For many of us reading this, “built not bought” is a motto. If it isn’t a motto, then it certainly is something we can appreciate. It clearly shows how someone can pour their heart and soul into a project to create something truly unique and magnificent. For Charlie Pitcher, this is a way of life. “This Dodge Super Crew is the third truck I have built and I have learned more each time,” Charlie quips. “I built this truck to accomplish everything my previous trucks lacked as well as have the benefits each of them had.”

Pitcher looked for a crew cab truck for almost a year before finding a great one at a low price (after all, he was still in high school when he started this truck). The wait was certainly worth it, as the cab had relatively little rust. He picked up the truck in mid-September of 2012.

With the truck, or maybe we should say Dodge Super Crew body, home, he immediately started by stripping down everything to the bare metal. From there, he filled holes, fixed dents, and repaired the little bit of rust that was present. On the underside of the cab, he used rubberized undercoating to keep the sound down and water out.

To ensure that he had a solid foundation, Pitcher heavily modified the two-wheel-drive long bed frame. He cut 16 inches out of it to fit his short bed. He then added quite a few crossmembers and boxed key areas to give it the strength it needed. Up front, he built a custom engine cradle to allow him to drop the oil pan without removing the engine from the truck.

Outback, Pitcher found a Dana 80 rearend at a screaming price in a salvage yard that was originally installed in a ’94 3500. Unfortunately, he quickly found out why the price was so low when he went to build it. The end of the axle was cracked and mushroomed out. The axle nut wouldn’t budge. Pitcher eventually heated the spindle to remove the nut.

After a ton of measurements and searching, he decided to use a set of Dana 60 spindles and hubs on the D80. This gave him an affordable disk brake conversion and solved the problem of a warped and cracked original spindle. Up front, Pitcher ended up choosing a Dana 60 that he also got out of a salvage yard. Both axles were completely rebuilt and cleaned before painting them black.

With the Dodge Super Crew finally a roller, it was time for color. Pitcher ended up building a custom paint booth in the shop, complete with ventilation and heat. Good thing, considering he painted the truck in February and he lives in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania. March certainly doesn’t have the best temperatures for paint to dry in. The color he chose was Mango Tango which is usually found on 2009 to 2011 Jeeps.

With the cab painted, he moved on to the bed and engine. On the bed, he welded in four tie-downs (one in each corner), boxed the inside of the bed, and added dual fuel tanks. On the engine, he sent the block and heads out for machine work, then assembled it himself. He even opted to do a little porting and polishing of the intake runners while he was at it. Pitcher even decided to upgrade the P7100 injection pump himself. This is truly a built truck.

With everything painted and assembled, the 12 Valve Cummins engine went into the Dodge Super Crew. Behind the engine, Pitcher opted to use a NV4500 five-speed manual sending power through the NP205 transfer case. With the powertrain finally rebuilt and installed, Pitcher started the wiring. With something this custom, it isn’t like he could just buy a kit, so he built everything.

“I made my own fuse panel, wired it in, and tested circuits with a battery jump box. Every connection is soldered and heat-shrinked. All connectors are weatherpacks which are soldered as well. Looks super clean and they are all secure connections,” said Pitcher.

With the truck finally together and running (on the road the first part of July 2013) it was time for fine-tuning and tweaking. Pitcher made a custom front bumper and modified a factory rear bumper, painted the grill, and made quite a few small tweaks to get the truck to what you see today.

It is truly amazing considering Pitcher is only 19 years old. He says he, “learned a lot from my father at a young age. I helped him on a variety of old Mopars and his Dodge trucks and when I neared my 16th birthday, I started building my first truck. Since then, I have not stopped building cars. I live and breathe the life of building cars no matter how financially stressful it can be or how much of a strain it puts on my work/social life.”

One piece of advice he has for anyone considering this type of build is, “I would suggest prioritizing finding the transmission you want to use before the truck! They can be hard to find and costly. Once that is done, don’t waste time in finding the perfect base for a project. I looked at about a dozen crew cabs over about a year until I found one in exceptional condition for the right price.”

Pitcher is finished with high school and onto college (Maritime College a State University of New York), but he is still tweaking and working on the truck when he can. If you want to see more details of this build or follow him as he completes the truck (if a project is ever really complete) you can find his build thread here.

Pitcher also mentioned that if it wasn’t for his father capturing his interest in building cars and his friends, the “Epic Build Team”, this project would never have come about.