Never let it be said that custom truck owners don't sacrifice to have nice trucks. Lee Keathley, of Bartlett, Tennessee, fell into the show truck scene and wanted to build a custom truck that no one had ever seen before. He bought a new Dodge in 2003 to start with an uncommon platform. From there, things went bad. The first attempt at building his truck somehow got tangled in an unmanageable mess with the interior redone three times. The suspension was also completely rebuilt.
Then, money started running lean for the Keathley family, due to the undone Dodge. All of the family's entertainment dollars were spent on the truck to finish the job. After 1-1/2 years, the truck was taken to Silver Star Customs in Horn Lake, Mississippi, where the truck was completely gone through one last time.
The phrase, "paid for in blood," couldn't be truer than with this '03 Dodge. As it turns out, Lee wound up selling his blood at the local blood bank for $300 a session. After three sessions, Clyde, the owner of Silver Star Customs, cut Lee some slack and finished the truck on an IOU. Silver Star completely redid the Dodge and created one sick-ass truck. Initially, the killer cantilever rear two-link and sweet interior caught our attention at Greenville, Mississippi, where we shot the Dodge for this feature. As Lee told us about the adventures with his first build, we couldn't help but laugh. In the end, Clyde told him he better make a couple more visits to the blood bank so he could pay back the IOU. But, we know with the quality of this buildup, Clyde will be getting his money's worth out of Lee for sure.
It's amazing how some people remain steadfast in their commitments, even in the face of adversity-and Lee is no exception. He stood strong through the hassle of finishing his dream of building the first body-laying quad-cab Ram; we'll call it Dodgema.