Ryan Dayon’s 2025 Ford F-350 Blends Towing and Overlanding

AS SEEN IN OUR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2026 ISSUE – Buy Now!

Ryan Dayon Had Six Weeks, a Brand-New 2025 Ford F-350, and Absolutely No Intention of Taking It Easy

Six weeks—that’s about how long Ryan Dayon had to turn a brand-new 2025 Ford F-350 Lariat Ultimate into the truck staring back at you from these pages. Not six months. No years spent collecting parts while promising everyone it’ll be finished “soon.”

Instead, Ryan had just a month and a half to outfit his truck with 37s, rework the suspension and steering, build out the bed, preserve its serious towing capability, redo the interior, fabricate what couldn’t be bought, design the graphics, and somehow get the whole thing sorted.

His plan was what he calls a Swiss Army knife: heavy towing one weekend and rooftop tent and backcountry the next. Bikes on the rack. Trailer on the hitch. Family inside. Moab in the windshield. Then clean it up and roll into SEMA.

Ryan went full send.

START BIG. GO BIGGER.
The F-350 gave Ryan the right foundation: a 6.7L Power Stroke, a heavy-duty chassis, and enough towing capability to make the rest of his plan possible.

Banks equipment lets the diesel breathe through a Monster Ram intake and Monster exhaust, while an iDash Pro keeps tabs on things. A PedalMonster was soon added to sharpen throttle response. Then the real work started.

A McGaughy’s 4.5-inch stainless suspension with reservoir shocks and full traction bars clear the way for massive 37×13.50R22 Mickey Thompson Baja Boss M/Ts wrapped around 22×10 Fuel Rebel wheels. It’s a bold wheel-and-tire package for a dirt-driven rig, but this Super Duty was built to defy expectations.

But Ryan wasn’t interested in building a Super Duty that looked capable and forgot how to work. A Synergy HD steering system handles the front-end equation, while LOGIQ AirIQ airbags and an HD compressor help the rear deal with serious loads. Then Ryan found something he didn’t like—the compressor location.

Rather than leave it exposed on the frame rail, Ryan and his stepdad, Mike Beauchesne, fabricated their own mounts and tucked it up out of harm’s way. You won’t notice it from 20 feet away. Good. Some of the best parts of a build aren’t supposed to get attention. They’re simply supposed to work.

CAN’T BUY IT? BUILD IT.
That compressor wasn’t an isolated case. Ryan wanted onboard air, so he combined a HornBlasters system with an Apex Designs compact reel system, then fabricated his own bed mount. He built a custom handgun mount. When the Katzkin interior went in, he added suede door-panel inserts himself to carry the material beyond the seats.

Then there are the graphics. Ryan owns Evolution Designwerx, so the Glacier Gray F-350 became his canvas. He designed and installed the matte-black and high-visibility-green half-wrap himself, visually tying together a truck carrying a hell of a lot of equipment. That’s where this stops being a truck you could recreate with a shopping list. The parts matter. The decisions matter more.

58 GALLONS AND A FIFTH WHEEL
One of the best modifications on the truck doesn’t light up, make noise, or attract much attention at a show. Transfer Flow’s 58-gallon midship tank dramatically increases the F-350’s range. Pulling a trailer means fewer fuel stops. Heading somewhere remote means more diesel between Ryan and civilization. And despite everything bolted onto it, this truck can still tow.

Gen-Y’s Mega-Duty 8-inch drop hitch handles conventional trailers, while a GoosePuck system and Executive fifth-wheel hitch cover the heavier stuff. That’s the clever part of Ryan’s build. He didn’t turn an F-350 into an overlander and sacrifice the Super Duty underneath it.

OPEN THE BED AND KEEP GOING
The bed is where the Swiss Army knife idea really comes together. An EGR RollTrac power tonneau provides covered storage and T-slot mounting, while a Kuat mid-height rack with side panels and three crossbars creates another level above it.

Then Ryan built upward. A Rhino-Rack modular rooftop tent handles sleeping quarters. A Batwing 270-degree awning creates shelter alongside the truck. A Rockymounts GuideRail carries the bikes, Pelican cases protect equipment, Maxtrax boards handle recovery duties, while a massive Dometic CFX3 90GL fridge/freezer keeps camp supplied. Because roughing it still has limits.

The important part is that the setup remains modular. The equipment can change with the trip instead of permanently turning the pickup bed into something that no longer functions like one.

NIGHTTIME HAS BEEN CANCELED
We need to talk about the Baja Designs situation. A 30-inch single-row bar would have been plenty for most people. Ryan kept going. LP4s sit at the A-pillars. Eight XL Pros join DOT amber fogs, additional DOT lighting, four Squadrons, reverse lights, and two rock-light kits. An sPOD system with an F-350-specific overhead mount controls the electrical circus without turning the dashboard into one. At this point, Ryan isn’t illuminating the trail so much as issuing daylight a recall notice.

A Warrior T114A12 winch sits inside the Fab Fours Matrix pre-runner front bumper for whatever all that light reveals, while a Fab Fours premium bumper protects the rear.

This isn’t a convention-center prop. Ryan proved the haters wrong by dropping the F-350 straight onto the brutal slickrock of Moab and the red dunes of Sand Hollow. The recovery gear isn’t cosplay—those Mickey Thompsons regularly trade show-floor tire shine for real trail dirt.

