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I made a thread in A/T about this a year ago, (sorry, I don't have archives to link it) but several goons have asked me to restart that thread here. I probably should've done that in the first place. Anyways... Ever since I was little boy growing up in the midwest, I have been infatuated with monster trucks. The smell of burning methanol brings me back to my younger days as a child in the St. Louis Arena, watching Bigfoot & Bearfoot destroy cars and nearly kill the audience with carbon monoxide. Fast forward some 20 years, and I'm employed in the same industry I grew up loving. I started at Bigfoot as a shop bitch back in '04, and after college and a few brief stints at other gigs I've been the webmaster & store manager here for the last several years. While the stereotype exists that monster trucks are for "good ol' boys", it mainly went the way of the dodo in the late 80s. Modern monsters are very advanced pieces of equipment which 6 figure price tags....and that doesn't include any spares or the tractor trailer hauler. Here is a great series of articles that we did on our website detailing the various "Stages" of monster truck evolution. http://www.bigfoot4x4.com/tech_stage1.html Here is our newest truck, #18.  This truck is a loving beast. Our first big outdoor event with it is this weekend in Springfield, MO at the 4 wheel jamboree. I figure someone will ask, so yes, I have driven one. Yes, it's as cool as you'd imagine it to be.  This OP sort of sucks right now, but I'll be updating with pics & FAQ soon. Some goons told me they had some questions, so ask away! ColonelJohnMatrix fucked around with this message at May 4, 2012 around 15:00 |
| # ? May 4, 2012 14:50 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 06:22 |
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Is there any standardization in the monster truck world, or is each truck a completely custom machine? Are there specifications you have to meet for competition? How often do you break things? This thread is already awesome!!
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| # ? May 4, 2012 15:16 |
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I grew up going to every monster truck rally that was in town, I think I even ended up in the local paper at one point. How "grassroots" is monster truck racing? Could a privateer be likely to cobble together something that suits the event specifications or do you basically have to leash yourself to an existing "power" in the field to be able to justify the business model? It seems like a lot of trucks fell under the Bigfoot management umbrella, though I haven't really looked into it since the early 90s. There are lots of other motor racing series that basically need a $500k+ investment to get into that have privateers coming in and out of them, so I don't see why this one seems so dominated.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 15:29 |
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Olde Weird Tip posted:Is there any standardization in the monster truck world, or is each truck a completely custom machine? There are now several main chassis builders in the sport. Patrick Enterprises, Racesource Chassis, CRD, and Concussion Motorsports are the 4 main builders of chassis. Several of these companies will even build a turn key truck. All the previous Bigfoot designs have been in house, but Bigfoot #18 (pictured above) is a Concussion chassis with our own components. While the actual chassis may be similiar between top trucks, the components used for everything else can vary wildly. Our trucks are the only in the industry to utilize ZF axles with 4 wheel disc brake setups, while everyone else uses pinion brakes. ZF is a great sponsor, and allows to have the strongest axle/braking setup in the industry. Most Monster Jam trucks are CRD or Patrick chassis, and then you'll still find some guys with 1 off chassis designs. Olde Weird Tip posted:Are there specifications you have to meet for competition? Different organizations use different individual rules, but most things are uniform....especially concerning safety. Trucks MUST be equipped with a remote ignition interuptor (RII) so they can be shut off by someone who isn't the driver if it gets out of control. Most trucks are running around 1500 HP, with 500+ c.i. blown engines, and weigh around 10k pounds. Olde Weird Tip posted:How often do you break things? Stuff is always breaking...most hard freestyle runs will break something, even if very minor. Transmissions are still the weak point in the drivetrain, but they can be changed out in about 20 minutes. Due to monster jam, people are under the impression that the trucks are built to roll, and it's all part of the show. That's bullshit. Monster Jam owns a fleet of around 40 trucks and can fit the bill to destroy there trucks every weekend because they have an army of (overworked) mechanics to fix them. Most teams (even us) can't afford to destroy the truck every weekend. It's also pretty insulting to whole industry to have it be a demolition derby. Don't get me wrong, I love crazy freestyle runs....but guys rolling on purpose boils my blood.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 15:39 |
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How rigorously do the drivers train and exercise to drive the trucks? Do they just get in, smash poo poo then call it a day or is it more going to the gym and exercising hitting certain weight targets like F1?
