Kansas YouTuber Built a Backwards Dodge Ram Cummins That Actually Fools CopsWesten Champlin runs a channel built on the premise that almost any truck problem can be solved with enough Cummins power, a plasma cutter, and a willingness to figure it out as you go. His latest project takes that philosophy somewhere genuinely weird: a second-gen Dodge Ram with its cab and bed flipped end-for-end, so every driver who passes it on the highway is convinced they're watching someone travel at highway speed in reverse.Champlin paid $7,000 for both vehicles in a package deal from Oklahoma – a Ram with a gas engine came paired with a 12-valve Cummins diesel, and it was the diesel he was after, with the gas-powered truck essentially tagging along as part of the bundle. At his 52-acre Horsepower Labs facility in Kansas, the construction process took the concept of a body-off restoration to its most extreme logical conclusion – the cab and bed were both detached, rotated 180 degrees, and bolted back on facing the opposite direction.The chassis and drivetrain stay exactly where they are, which means the exhaust stack now exits through what is visually the front of the truck, the driver sits where the rear seat used to be, and putting it in reverse makes it appear to lurch forward.The Build Was Messier Than It SoundsFlipping a truck body around seems easy on paper. In practice, the rear axle puts the frame rails at a different height than the front suspension geometry was designed to accommodate, so the cab sat several inches too high when they first dropped it onto the reversed frame. The solution involved a combination of sawzall work, a plasma table from Fast Cut CNC that Champlin credits with saving significant time on fabricating mounting gussets, and a hammer applied with what he described as professional confidence. The dash was rebuilt in aluminum, steering was rerouted, and the brake and throttle pedals were relocated to match the new driver position.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe build is technically road legal according to what's been said on the video – working headlights, functioning turn signals, valid plates, and active insurance. When the vehicle left the shop, the one area where it fell short of compliance was its lack of windshield wipers – a detail that sparked some discussion internally over whether it was actually an issue.It Made It Roughly 200 Yards Before the First StopChamplin predicted he'd get pulled over "at least 20" times on the drive to a Texas Roadhouse in Wichita, roughly 50 miles from his base in Winfield. The first stop came before he'd properly cleared his own street. Local officers who recognized him photographed the truck and sent him on his way, with one noting, "I don't imagine you're going to make it very far to Wichita without getting stopped again. If you can actually make it to Wichita, I'd be really impressed."He made it. The Wichita leg produced stares, a spontaneous race with a pickup truck driver at a light, a mid-route encounter with two broken-down Lamborghinis whose owners merged into the convoy, and cops who apparently drove past without intervention. Champlin's own assessment after the maiden voyage was matter-of-fact: "It's not bad to drive at all. Like actually driving it down the road, it drives just like a normal pickup."A 5.9-liter 12-valve Cummins diesel, which Pure Diesel Power notes left the factory rated anywhere from 160 to 215 horsepower depending on the model year and configuration, remains in its original position and continues to drive the same drivetrain it was always connected to. Nothing about the powertrain knows it's pointing the wrong direction. Only everyone else does.AdvertisementAdvertisementA TikTok fan clip from the build has since accumulated 4.9 million likes, which is a good measure of how much the internet enjoys watching a diesel truck confuse patrol cars at highway speed. Champlin's exchange with the first officer who stopped him – "You've got it all backwards, officer" – probably did not help his case, but it did make for a good line.