TRUCK OF THE MONTH - MARCH 2007

OWNER INFORMATION:
VEHICLE YEAR/MAKE/MODEL:
LOCATION:
HOMEPAGE:

Darren Alcorn aka "00RedRT"
2000 DAKOTA CC 5.9 R/T
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
http://www.madrt.com/darren.html


ADDITIONAL PHOTOS


VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS

Exterior Mods
Sir Michael's Steel Roll Pan
Painted Door Handles
Painted Mirrors
Painted Roof Joint Molding
Shaved Tailgate Handle
Street Scene Wiper Cowl (Painted Red)
Stillen Front Bumper Cover
Street Scene Polished Stainless Steel Speed Grilles
Line-x Custom Red Spray-On Bedliner w/"R/T" graphic
Billet Specialties Stealth antenna
AMP Research Billet Fuel Door (powder coated Red)
Clear Corner marker lights
Candied Tail lights & 3rd brake light
Intro Pentia 6's 20" Polished Aluminum Rims
Innovations Pro-Sport Tonneau
Custom "Sidewinder R/T" polished SS emblems

Suspension Mods
Hotchkis TVS suspension (2/3drop, lowered an additional 1" to 3/4 drop)
Hotchkis valved Bilstein shocks
Kenny Brown X-Brace



 

 Performance/Engine Mods
M-1 Intake Manifold
F&B 52 mm Throttle Body
Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers
Mopar PCM
Mopar PPH Headers
Random Technology High Flow Cat
Spintech Side Exit Exhaust
Pro-Glass Shaker Hood w/custom snakeskin
Custom polished "Sidewinder" valve covers
Custom Billet pulleys
Numerous polished and powdercoated items
Viper Brakes powder coated Red
Baer Eradispeed 13" rotors w/Red rotor hats

Interior Mods
Sun Visors embroidered w/ "fangs" logo
Agate color matched headliner
Red snakeskin Interior
Cerullo Leather seats w/ "fangs" logo
Custom reupholstered Club Cab Seats
B&M Hammer Floor Shifter
Custom Red "Sidewinder R/T" gauges
Floor mats embroidered w/ "fangs" logo
Autovation Billet Pedals
Billet Pro A/C Knobs
Billet "R/T" Door Sills


OWNER NOTES

I bought my Dakota for several reasons. I was always hoping that Dodge would give the new Dakota back in 1997 the same look as the new Ram at the time. When they did I was pleased to see how good looking it was. It wasn't until '98 that the R/T caught my eye with it's monochromatic look and 5.9L engine. I kind of forgot about it for the next few years and stuck in a leased vehicle as well. I was always into sports cars and drove a lot of them. I decided to get a truck and do something a little different, but once I found this R/T I realized I still had the sports car fever. So I decided to turn this thing into a "street machine" sport truck and the rest is history.

My best "single mod" to date is the Hotchkis TVS. It's unreal how well a truck can handle like a sports car with this mod. My best "overall mod" has to be the Sidewinder theme and how well it all came out. I have fooled a lot of folks at shows into thinking it was a special edition package for the Dakota. That's been a fun side effect to it. The theme had been brewing in my head as early as '03 and I contacted a little known company at the time called Phoenix Imaging about their hydrographics process and spoke to Robyn about doing a snakeskin theme. It wasn't until late '05/ early '06 that I was in a position to move on the theme which included not only the snakeskin shaker and interior items, but proceeded further with custom gauges, custom polished stainless steel emblems, floor mats, Cerullo seats, and some other custom interior goodies.

This brings me to my embroidered interior items, and how I combined my day job and hobby together. I have been an embroidery digitizer for the past 17 years and the first 7 of those I worked for other companies including OuterBanks, Inc. in Wilmington, NC. I started my own company Thread Images, Inc. in 1996 and moved my wife and I back to Atlanta in 1997. It only seemed fitting in a custom vehicle to have some custom embroidery. So using my own vehicle as a test mule, I did my very first set of reupholstered & embroidered sun visors on my own ride. The demand for items like this was so big that I started offering this to other Dakota/Durango folks. Last year I did the same thing with the door panel inserts and Club Cab seating that I began offering those as well. Steve was kind enough to setup a vendor section for me on his forum and the response has been great.

Something I've only shared with a few folks in the past is this vehicle has been an aid to recovery in a way for me. No not drugs or alcohol. But 2 weeks before I bought this truck back in the fall of '02 I was in the hospital for a week and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I won't go into the details of the disease (you can look it up) but I got out of the hospital a changed person. This truck has been with me ever since and has given me a lot of fun times, even when I've had to contend with my health issues.

The culmination of all this work modifying this truck came to fruition this past year at the Dakota R/T Club's National Meet held here in Atlanta. I'm very proud and humbled by how my truck showed. In a sea of 65+ beautiful Dakotas I was pleasantly surprised to take home the following awards in the Show'n'Shine that took place at Summit Racing....

-1st place Pro Club Cab Dakota R/T
-Best Engine
-Best in Show

I would also be amiss if I didn't share in my truck's other TOM accomplishments....

-CustomDakotas.com Jan 07 TOM
-2 time Dodge Truck World TOM (Georgia Chapter)
-3 time DakotaUSA.com TOM
-3 time Dakota-Durango.com TOM

And finally, the best thing that has come out of owning this truck is meeting and befriending the awesome guys of the Metro Atlanta Dakota R/T Club (aka MADRT). They have been instrumental in not only helping me with my truck, but the knowledge, support and friendship I've gotten from them is something that will stay with me forever. In particular a huge thank you to Clint Hunter and Shane Capeheart. My truck wouldn't be where it is without their help.

Thank you all for the support, the comments, and for the nominations and votes that garnered this kind of recognition. It means a lot to me and I have and will continue to cherish it all!

Darren (aka 00RedRT)
 

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