Mini-Feature: Matthew Holstein’s Inferno Red Cummins, “Clifford”

Everyone dreams of transforming their truck into a work of art. Some people succeed, some people have to enjoy it from the afar, but no matter what happens, anything is possible. We caught up with Matthew Holstein to talk to him about this 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 and see where this idea started, as well as where he’s looking to take it.

“I bought the truck in September 2006, with 67,798 miles,” said Matthew. “It’s a 2006 Ram 2500. In high school, it got nicknamed ‘Clifford’ by a fellow classmate. More than a decade later, I have extensively turned the SLT truck into the truck you see now. The color is Inferno Red Crystal Pearl with match-painted front and rear bumpers, smoothed handles, grille, and Mopar SRT-10 hood.”

“The truck’s tailgate is being shaved currently, as well as some other minor plastics being match-painted,” Matthew continued. “I knew when I got my hands on this truck in high school that I wanted to throw down at least 800 horsepower.” Like any build, it took some time and thought to gather it all together to create what the owner had in mind.

Clifford has two personalities. A pampered baby by day, and a caged animal at night.

One part of that dream turned reality is the performance side of this build. Holstein incorporated a Forced Inductions S472/87/.90 ETR turbocharger with a race cover. This massive single turbo is hung off of a T4 Stainless Diesel manifold, and forces it exhaust out of  a four-inch 409-Stainless downpipe, and into a five-inch polished Jamo Performance Exhaust tip.

Backing that amount of air flow is Exergy Performance, with a 10mm CP3 injection pump and 100-horsepower injectors. The long block of this engine is the way it was 222,986 miles ago. “The internals are nothing more than Hamilton Cams 103-pound valve springs and Extreme Duty pushrods,” Matthew said. “Also, holding down this stock cylinder head is credited to a set of Automotive Racing Products head studs.”

Keeping a “Show and Go” build in mind, Holstein took the time to disassemble parts to have color matching done, just to give it even more of a wow factor. “I polished the stock intercooler and powder-coated a lot of parts under the hood,” he said. “The alternator bracket, intercooler pipes, aFe Bladerunner intake manifold, five-inch intake tube to the compressor, water neck, oil pan, rocker arm riser box, and OEM valve cover are all coated in Inferno Red.”

“Continuing engine-wise is a Fleece Performance And Engineering coolant bypass, Glacier Diesel Air Boss plenum, and a PureFlow AirDog II-165 fuel system,” said Holstein. “I deleted the passenger battery to fit the turbo. Starting duties are done by an Optima Red Top.”

Keeping this truck riding as good as it looks is a reverse-leveled suspension, and all four corners strapped with Bilstein 5100 shocks on Fleece Performance shock tower deletes. Also, thanks to Glacier Diesel, Clifford has a set Double X ladder bars in the rear to keep the tail from hopping around. As we all know, the Dodge front ends constantly need TLC. With that in mind, Holstein equipped his Ram with a Carli Suspension track bar, steering stabilizer, and BD Diesel Performance steering brace.

The first thing you notice other than its stupendous red paint job are the wheels and tires. “These are 305-45-R20 Nitto 420 S tires,” said Matthew. “They wrap around 22 x 12 American Force Wheels Burnout wheels. Tucked nicely behind them are a set of drilled and slotted EBC Brakes rotors for premium braking.”

You won’t find many trucks that are 10-plus years old and taken care of to this level.

“Gauges are important to me and I want to be able to monitor whats going on with the truck at all times,” said Matthew. “On the interior, I have gauges that cover fuel pressure, rail pressure, oil pressure, drive pressure, boost, pyrometer (exhaust gas temperature), and transmission temperature.” Holstein also requested that the windows be tinted heavily. To do this, three layers of 5-percent tint run from side to side, and 15-percent tint was applied on the windshield.

“I mostly used it to daily drive from home and back while I was in high school and college,” said Matthew. “Now, the truck is basically a weekend toy that gets shown off at the track or big shows around my area of Texas.”  But the build can’t stop here… or can it?

“I have future plans for this truck,” confirmed Matthew. “This includes a Fleece dual CP3 kit with an additional 12mm Exergy Performance pump, followed by 300-percent-over injectors. I know with that much fuel I will need to ante up on the air side of things. This leads me to my next idea – compound turbos. I want an S484 under the current S472.”

You have to have a stereo in a truck like this, so Matthew relies on a Pioneer AVH-2300NEX Touch Screen head unit with Polk highs and mids.

Holstein mentioned he would be happy with 800 horsepower. Well, his future plans have more than enough potential to break that barrier.

Like always, it takes a great support system to get something to this point. Matthew excitedly gave credit where credit is due. “First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother and my father as well as my late papa,” he said. “Also, Dean Kjeldgaard and his son, ClayCee Kjeldgaard, for the countless nights of helping me along the way. Justin Vaughan and Carli Ivey for the powder coating. Tracey Logan and Colton Thomas for loaning me tools under short notice. Will Ulmen of Ulmen Films for photography. And last but certainly not least, Wes Johnson for his work on the body and paint.”

What a story and what a build Holstein has under his belt! For more information about this project, be sure and keep up with Matthew on Instagram. What are your thoughts on this red-hot Ram? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author

Artie Maupin

Artie Maupin is from Southeast Missouri and has an extreme passion for anything diesel. He loves drag racing of all kinds, as well as sled pulling competitions.
Read My Articles