose! [ engines revving ]

(LT)>> I think we got it.

(Austin)>> Yeah, yeah, you may have got me head to head but overall I know I beat you in a few categories.

(LT)>> And we left it up to Tommy and Marc to score both trucks how they saw fit.

(Tommy)>> Well I guess it's about time for us to tally up all of our totals to see which one of these boys is gonna take the cake.

(Marc)>> And what's great about this for us is it's all subjective. So we get to decide the winner. Even this first category, which is dyno performance. It wasn't much of a contest here. With all the engine mods added to the Ram it only gained a measly 39 horsepower.

(Tommy)>> Austin's truck on the other hand gained 65 horses for an 18.5 percent gain compared to LT's 8.9.

(Marc)>> We scored it 14.5 points to 10 in favor of the Ford. Well the next category is styling and appearance.

(Tommy)>> And I have to say in my opinion one of them did a really good job.

(Marc)>> He swung for the fence and knocked it out of the park.

(Tommy)>> Still going! The Dodge had basically no exterior upgrades but we still gave LT five points each because he bought a truck that was already styling from the factory.

(Marc)>> Agreed, and no question Austin hit a home run. Stance, body mods, wheels, tires, everything. Because it's such a good looking ride we gave him an 18 out of a possible 20 points.

(Tommy)>> LT clearly won the drag competition 20 to nothing.

(Marc)>> It doesn't matter the trucks were only two tenths apart. When it comes down to a drag race it's all about the power and getting it to the ground. LT's truck was just quicker and faster, and finally money well spent.

(Tommy)>> Like the styling category this wasn't even a fair comparison, and we scored it 18 to 2 for the EcoBoost.

(Marc)>> The fact that Austin spent nearly all of his budget to come up with a bad ass truck that looks great and performs well says a lot.

(Tommy)>> What was LT thinking leaving nearly a third of his budget on the table. I'd spend that on a few more things to up the styling and performance. Well after tallying everything all up I have to say it got pretty close.

(Marc)>> Yeah I mean the Ford scored 50.5. I don't know who gave him a half point? And the Dodge ended up with 52. That's pretty close.

(Tommy)>> I was trying to keep it accurate.

(LT)>> So what do you think guys? We got any results yet?

(Tommy)>> We've got some results and after tallying them up they're dangerously close guys.

(LT)>> We still have burnouts to do right?

(Tommy)>> Yeah but we've got a little problem with that cause it's obvious that that big red Mopar is gonna shred the tires and the Ford, it's gonna try.

(Marc)>> We've got a better plan. Let's call it the gauntlet.

(Austin)>> I don't know what it is but I'm in.

(Marc)>> When I say gauntlet I mean it's the classic battle between two pickup trucks. It's the ultimate measuring stick, the tug-o-war. The rules are simple. These trucks are hooked up. The first one that the bumper crosses the yellow line is the loser. Not only in this portion of the competition but the whole shebang. It's gonna be awesome!

(Tommy)>> Alright boys y'all ready to go? Three, two, one, go! [ engines revving ]

(LT)>> No way, no way!

(Tommy)>> You can stop!

(Austin)>> Come on baby!

(Marc)>> Alright shut it down. I can't believe that happened. I thought for sure that the F-150 was gonna win.

(Tommy)>> Me too, just because I figured that one was gonna blow the tires off of it and it was basically gonna walk a dog.

(Austin)>> This guy, I didn't know this was a braking contest. I thought we eliminated the braking contest.

(LT)>> If you notice there was no braking. We moved that way. What about four wheel drive, didn't you even use it?

(Austin)>> I didn't start out in it cause I wanted to give you a fighting chance.

(LT)>> Well you did and I won. The winner of that condtest took the whole thing, so?

(Austin)>> Took the whole thing?

(Marc)>> It's over but I will say both trucks are awesome.

(Austin)>> I will say we start out pulling in four wheel drive right now.

(LT)>> Rematch he says.

(Tommy)>> I'm staying here to watch this! [ engine revving ]

(Austin)>> Come on baby!

(LT)>> This really proves nothing other than it makes a lot of smoke. [ engines revving ]

(Alli)>> Coolest tug of war ever. For more on all of our projects visit Powernation TV dot com. I'm Alli Walker, and I'll see ya down the road.