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This article originally appeared in the July 2020 issue.
Here’s a colorful truck. But don’t let that playful, bright, sunny yellow coat of paint fool you. This truck is indeed owned by a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “It’s called ‘Dominator Yellow,’” he adds, trying to make the truck sound like it doesn’t mess around. Michael Lentz lives in the outer suburbs of Philadelphia, Pa., and he served in the Marines during the 1980s. He has since served 25 years as a police officer for the Oley Township Police Department in Berks County. Service in the armed forces runs deep in this man’s family.
“Both of my sons are combat veterans of Afghanistan and served in the USMC and Army,” Michael says. “My father served in the Navy during Vietnam and my grandfather was a WW2 veteran serving in the Army.” Additionally, he has a father-in-law who served in the Air Force, and his wife’s brother served in the first Gulf War.
“To everyone who lives around our block, we are known as the ‘service family,’” Michael laughs. “And of course, we are very proud of our family tradition of service.”
With a very nice-looking yellow diesel pickup, he’s definitely enhancing the time he’s able to spend with his family now.
Michael’s 6.7L Cummins Crew Cab SLT 4x4 truck is very special to him, especially as it came to him at a great deal when he drove it off the lot. “When I acquired this, it had very low miles on it,” he says. “Now, I have just over 29,000. You typically don’t find diesel trucks of that year used so little for such a good price.”
Although this truck is on the modest side and isn’t a hardcore over-the-top performance machine, it does boast some rich character. Quite interestingly, this truck already came with a 6-inch lift directly from the dealership, which is another huge plus for Michael.
The Marine veteran took the Cummins truck to Jason’s Repair and Performance in Telford to get it outfitted. There, they enhanced the suspension with 6-inch BDS coil springs and a BDS track bar, Air Lift airbags with an in-cab wireless air control system, and new Bilstein heavy-duty shocks. The suspension sits on Nitto 35-inch tires with American Racing Artillery wheels. The wheel name sounds quite fitting for a veteran’s truck, don’t you think? Jason’s Repair also added some LEDGlow bed lights, which really helps Michael a lot when he needs to hook up a trailer in the dark. He uses a B&W Patriot fifth wheel hitch with an 18,000-pound towing capacity to haul a camper trailer across the country, as he travels long distances a lot with the truck in addition to light daily driving. The suspension is probably the most noteworthy aspect of Michael’s RAM, as everything done to it improves its ability to haul heavy trailers for long distances.
“This truck has many great aspects, but yes, my giant 6-inch lift is definitely the greatest thing about my truck,” he adds.
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