This 3,000+ Horsepower Dodge Ram 1500 SS/T, BLOWS Our Minds!

We have seen a lot of impressive Mopar drag machines over the years, but this might be one of our favorites. What was once a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 SS/T, is now a full-blown HEMI-powered drag truck packing over 3,000 horsepower. The guys over at 1320 Video recently caught up with its owner, Chris Cadotto at an event at South Georgia Motorsports Park for a chance to check out his nasty sub-4 second 1/8-mile dragster.

For those who don’t remember the Ram 1500 SS/T (Super Sport Truck), it was a follow-up to the 1996 Ram Indy Pace Truck. Offered in 1997 and 1998, the SS/T added a 5.9-liter (360 cubic-inch) Magnum V8 with upgraded exhaust for an additional 15 horsepower. The trucks included a set of 17-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle II 275/60R-17 rubber and featured dual stripes that went up the front of the vehicle, across the hood, over the roof, and down the tailgate. The SS/T could be chosen in four different color combinations (White with Blue Stripes, Black with Silver Stripes, Green with Silver Stripes, and Red with Silver Stripes). 

Cadotto purchased his SS/T brand new off the showroom floor and used it as his daily driver for a number of years. He then began to slowly modify the truck. Cadotto told Drag Illustrated in an article published in August 2021, “I started with an air cleaner, then headers, then dual exhaust. It just kept evolving and evolving. I had small blocks in it and street HEMIs in it with dual quads and nitrous. Bumped up to a street blower, then caught it on fire at my house and had a garage fire that burnt everything down. So I turned it into what it is now, a full tube chassis sick weapon.”

The truck now packs a Mark Herek-built 8.6-liter (526 cubic-inch) Brad Anderson HEMI V8. The HEMI is fitted with MBE cylinder heads and a C-rotor screw 8.3-liter (521 cubic-inch) blower making upwards of 3,000+ horsepower. The motor is fitted with a 2-speed Rossler transmission and sends enough power to the rear wheels to propel the 2,860 lb. carbon-fiber bodied Ram to a 3.98 @ 187 mph in the 1/8-mile on class-mandated 10.5-inch-wide bias ply slicks and a best 1/4-mile time of 6.59 @ 212 mph on the same tires.