What Do You Do When You Want the Power and Performance of a Dodge Viper but Need the Utility and Space of a Quad-Cab Pickup?

Well, you can buy a Dodge Viper and you can buy a Dodge Ram pickup, or you could buy a Dodge Ram SRT-10. The Ram SRT-10 is a limited-edition pickup that Dodge built as a regular cab from 2004 to 2006 and in a Quad Cab from 2005 to 2006. These trucks appear to be the result of some aggressive engineering, combining the racing pedigree of the Viper with a pickup truck, resulting in outstanding performance—and it works! 

The Viper trucks, as they are affectionately called, are strong performers in straight-line acceleration and carving tight turns. Tim McKenna is one of the proud few to get his hands on one of these super-trucks. His truck was a great-looking silver one. However, like most truck enthusiasts, he was not completely satisfied with the truck in its stock form and wanted to make a few improvements. McKenna started by upgrading the sound system, so he took his truck to a local stereo shop to have a Kenwood Excelon KVT-817DVD in-dash DVD receiver with fold-out LCD monitor installed in the dash. To complement the receiver, McKenna upgraded the factory speakers and added two amplifiers to power the new speakers.

After completing this minor upgrade, McKenna moved on to a bit of customizing. He wanted his Ram to stand out, so he took the truck to West Coast Customs. He turned his new truck over to the WCC crew with these instructions: “Do your thing!”

The WCC treatment turned out to be relatively minor, at least by West Coast Customs standards, yet the crew yielded a stunning and unique pickup. Like any custom truck, stock wheels just wouldn’t do, so the WCC team installed a set of 22×9-inch Asanti AF-120 forged three-piece wheels with a brushed center and chrome lip. Sticky Pirelli Scorpion Zero 305/40ZR22 tires were mounted at all four corners to make sure the big truck handles extremely well navigating tight corners and through the twisties. As you can see by the smokey burnouts, even the big Pirellis are no match for the power of the Viper V-10.

With the wheels chosen, the team then turned their attention to the body, and since McKenna handed the truck over to WCC with a blank slate, the team thought it wise to give the truck the right paint to really set it off. They chose to leave the factory silver finish on the lower half, then added a metalflake red to the top half, which made for a striking appearance. The split runs the length of the truck and is accented by white-gold leaf and custom pinstriping. Additional white-gold leaf and pinstriping was done on the hood, to make McKenna’s truck that much more unique. The team painted Viper logos on the sides of the hood cowl, while a WCC crest with an intimidating ram is painted on the top of the cowl. To secure the bed and provide  better fuel economy, WCC installed a power-rolling BedLocker tonneau cover.

As if the Viper engine was not powerful enough, a set of Gibson headers were installed, along with a Gibson after-cat dual-outlet exhaust. The new exhaust components give the truck a unique raspy sound and improves the exhaust flow to provide extra horsepower. The factory Dodge automatic transmission was left in stock condition, as were the high-performance SRT four-wheel disc brakes.

Moving from the outside to the interior, the upholstery team at West Coast Customs also had their way with the truck. They reupholstered the seats using dark gray leather with red suede inserts and red stitching. The broad red and black stripes give the seats a racy look, and all four of the headrests feature the WCC/Ram crest embroidered in red to really stand out. The upholstery team also covered the headliner with red suede to match the seat inserts and completed the interior with custom-embroidered floormats.

Like most truck enthusiasts, McKenna wanted more from his truck. After a trip to WCC, it came out far more personalized than when it went in. It’s a great look for a great truck, and one that’s never going to be completely finished, because after these photos were shot, MeKenna turned to the experts at Speaker Works to add a killer stereo. Now this is one Viper that won’t hesitate to strike, and when doing so, it will be music to the ears! TB