In the pantheon of diesels, few are held in as high regard as the first-gen Cummins-powered Rams. Ushering in a new era in what was thought capable in diesels, the turbocharged 5.9-liter motors changed the game in the diesel world, and today, these trucks are highly prized.

We learned of Darrell Rease’s truck from (where else) the internet, specifically Instagram, where Darrell has kept many of his fans apprised of what’s been going on. We spoke with Darrell to get his background and what motivated him to build his prized possession: the “WW1G,” or “World’s Widest 1st Gen.”

Background Of This First-Gen Cummins

Darrell purchased the truck several years ago for about $3,500. It was a government vehicle at one point in its life. “It rode and ran like crap,” comments Darrell. He decided to give it a Magnum V8 right away so he could run and drive it.

To hear Darrell describe it, the very beginning of this first-gen Cummins’ progress was chaos. “I started building this truck out of interest in simplification,” he says. “I had several broken projects, like a lot of car guys out there. Too many broken projects, and not enough money to fix any of them.”

The build began in 2012, and when asked why he started building the truck, Darrell said in a serious tone, “My wife was key.”

“I had a hoarding issue,” he explains. “I had vehicle projects and parts everywhere. I had dozens of engines, tons of transmissions, piles of axles, motorcycles, a rock-crawling truck and drag cars, and all of them were broken. I didn’t fix anything unless I had to, so that meant everything was more or less abandoned.” Darrell’s wife, however, was and is a fastidious woman. He asked her to help him get organized before he took on another project, and she did. It was in 2012 when things took a turn.

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"I wanted a truck that did all things," says Darrell, about why he built his first-gen Cummins.

While getting a head start gathering parts that he might need, Darrell began looking on Craigslist and eventually found a first-gen Cummins that had already been given a P-pump upgrade, an NV4500 gearbox, and a Dana 80 rearend. He purchased the truck for $7,000.

“It was a greasy mess, but it ran. I ran it for about a year while I was getting my chassis ready,” comments Darrell. “I knew it was going to get disassembled eventually.” Sure enough, that day came when the camshaft broke. Darrell took the truck to pieces and began the build.

Once Darrell was fixated on what he wanted out of the Dodge, he was like a man possessed. “I ripped the motor, the transmission, the transfer case, and axles out,” he says. “I cut the frame up, cut the body up, and scrapped whatever I didn’t need.”

This is evident from the fabrication of the front end. Darrell took extensive measurements of a donor Dodge Ram front end, to where he could confidently fabricate shock hoops and an over-the-engine hoop.

He then had the idea of cutting up the front axle, widening it by 4 inches, and then moving it forward by 3 inches to where the differential would fit up against a crossmember. “That was when I knew I was going to go with air suspension,” says Darrell. “It was a big turning point.”

Facets Of The Build

Given the level of effort and planning that went into installing the air suspension, this would explain why Darrell considers the air suspension his favorite aspect of his first-gen Cummins build. “It’s handcrafted, top to bottom, and it gives the truck 14 inches of travel,” he comments.

Starting from the front, the grille shell and front clip are modeled after a 1993 Dodge Ram. Darrell made his own grille inserts and now offers them through the Far From Stock (FFS) shop.

The bumpers were handmade from “rusty steel laying in a field,” according to Darrell. They feature custom mounts for Rigid Industries, SR30s and two D2 pod lights up front, and two reverse-light D2s in the rear.

To fit the Hostile 22×14 wheels and 35-inch Interco Trxus M/Ts, the wheel openings are significantly modified. “The front wheel openings are a couple of inches longer than normal,” says Darrell.

The paint is Chrysler Inferno Red and black. The color scheme gives this first-gen Cummins the appearance of a “Mopar muscle car blackout package,” according to Darrell. Kaleb Shumaker did all of the work in this aspect, and being the first vehicle he painted, he did a damn good job. Other custom bodywork of note are the hood (from a 1972 Dodge Ram) and a custom hole in the bed (for access to a spare Optima battery and the air management system).

The drivetrain starts with a 5.9-liter Cummins, which has been freshened up. Mechanical tuning – in the form of an Attitude Performance Adjuster fuel controller and AFC Live fuel controller – allows the truck to swap between clean exhaust and coal-rolling.

From there, it connects to an NV4500, but not for much longer. “It sounds like it’s full of gravel these days,” comments Darrell. “So I’m going to swap it for a Power Driven Diesel 47RE with a manual valvebody.”

The driveshafts are comprised of a one-piece 1410 rear (soon to be replaced with a one-piece 1480 unit) and a heavy-duty modified CV front. These connect to a Dana 80 rear axle, and a kingpin Dana 60 front (the front was widened 4 inches), both with powdercoating for longevity. Gear ratios are 3.55:1, with Yukon Gear limited-slip differentials fore and aft.

For the frame, Darrell had it boxed between the bed and cab to reinforce rigidity. A custom hitch was built into the frame, as were mounts for a fuel pump and crossmember.

The suspension was put together from a RuffStuff Specialties kit and is comprised of Firestone airbags and 14-inch Bilstein 5100 shock absorbers. This allows This Ram to go from plus-10 to minus-4 inches in height when compared to the stock ride height. Just like the axle housings, Darrell gave a powdercoat to his suspension components, too.

Steering is operated by an FFS fast-ratio firm feel steering box, the first one ever built by Darrell’s company, and now a popular seller on the website. “We knew a steering guy, and he combined old and new parts,” says Darrell. “It feels very modern while still being traditional.”

Lastly, the interior has front seats from a 1998.5-2001 Quad Cab. These were given seat covers from LeatherSeats.com, which also added touches to the steering wheel and grab handles. The rear bench, meanwhile, is from a 2006 Mega Cab.

A double-DIN Pioneer head unit connects to Kicker amps behind the back seat and a pair of Kicker compact subwoofers under the front seats. These boost the sound coming from four Kicker speakers, one in each door. All in all, a very swell interior.