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:12 |
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I grew up going to every monster truck rally that was in town, I think I even ended up in the local paper at one point. The "umbrella" you speak of is monster jam. They (Pace Motorsports, then Clear Channel, and now the owners are Feld Entertainment) bought out Grave Digger in the late 90's and tried to buy us too. We didn't sell, so they said they would use Digger and "make their own stars". Many of the big names you see on Monster Jam are just corporately owned trucks, with fly in employee drivers. This is why we don't compete in their shows. They don't want us because we would take money from the corporate trucks. The sport still does have quite a few privateers....but it can be tough. Most privateers have successful companies that help fund the monsters, so they aren't "full time" guys. The Avenger team is like this. Guys can buy used stuff and get in for under 50k.....but most can't afford to run very hard.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:13 |
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keykey posted:How rigorously do the drivers train and exercise to drive the trucks? Do they just get in, smash poo poo then call it a day or is it more going to the gym and exercising hitting certain weight targets like F1? Most guys I know of have chiropractors work on their backs more than any other type of "exercise". That being said, most of the top drivers are in decent physical shape...and are tough dudes. Modern suspensions and safety devices work great, but the trucks will steal beat the poo poo out of you. The old days were crazy, though. When the trucks just had big leaf springs and 20 Rancho shocks for suspensions, they would literally break guys backs. Our VP of operations Jim Kramer (if you saw BIGFOOT as a kid, it was probably him driving) has major nerve, back, & shoulder damage from his years driving. Here is a pic of him from his heyday -  He just used a motorcycle helmet & neckbrace, and would drive with his head out the window! That's a man's man.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:20 |
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It impressed me how much monster trucks had moved on last time I read up on them - unsprung weight as an actual thing, suspension that did something and so on. On a monster truck related note, everyone should check out the ending of Thor Wixom's Hammer Down DVD, where they take monsters rock-crawling. It's pretty cool seeing them romp around in the open.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:26 |
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Oh man, when I was a kid I had two VHS tapes about monster trucks. One was "blood, sweat, and gears" which was some kind of montage video with competitions and other stuff, the other was essentially a documentary on bigfoot, detailing the history of Bob Chandler and the bigfoot monster trucks from the beginning. It was great because it showed a lot of the early stuff where people were just driving monster trucks up muddy hills and through rivers or whatever, along with whichever bigfoot had the ridiculously tall tires and the tracked one. I watched that tape so much it eventually started to wear out (and I'm sure my parents hated it at that point.)
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:27 |
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Powder, those videos exist on youtube. Yeah, I wore out all those tapes too. Several of our current drivers were the same way! When I was younger, we used to trade tapes of monster trucks shows via message boards...well now they are all on youtube. If you were a fan of old monsters, you'll LOVE these youtube channels. These guys have tons of old racing events uploaded. http://www.youtube.com/user/Mistertbones http://www.youtube.com/user/dtrix85 http://www.youtube.com/user/HVGCco?feature=watch
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:45 |
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ColonelJohnMatrix posted:The old days were crazy, though. When the trucks just had big leaf springs and 20 Rancho shocks for suspensions, they would literally break guys backs. What I remember from being a kid was the variety of weird trucks that the Bigfoot team put together in order to show off - that tracked Aerostar and the 10' tall tire truck come to mind immediately. Those must've been fun to go from drunken concept to production vehicle. I taped a bunch of the American races when they would be rebroadcast on our sports channels at like 3 AM. At one point I'm pretty sure I knew more about the geography of the Southern US than my own country. Time to see how much I remember.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:49 |
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Does the old style of monster truck driving where they do hillclimbs and mug bogging still exist? I know they still do tractor pulls with them, and obviously the arena-style driving is huge these days, but it would be cool to see one do some of the old-style driving.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 16:52 |
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When did monster trucks shift away from Rockwell axles and move to more custom setups ? I figure early to mid 80's ? I also agree with the sentiments regarding Monster Jam. gently caress that brand. They ruined everything that was cool about Monster trucks. Now it's just a lovely cookie cutter event with cookie cutter trucks.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 17:48 |
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jonathan posted:When did monster trucks shift away from Rockwell axles and move to more custom setups ? I figure early to mid 80's ? Early 90's, although some guys still use them. Nowadays you can get axle housings specifically made for monsters. Our ZF axles are of German heavy loader/forklift origin.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 17:50 |
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ColonelJohnMatrix posted:Early 90's, although some guys still use them. Nowadays you can get axle housings specifically made for monsters. Our ZF axles are of German heavy loader/forklift origin. When they were using Rockwells it was of the 2.5Ton military variety, but then I think they started using Rockwells from the Semi truck/heavy duty setups, Correct ? I have a truck on 47's with Rockwells, which is sort of the grassroots monster truck style these days.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 17:54 |
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jonathan posted:When they were using Rockwells it was of the 2.5Ton military variety, but then I think they started using Rockwells from the Semi truck/heavy duty setups, Correct ? Yeah, I believe you are talking the 5 ton big boys. Sounds like you have what guys are calling a "Mega Truck". It's gotten pretty popular in the south. It's a term used for a truck bigger and more purpose built than a street truck, but not as big as a 66'' tired monster truck.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 18:01 |
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Can you talk about the suspension setup of the truck, specifically, is a 4 link parallel, or triangulated, I assume there are no coils, the shocks act as nitrogen springs ? What sort of materials are being used for suspension components ? The engines are big block and supercharged, what kind of supercharger is it ? Are they running on Ethanol or E85 or something ?
