BUILDING A MORE VERSATILE 2017 SUPER DUTY

IIn last month’s issue of Diesel World, we introduced this black 2017 F350 Power Stroke, dubbed “Project Alumiduty,” as a new build, showing you blue oval boys what is available to make that big 6.7L more efficient and versatile for your daily needs. In part one, we did some simple bolt-ons with the addition of a better-flowing intake from afe Power, along with the company’s unique, dual 5-inch, single-side-exit DPF-BACK exhaust system. While not being huge horsepower bolt-ons, they have helped with throttle response and turbo spoolup time from an idle; and there also might be a slight increase in fuel mileage.

In a follow-up article, there will be some custom EZ Lynk ECM and TCM programming changes installed from DS Tuning for the real horsepower and mileage gains, but for this issue, we’re going to look into cargo management.

The owner of this particular truck lives in central Utah, where the winters can be cold and snowy. And, as an avid outdoor enthusiast, he uses this truck for all sorts of tasks that require hauling gear and equipment—whether it’s sunny, rainy or snowing.

While having a truck with all that bed space is handy, keeping everything out of the elements is impossible without some kind of a bed cover. A roll-up tonneau cover could be a good option, but it does limit how much bed capacity can actually be used, because nothing can be taller than the depth of the bedrails.

All these concerns made Project Alumiduty the perfect candidate for a bed cover from ATC Truck Covers. Commonly known as a bed cap, truck or camper shell, the bed cover is nothing new to trucks. These items have been used for decades on pickups to help keep the bed area out of the weather without being too much of a restriction to what you can actually haul back there.

ATC Truck Covers has been in the game for a long time and offers multiple options, depending on your actual needs and wants in a bed cover. For this build, because that new 2017 Super Duty body style is so sleek (but aggressive looking), the right shell was key to not taking away from what Ford had designed.