FIRST CLASS, WITH MUD OUTSIDE
Inside, Katzkin Tuscany upholstery with Alcantara inserts transforms the Lariat Ultimate cabin, with Ryan’s suede door panel inserts carrying the theme throughout.

Kicker replaced the audio system and added a Solo-Baric 10-inch subwoofer, while a Wolfbox G900 TriPro mirror and camera system improve visibility around a truck that now has a lift, 37s, racks, a rooftop tent, and potentially a trailer hanging off the back. Anything that makes backing this thing up easier is money well spent.

SIX WEEKS. SERIOUSLY.
Now, remember the timeline—approximately a month and a half.

Ryan and Mike weren’t slowly tinkering with this thing over several seasons. In roughly six weeks, the truck went from a stock F-350 to having upgraded suspension and steering, 37s, airbags, custom fabrication, new bumpers, a winch, lots of lighting, extended-range fuel, towing equipment, racks, a tent, onboard air, interior, audio, and custom graphics.

Ryan credits his wife Sara and their kids for putting up with the insanity and makes it clear the truck wouldn’t have happened without Mike. Truck Guru, Ian Sweetser, Matt Pingree, Nathan Marshall, Damon Flippo, Sean Tairovski, Steve McGaughy, Nick Vazquez, Luke at Cobra Powder Coating, Adam at AlphaRex, Myles at Katzkin, and plenty of others throughout the industry also helped get it across the finish line.

When asked what advice he’d give somebody considering a similar build, Ryan had three words: “Just do it.” What would change if he were to do it again? Nothing.

You could order the same suspension, wheels, tires, tent, and lights. You could start with another Glacier Gray F-350 and have a mountain of boxes delivered to your door. You still wouldn’t have this truck, because the hardware is only half the story. The other half happened during six absolutely insane weeks when Ryan Dayon stopped thinking about the truck he wanted to build… and just sent it.

SPECIAL THANKS

Sara Dayon and the Dayon family, Mike Beauchesne, Truck Guru, Ian Sweetser, Matt Pingree, Nathan Marshall, Damon Flippo, Sean Tairovski, Steve McGaughy, Nick Vazquez, Luke at Cobra Powder Coating, Adam at AlphaRex, Myles at Katzkin, and the many others throughout the industry who helped make the build happen.

UPGRADES

2025 Ford F-350 Lariat Ultimate

OWNER: Ryan Dayon Casco, Maine

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN: 6.7L Ford Power Stroke V-8 diesel, Factory Ford transmission, Banks Monster Ram intake, Banks Monster exhaust, black, Banks iDash Pro, Banks PedalMonster

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION: McGaughy’s 4.5-inch stainless suspension system, McGaughy’s reservoir shocks, McGaughy’s full traction-bar system, Synergy HD steering system, LOGIQ AirIQ airbag suspension, LOGIQ Air HD compressor, Custom hidden compressor mounting by Ryan Dayon and Mike Beauchesne, Transfer Flow 58-gallon midship replacement tank

WHEELS & TIRES: 22×10 Fuel Rebel wheels (-18 offset), 37×13.50R22 Mickey Thompson Baja Boss M/T tires

BODY & PAINT: Matte black/high-visibility green half-wrap and graphics by Ryan Dayon / Evolution Designwerx, Fab Fours Matrix pre-runner front bumper, Fab Fours premium rear bumper, Warrior T114A12 winch, Maxtrax traction boards, Patriot Liner by New England Off-Road Outfitters, EGR fender flares, EGR wind guards, Boost Auto power steps, Main Event custom badging, EGR RollTrac power tonneau with T-slot system, Kuat mid rack with panels and three crossbars, RackTec low-profile, no-drill roof rack, Rhino-Rack modular rooftop tent system, Rhino-Rack Batwing 270-degree awning, Rhino-Rack / Rockymounts GuideRail bike rack, Pelican storage cases and mounts, Dometic CFX90 fridge/freezer, HornBlasters onboard-air system, Apex Designs compact reel system, Custom bed-mounted onboard-air system, Gen-Y Mega-Duty 8-inch drop hitch, Gen-Y GoosePuck system, Gen-Y Executive fifth-wheel hitch, LIGHTING, AlphaRex NOVA black headlights, Morimoto BLIS black taillights, Baja Designs 30-inch single-row light bar, Baja Designs LP4 A-pillar kit, Baja Designs XL Pro lights (8),  Baja Designs DOT amber fogs, Baja Designs DOT fogs, Baja Designs reverse-light kit,  Baja Designs Squadrons (4), Baja Designs rock-light kits (2), sPOD control system with F-350 overhead mount

INTERIOR: Katzkin Tuscany custom upholstery, Alcantara inserts, Custom suede door panel inserts, Kicker replacement audio system, Kicker Solo-Baric 10-inch subwoofer,  Wolfbox G900 TriPro mirror/camera system, Custom handgun mount, Bolt Lock hitch-pin security and padlocks

SHOW HISTORY

SEMA
Moab
Sand Hollow
Atlantic City Truck Meet
Truck Fest
Maine and regional events

Read Full Bio

Corey Decker

Corey Decker is a photographer and storyteller who views the world through a lens of authenticity. With a passion for capturing the raw beauty of landscapes and the quiet moments in between, Corey’s ...