Rick Murphy, YouTube creator and vehicle recovery specialist, built this wild Ram 5500 wrecker with a nitrous-injected compound turbo Cummins, four-wheel steering, long-travel suspension, and 58-inch tires. If you have never seen anything like “Hellboy,” it’s because there’s nothing else like it.
It Began With A 270,000-Mile Ram Wrecker
Hellboy’s story began when Rick bought a used four-wheel-drive wrecker from a Texas towing company. He wanted a high-mileage truck he could snag for cheap, and this one fit the bill with more than 270,000 miles on the odometer. Rick put it to work, but it kept destroying transfer cases. Upgrading the transfer case sparked a chain reaction of modifications, and the result is this incredible rig.
6.7-Liter Cummins, Allison 1000 Transmission, AxleTech T-600 T-Case
Rick kept the rig’s original 6.7-liter Cummins diesel, but it has been packed with upgrades. The list includes a Diesel Power Source compound turbo setup, a 12mm stroker pump, and 180-horsepower injectors. It also has a water-cooled intercooler and nitrous injection. Rick says the engine makes about 700 horsepower without nitrous and more than 2,000 pound-feet of torque. Fuel comes from a custom 50-gallon tank mounted mid-chassis between the framerails.
Power runs through an Allison 1000 automatic transmission built by ATS Diesel Performance. Rick cured the wrecker’s habit of destroying transfer cases by installing a Western Canadian Rockwell-sourced AxleTech T-600 two-speed transfer case. This ultra-beefy unit features 6110-series yokes, air shift, and a pressurized oil system.
AxleTech 4000s, Rear Steering
Replacing the factory axles is a pair of Boyce Equipment-sourced, gear-reduction-hub-equipped AxleTech 4000 planetary steering axles. They use pneumatic lockers and brakes, a 1.92:1 differential ratio, and a 6.86:1 final drive ratio. The steering system includes PSC Motorsports hydraulic cylinders and stout linkage built from 2-inch-diameter, 0.250-inch-wall tubing with 1-inch rod ends.
It’s worth noting that the rear steering is one of Rick’s favorite features on the wrecker. “I can turn a crew cab, long-wheelbase 5500 Ram around on narrow mountain roads. It also makes it nice for Mrs. Wrecker Rick when she’s trying to find a parking spot at the grocery store,” he says.
Four-Link Suspension, 58-Inch Tires
A custom four-link suspension resides under the truck. The lower links use 2.5-inch-diameter, 0.250-inch-wall chromoly tubing, while the uppers use 2-inch-diameter tubing with the same wall thickness. Each link runs 1.250-inch rod ends.
Up front, Big Shocks 3.0 coilovers with 16 inches of travel team with Big Shocks hydraulic bump stops and limit straps. Out back, the rig rides on air bags, each a three-bellows unit sourced from a Hendrickson suspension under a 53-foot dry van semitrailer. The rear suspension also gets a single Big Shocks 16-inch-travel shock per side, plus a pair of the company’s hydraulic bump stops and limit straps.
The wrecker rolls on custom-made, two-piece wheels with internal beadlocks wrapped in massive 21/58-24LT Mickey Thompson Baja Pro XS tires.
Beefed Chassis And Modified Body
Rick made extensive changes to the Ram 5500’s factory chassis. For example, it has been “boxed in the places it wasn’t from the factory,” and it has been face-plated with 3/8-inch steel for added strength. He also added custom crossmembers and built a custom subframe from 2-inch-diameter, 0.250-inch-wall DOM tubing.
The wrecker’s body received its share of upgrades as well. Six inches were trimmed from the bottom of the cab and doors. Rock sliders built from 2×6-inch, 0.250-inch-wall square tubing tie into the rig’s exoskeleton, and the front end features a custom Murphys Diesel fender and grille delete.
Five, Count ‘Em, Five Winches
The wrecker’s boom is a modified Miller Industries Century 612 rated for 24,000 pounds. The rig is equipped with Yankum Ropes rigging and five Warrior winches. Up front is an electric 18,000-pound-capacity winch, while the others are hydraulic. Two boom winches and a pair of side-pull winches are mounted to the custom headache rack.
Is Hellboy Too Big And Heavy For The Trail?
What has been the toughest recovery Rick has had so far using Hellboy? He says it was an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer that had slid into a ditch and come to rest against a rock wall.
We also asked Rick if there was one thing about his rig he does not like. He replied, “I do not have one. Everything works insanely well. I cannot believe I pulled it off; it should not work as well as it does.”
He goes on to say, “All my haters said it was too heavy for the sand, snow, and mud, too wide for the trails and Dutch Bros drive-throughs, too big for hill climbs, and most of all, that Ram is the worst truck on the market. So I figured it would make the perfect platform for the world’s largest off-road wrecker. P.S. It dominates all those obstacles.”
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