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| # ? May 4, 2012 18:34 |
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How long/how many people does it take to build one of those up?
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| # ? May 4, 2012 18:44 |
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What is the ratio of Go:Blow?
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| # ? May 4, 2012 18:48 |
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I love monster trucks, they're just so over-the-top ridiculous in every way. Haven't been to an even since I was like 4 years old though. I like watching the Monster Jam freestyle events although I had no idea that it's all a farce basically. Watching a gigantic truck smash through everything in its path and then get ungodly amounts of air makes me giggle in a childish way. My high school automotive teacher worked for Dennis Anderson (Grave Digger) back in the early/mid-90's as his home shop supervisor, he had some cool stories about working there that I wish I could remember well enough to share. Pretty sure he left when they were bought out by Monster Jam.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 19:06 |
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This thread reminded me of my Bigfoot Club membership I got when I was 7 years old in 1985. I hope I haven't been purged for being inactive.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 20:03 |
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I grew up watching the TNT series in the late 80's, which was awesome in every way. A legitimate points series open to anyone? Hell yes. I utterly hate where it has all ended up now, and is just a wrestling show with wheels, and as a casual viewer I pretty much blame Dennis Anderson because he was the one who couldn't drive for poo poo and tried to make fans by purposely destroying his truck in the dumbest ways possible.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 20:45 |
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How many AirLiners has GraveDigger jumped over ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-VWtAgVtcs LoL I laugh at the sheer everything of this.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 20:47 |
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I couldn't find any examples of that "Hammer Down" dvd mentioned earlier, but I would love to see some videos of bigfoot and other trucks doing stuff other than crush cars and short course races. Is there any mud bogging, hill climbs, crawling footage out there ? I know there was a ton of old footage on the BigFoot action VHS or whatever it was called. Mudding, and also that Aerostar on tires ripping about in the river. Has the BigFoot company ever thought to manufacture a bigfoot branded 4x4 ? Something street legal ? I'm sure a lot of kids from the 70's and 80's with money would line up to buy a limited run of BigFoot edition F350's.
