Mini Feature: Unique Performance-Built Street/Strip Laramie Ram
Originally published on Diesel Army
By ARTIE MAUPIN JULY 16, 2019
Unique Performance LLC., a performance and repair shop just on the outskirts of Gillette, Wyoming, strives to make your dreams a reality. In fact, the Unique team has partnered with some of the biggest names in the game to ensure the highest of quality parts on your builds. Unique has been involved with a lot of very high caliber builds, but one of them is close to their hearts.
Levi Krech, the owner of Unique Performance, isn’t a stranger to Diesel Army. In fact, we covered one of their first big builds last year when we were down in Florida for a Diesel Thunder event. They’re still at it creating wild builds and tearing up the streets with 1,000-horsepower trucks, and this featured truck is certainly in that category.
After seeing their builds throughout the weeks on Facebook and Instagram, it is evident that Krech and his crew do their best to make every part of a truck look show-ready.
This 2006 Dodge Ram has been in the Unique family for a few years now and it has gotten about every goodie you can think of. Thanks to a fresh PB7 paint job by Chris Crace, this 13-year old truck looks like it just rolled off of the showroom floor. It does help that even though its a pretty old truck, it only reads 77,000-miles on the clock.
The other parts on this truck, on the other hand, are fresh. Under the hood is a Freedom Racing Engines 6.7-Liter Cummins street engine punched .20 over. Sparing no expense, the crew at Unique used every possible upgrade in a Cummins engine available. CP Carrillo connecting rods, QSB pistons, lightweight wrist pins, and 14-MM main studs running through a Freedom girdle.
On the top side of this Cummins engine is a Stage 3 Freedom Racing cylinder head. The head has been fire ringed to match the block surface for a perfect seal with the help of 14-MM head studs. Upgrades to the head are Manley Performance intake and exhaust valves, Hamilton 110-pound springs and retainers, Fleece Performance billet rocker bridges, Freedom HD pushrods, and a hand-ported and polish.
To help feed the engine with plenty of air, the side of this head has been milled off and cut for a Hellman side draft intake. On the opposite side, the Fleece Performance coolant bypass works in unison with the aluminum Mishimoto radiator and Flex-A-Lite fans.
Now that we know what holds the power we can get into what is making the power. After installing different parts and trying different things on customers builds, they knew exactly what to use on this build to make it just right. Thanks to a PureFlow AirDog 4G 200 lift pump, this pair of Fleece Performance PowerFlow 750 CP3 pumps stay full of fuel and feed a set of S&S Diesel Motorsport 300-percent injectors. All of the fueling is controlled by a Fleece Performance dual Cp3 kit and their controller.
With that amount of fuel being pumped into the engine, there must be a good bit of air on the other side to mix with it. All of the boost this engine makes is credited to a Forced Inductions Gen 4 88/96/1.10 single turbocharger with Xccelerated Turbo Systems plumbing. The turbo hangs on a Steed Speed exhaust manifold and the boost pressures are controlled with a TurboSmart Blow Off Valve.
Over the years, Unique has built quite the relationship with Suncoast Diesel Transmissions and that reflects on their own builds including this one. Big blue here is backed by a Unique Performance 10-10-48RE transmission filled with some of the best products available.
Yes, even the transmission matches under the hood. Although you don't see it, you can appreciate the detail these guys put into their stuff.
This 48RE features a Bonifante 27-spline input shaft, Maraging intermediate shaft, Suncoast billet output shaft, and an “Ernie Special” 200-PSI constant full manual valve body. Other upgrades include Suncoast billet drum, band, and their 2600 stall torque converter. Handheld controls on the interior are done with a Precision Performance shifter and keep fluid temperatures cool with a Derale Performance transmission cooler.
Having a transmission to hold the power your engine creates is important, but applying that to the ground is just as critical. Krech went with a set of Mickey Thompson ET Street tires measuring 305/35R20 wrapping a set of 20-inch by 12-inch wheels.
Unfortunately for the crew at Unique, there isn’t much to offer for dragstrips in the area and with the recent closing of one of the diesel racing circuits, they are forced to travel a good way to compete. Krech confirms that they are looking to make some of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series event in the very near future where they hope to compete in the 6.70 Index class with this truck.
This has been a build we have been watching for quite some time and we’re glad that these guys are starting to get it where they want. To keep up with this build and all of the other projects they have going on, be sure and check out their Instagram page. Stay tuned to Diesel Army for the latest in the world of diesel performance.
