Dave Christie’s Cummins-powered 1969 Dodge Charger 4×4 is a one-of-a-kind beast that stopped people in their tracks at the 2025 Fall 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals in Danville, Indiana. The Charger looks like it rolled straight out of an apocalyptic science-fiction flick. But as Dave puts it, the rig is simply, “Dukes of Hazzard meets Cummins meets 4×4.”

More Than A Charger Body On A Truck Chassis

The casual observer may assume that Dave’s rig is simply a Dodge Charger on a 4×4 chassis. That assumption would be partially correct, but there’s far more engineering integrated into the rig than simply bolting the Charger body onto a chassis.

The story of this build began when Dave, the owner of Bulletproof Garage in Camby, Indiana, purchased an old Charger 4×4 conversion. The body was sitting on a late-1970s Ram truck frame, and it had been immobile for years. It was cut up, and there was no Charger infrastructure from the cowl forward.

He sourced a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 extended-cab dually because he wanted the beefy chassis and Cummins turbodiesel engine. But instead of dropping the Charger body onto the chassis, he integrated the Charger bodywork onto the Ram’s components. For example, the vehicle uses the Ram’s firewall, inner fenderwells, floorpan, cargo bed floor, and core support. In fact, the interior carpet is the original carpet from the Ram.

Grafting the two vehicles together required some creativity. For instance, to fit the Charger body panels, Dave needed to remove 37.7 inches of length from the Ram’s frame. Additionally, he couldn’t use the Charger-spec hideaway headlights due to space constraints.

Tweaked 12-Valve

Dave woke up the 12-valve Cummins with a few choice tweaks aimed at serious power. He slid in a new fuel plate, upgraded the delivery valves, and swapped in beefier governor springs. The factory turbo got the boot in favor of an HE351 off an ’06 Ram. Feeding it all is a FASS fuel system, while spent gases roar skyward through a hood-stack exhaust.

NV4500 Transmission And 1-Ton Running Gear

Power flows to an NV4500 five-speed manual transmission with a Valair dual-disc ceramic clutch. An NP241HD two-speed transfer case routes the power to the axles. Up front is a Dana 60 axle, and out back is a Dana 80. Both have 4.10:1 gearing, and the rear axle has a factory locker.

Leveled Suspension, Bilstein Shocks, 35s

Dave retained the Ram 3500’s suspension, though he removed two lift blocks from each side of the rear suspension as well as the overload springs. Removing these items lowered the rear of the rig by about seven inches, which leveled the vehicle. A single Bilstein shock resides at each corner.

The Charger rides on 35×12.50R20LT Toyo Open Country M/T tires mounted on 10-inch-wide Grid Off-Road wheels.

Flat Black Paint And Riveted Patch Panels

The exterior of the Charger is finished in Rust-Oleum. Dave built the car during COVID, and he says that, due to supply-chain issues, he couldn’t get rear fenders for it. So, he riveted patch panels to the rear quarter-panels to replace corroded metal. Since then, he has taken delivery of new fenders, and they’ll be going on soon.

Not A Trailer Queen

Dave’s 1969 Dodge Charger Cummins 4×4, which he calls “Bulletproof,” isn’t a museum piece or a trailer queen. In fact, he uses the car regularly, no apocalypse required, as shown in the photo above. He reports that it gets 22 mpg with the air conditioning on while pulling a trailer with another Charger on it at highway speeds. He also says it has the driving mannerisms of a 1/2-ton truck.