For as much fun as it seems to work for Heavy D and Diesel Dave – funny videos, shop hijinks, etc. – the job does come with its moments of pure stress and frustration. Now at Episode 8, the guys are gearing up for the 2015 SEMA Show, and the heat is on. Those of us in the industry know this time period as the “SEMA Crunch.”

Heavy D fights to have his way with air bag suspension.

Carrying over from the last episode, we know that Heavy D has his sights set on a six-door Ford F-550. Equipped with six-wheel-drive and six-wheel steering to enable crabwalking, the truck definitely has the potential to blow people away, but only if it reaches completion in time. So far, it’s hit a snag as its airbag suspension system refuses to work, and bigger air springs are a must to get things back on track. That’s why the Diesel Brothers head to a local scrapyard to source six “new” springs, and fortunately, they find them.

Meanwhile, Heavy D is offloading pallets of his new line of Patriot tires from a box truck. He has high hopes for these tires, which he claims were created with diesel trucks in mind, and are meant to deal with the heavy loads and hard use. He instantly decides that the larger 48-inch models will be installed onto the El Camino (a subject of Episode 3) to be showcased at SEMA, and that’s that.

With all this money being spent, something has to be done to keep the lights turned on. That’s why the Muscle and Red Beard are hard at work looking for a quick flip, and they find it with a 2010 Ram 2500 crew cab. After purchasing the pickup for a cool $30,000, the Muscle starts talking about nitrous injection. The two guys bring the Mopar to Industrial Injection, where the power-adding magic happens. As fate would have it, the shop owner wants himself a fourth-gen Cummins, and a deal is made on the spot for $40,000. Not a bad deal, by any means.

This crew cab Cummins sold for a profit of $10,000 in less than a day and with zero modifications done by the guys.

The donor F-250 has its motor pulled to power the F-550

Back the F-550, the build is progressing without any issues. The airbags have installed perfectly and work as expected. Motor-man extraordinaire Chavis is rebuilding the 6.4-liter Power Stroke, making it ready for the massive vehicle it will be powering. With only five days to go until SEMA, the musclebound mechanic won’t be able to test the engine before it gets installed, so he has to make sure it’s extra-perfect during the rebuild. The six-wheel steering is a whole other headache, as it will require a hydraulic system to turn the wheels left and right at the flip of a switch. Then there’s the massive, 14-foot-wide flatbed that had to be custom-fabricated as well.

Things almost cave in on Heavy D as the F-550 can’t get started. He goes out on a limb and arranges to meet with the current owner of a Super that once belonged to Heavy D, and the Ford is bought and paid for with $8,000. The engine is torn out and plopped into the F-550 after many hours of tinkering, and the moment of truth arrives as the key turns the ignition. Thankfully, the engine starts, and the boys are in business.

Testing the six-wheel steering is all that remains. Heavy D takes the helm and tries it out, and it’s another success. Whether it’s the parking lot or a nearby roundabout, the system works perfectly. Now it’s time to load up both the F-550 and the El Camino, and it’s Las Vegas or bust. A final stroke of bad luck occurs as an air bag bursts, but Heavy D always bets on Murphy’s Law; that’s why he brought a spare air bag. Once installed, the F-550 (now dubbed Super Six) is back to working order.

What did you think of the Deisel Brothers SEMA build? Let us know in the comments below.