Caden Teneycke's 4th Gen Cummins Build | Dirty Diesel Customs

Where We Started

When Caden Teneycke reached out to us, he already knew what he was looking for in a truck. Tall, wide, loud, and built right. He chose the 4th-gen for a reason, and he brought it to us to build it into exactly what he pictured. Caden creates lifestyle and automotive content for over a million viewers across multiple platforms. Not only did he want a truck that looked a part on camera, but it also had to live up to what he had always imagined it was going to be.

The truck is a 2016 RAM 3500 Laramie Limited, and for most people, a stock truck would do. But Caden had already built a first-gen, so the need for some modifications was clear, and his mind was set on what he wanted to do this time around. He just needed to find the right shop to execute it.

"When I wanted to build a diesel and got my 4th gen I knew I wanted it to be tall wide and loud but I couldn't make it happen all on my own so I went to the only place I see daily on the back of every truck around me, Dirty Diesel Customs! And they killed it!"

The Turbo System

The factory VGT on a 4th-gen has two problems that catch up with you once you start modifying your truck. The first is the assembly. In diesels that are seeing plenty highway miles, cold starts & everything in between carbon starts to build up in the vanes in the exhaust stream until they stick. The result is an inconsistent boost and a truck that feels less and less like it's supposed to every few thousand kilometres.

The second is the position. Ram mounts the 4th-gen turbo at the rear of the engine, off-center from the cylinder bank, which means uneven exhaust flow across all six cylinders. We pulled the factory setup and relocated it using our 2nd Gen Swap Kit, which moves the turbo to a centre position between cylinders. From there, we installed an Industrial Injection S464 Turbo with a .90 A/R exhaust housing on an OE flange. We also added a Steed Speed T4 Angled Manifold in 1018 Mild Steel Billet. We chose spec billet here specifically because cast manifolds crack under the repeated heat cycles of a higher-output build. The Steed Speed manifold doesn't have that problem.

Airflow

The factory intake manifold on these trucks has two problems worth fixing, so we had to make sure we covered those. The stock grid heater is a well-known failure point, where the nut and stud deteriorate over time and drop into the cylinder, where it bounces around and causes damage to the rotating assembly, which means a full engine rebuild. The Banks Monster-Ram fixes the issue before it happens by replacing the grid heater assembly with a coil heater that sits vertically inside the manifold without blocking airflow, paired with a high-flow billet plate machined to match.

The factory throttle body has a butterfly valve that hampers airflow even when fully open. For a truck like Caden's, that's not something you can leave in place. While we were in there we put our in-house Throttle Valve Delete in its place.

Next we installed our Driver-Side Charge Pipe. The factory passenger-side routing had sharp bends that bleed off boost pressure between the intercooler and the intake manifold. Our upgrade cleans that up. On the exhaust side, a Banks Monster 5" system gives the S464 the outlet it needs. It's common sense that you don't upgrade your turbo and leave a stock exhaust in place.

The Transmission

The Aisin AS69RC is the better of the two transmissions you can put in a 4th-gen, and the low first gear is a big part of why people go looking for the high output trucks. But stock, the weak point is the torque converter. The factory lockup clutch is a small three-disc stack, and it wasn't going to live up to what Caden wanted out of this build. The Randy's Stage 2 AS69RC Transmission is what we replaced it with and is rated to 1000 horsepower and runs a 5-disc converter, heavy-duty clutches and steels, billet K2 and K3 internals, and a cast aluminum deep pan for more fluid and lower temps. A billet flexplate we added onto this build, since the factory stamped plate can crack under this kind of torque, and we added the Juice Box thermal bypass to get rid of the factory thermostat, which sticks closed and can cook the transmission.

Drivetrain

We then moved on to the Banks Ram-Air Differential Cover, which rounds out the build. Running a lift and wider tires puts extra strain on the diff; it works harder and runs hotter, which can be easy to overlook when you're focused on everything else. More fluid capacity, better cooling, and one less thing to worry about at a summer show or on a long road trip to the mainland.

Fuel System

More air flow means more fuel demand, and the stock lift pump wasn't built for it. The FASS Titanium Signature Series Plus at 165 GPH takes care of that. It's rated for 600 to 1000 horsepower worth of demand, runs with 2-micron filtration, built-in water and air separation, and FASS Whisper Technology keeps it dead quiet while maintaining flow, unlike other fuel pumps which dampen noise by reducing flow. The billet bulkhead return fitting means no cutting the factory filler neck, which keeps the installation clean and straightforward.

Tuning and Data

Caden's truck runs AMDP tuning through the EZ-Lynk platform, that was custom built for his set up. That's what turns the parts list into actual power. EZ-Lynk handles everything wirelessly and lets AMDP pull data logs remotely if anything needs dialling in down the road. The Banks PedalMonster eliminates the dead pedal feel that makes a truck feel disconnected. It reads live vehicle data through the OBD-II port and lets Caden adjust throttle sensitivity on the fly through the iDash or his phone. The Banks iDash in a pillar pod helps him monitor EGTs, boost pressure, rail pressure, and intake air temp in real time.

The Engine Bay

Our CCV Upgrade Kit replaces the entire top half of the valve cover. On a high-output build, the factory crankcase ventilation filter clogs up, and that pressure ends up back in the intake. To clean up the engine bay, we installed our Firewall Electrical Cover, which protects the wiring loom from turbo heat and cleans up the bulky factory connector. We also popped in our Fuse Panel Dress Up Cover. Small details that make a difference when someone opens the hood.

Our team powder-coated all engine bay parts and other parts of the build like the lift in Prismatic Sapphire Peacock. It has a colour-shifting finish, and it's hard to visualize until you see it in person, and in different lights. Shop lights show one colour. Direct sunlight shows another.

The Stance

Next up was McGaughy's 4" Lift Kit, Custom Dirty Forged wheels, and 35" Venom Tires. The McGaughys is a proper lift with boxed radius arms, upgraded coil springs, a dropped Pitman arm, and track bar correction. Four inches gives the truck the height that was wanted, without making it a pain to drive every day.

The Dirty Forged Flares are fully customized. Built to spec for this truck, 24x12 with offset and backspacing dialed in for the fitment, floater caps, and Caden's social handle engraved on them. Not something you'll see on another truck. The 35" Venoms fit the lift and the wheel without rubbing and keep the overall diameter sensible.

The Face

The Morimoto XB EVO headlights run dual Bi-LED projectors; the low beam output is wide and bright, and the high beam can be seen from across the island. But the feature that gets people is the XRGB. The DRLs are fully colour-changeable through the Morimoto app via Bluetooth, selectable between white, amber, or whatever colour you want. When you start the truck, they run through a programmable multi-stage startup sequence before settling into your chosen DRL colour. Paired with the Morimoto XBG grille and its integrated LED DRLs, the whole front end works together.

Built Here by Dirty

Almost every part of this build happened under our roof. Turbo system, fuel system, suspension, lighting, powder coat, engine bay, all of it came together at Dirty Diesel Customs. The only work done elsewhere was the starlight headliner and the door actuators.

Caden wanted a 4th-gen that performed, sounded, and looked the part he had imagined. Every decision about what to install on this truck was made intentionally. When it rolled out of the shop, it was exactly what Caden had in his head when he reached out to us.