Photo: Cleetus McFarland on YouTube / modified
Cleetus McFarland's regular-cab Ram 1500 TRX gets a little more grunt in the form of a Hellephant C170. You can think of the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 as the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 engine, because the Hellephant C170 is also designed to perform at its best on E85.
Currently priced at $27,675 on Direct Connection, the corn-guzzling engine is rated at 1,025 horsepower and 945 pound-feet (1,281 Nm) of torque, mirroring the power figures of the most powerful production muscle car of them all. RPMs are similar, too, with Direct Connection and the folks at Dodge quoting 6,500 and 4,200 rpm.
Impressive numbers indeed, and even more so when you remember that Dodge introduced the Hellcat in 2014 for the 2015 model year with 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet (650 Nm) to its name on premium dino juice. By comparison, the TRX Hellcat is rated at 702 ponies and 650 pound-feet at full power.
The switch from the stock 702-hp Hellcat engine to the 1,025-hp Hellephant C170 engine was pretty straightforward. Cleetus McFarland and the team used the original engine's oil filter adapter, oil pan, and A/C compressor. As expected, the guys also installed a stainless steel cat-back exhaust with black tips.
Tuned with the help of a CV Tuners MPVI interface device, the crate engine started right up. The guys had to fix a throttle body issue, and three alternator belts later, the single cab truck was ready to roar. Breathing through a carbon fiber intake, the Hellephant C170 sounds pretty damn good.
Photo: Cleetus McFarland on YouTube
Pictured here, with stock Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain tires, the custom TRX has just under 20,000 miles on the odometer. It’s only recently been repainted, and rather than keep it, Cleetus is raffling it off to one lucky fan.
Every $5 you spend on Cleetus McFarland air fresheners, clothing, stickers, and other trinkets will net you a ticket. In other words, the more stuff you buy from this guy, the better your chances of winning the unique truck. And $20,000 in cash, of course. Either way, your chances aren’t great because McFarland has 3.78 million YouTube subscribers.
As for how this Ram 1500 TRX transformed from a crew cab to a regular cab, no less than 31 inches (787.4 millimeters) were chopped off the frame rails. While the suspension and transfer case mounting points were retained, the driveshaft also had to be shortened.
While it's unclear how much money was spent on this build, we can only speculate. McFarland called it “a $100,000 mistake” on day one, even though the 2021 TRX model retailed for $69,995 before taxes and options. Let’s say the body received $10,000 for the regular cab conversion. Add $27,675 for the Hellephant C170, then add a few grand for straps and repainting, and you’re looking at something like 115,000 buckaroos at the very least.