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| # ? May 4, 2012 20:59 |
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I'm slammed up here at work, but lots of good questions. I'll tackle them and post some sweet old school monster trucking links later this evening. Yes, TNT did own. TNT was bought out by USHRA (SRO Promotions) in 91 (or 90 I believe). USHRA/SRO was bought out by Pace Motorsports (Monster Jam), which was then bought out by Clear Channel, which was then bought out by Feld. Confusing, right!? edit - I'll quickly say this though....Dennis was sort of forced to sell out. He had a ride truck (where people sit in the back and ride in the bed) that flipped over in 98 and broke a woman's arm. She was going to sue (and win) for millions, which would've put him out of business. He basically had to make a deal with the devil to stay in business as they covered his law suit with their millions of dollars. I'll have a TNT story later. ColonelJohnMatrix fucked around with this message at May 4, 2012 around 21:09 |
| # ? May 4, 2012 21:04 |
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ColonelJohnMatrix posted:Yes, TNT did own. TNT was, and still is in my opinion, the best promotion monster trucks ever had. It was the perfect mix of sport & spectacle (I miss the points chase!), with easily the best group of drivers around for their time. I still go back and watch the televised races rather frequently. Also Army Armstrong is a god among announcers. ColonelJohnMatrix posted:edit - I'll quickly say this though....Dennis was sort of forced to sell out. He had a ride truck (where people sit in the back and ride in the bed) that flipped over in 98 and broke a woman's arm. She was going to sue (and win) for millions, which would've put him out of business. He basically had to make a deal with the devil to stay in business as they covered his law suit with their millions of dollars. This has always bugged me. Grave Digger, and Dennis Anderson in particular, has always been one of my all-time favorites, and it's never really set right with me how shamelessly Monster Jam parades the name around. I get why they do it (frankly, it's not like any of their other trucks are nearly as memorable), but it's always kinda felt like a blatant cheapening of one of the greatest names in the sport. On the bright side, the list of drivers they put in the seat is outstanding for old-school fans. Gary Porter, Pablo Huffaker, Charlie Pauken, and Dennis of course. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Bear Foot? Last I heard, Paul Shafer bought it out with a bunch of other big 90s names (Carolina Crusher, Rampage, Taurus, Monster Patrol) and was pretty much sitting on them while he worked in some other motorsport (speedboat racing or something like that). I think someone, Mac Plecker & the Ballistic team I wanna say, kinda "rented" the Bear Foot name for a time, but that was like...2009 or so. EDIT: Tossing in another Youtube channel for anyone that likes the ones up above. http://www.youtube.com/user/unclecoachmason Nagi fucked around with this message at May 5, 2012 around 12:11 |
| # ? May 5, 2012 10:37 |
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jonathan posted:Can you talk about the suspension setup of the truck, specifically, is a 4 link parallel, or triangulated, I assume there are no coils, the shocks act as nitrogen springs ? Triangulated 4 link, but the shocks (coils vs. no coils) is different with different trucks. Most don't run coils over the nitrogens anymore, but several do. I haven't seen Tom Meents truck lately, but I know he ran them forever. They use the big coil springs as a sort of sway bar as well. We are one of the few (maybe only) teams that builds our shocks completely in house. The valving pucks are gigantic! Our blowers are 8:71 BDS, and run on methanol. We use 565 Ford engines, although we do have a "merlin" 540 Chevy based engine for a new truck. TNT was a fantastic series, and it's pretty much a uniform opinion across the industry. The racing was ultra tough, and lineups were fantastic. Guys would kill someone to beat them. If you recall, Bigfoot #8 (first modern all tube monster) got banned for most of the 1990 season because no other trucks stood a chance). It was mainly due to the result of guys like Scott Stephens (King Krunch) whining. I think it was bullshit because the Equalizer truck (89 champ) was VERY close to being a stage 3 truck and dominated during that year, yet nothing was ever made of it. We still won the championship with '89. It's been said that while TNT was open, there were other certain stipulations....i.e. Dennis Anderson was paid to show up and run because he couldn't afford to show up otherwise. I'm not trying to pile on though, as I'm sure Bigfoot got some money for showing up back then (not sure on that, though). Various promoters have tried to do a proper race series the last couple of years, but wind up not finding the right funding. The best try was the Major League of Monster Trucks (MLMT) series, which ran for 2 years before going belly up. You should youtube it. The racing was awesome, and the tracks were crazy.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 11:59 |
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Oh man, I was pulling so hard for MLMT to come up and be the next big thing. I wasn't too much of a fan of that weird, knot-shaped course they ran (being able to see the trucks side-by-side to see how much of a lead one has on another is a huge part of the excitement), but the S-shaped courses they had were incredible. And yeah, I remember the Bigfoot 8 controversy very well. As a kid, I had some old VHS tapes of monster truck races recorded off of TV, and the one I positively wore out was one of the mid-late portion of TNT's 1990 season, right before and then during Bigfoot 8's return. Gotta hand it to John Piant for keeping the team afloat in the points, though. #4 really put in a good show (hell, a lot of the older trucks did; it was amazing seeing Gary Porter place third in points that season using probably the oldest, heaviest truck on the tour). Where are #4 and #8 now? Also, are there any updates on #9? Last I heard it was confiscated by customs in South America and misused in a bunch of shows down there.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 12:21 |
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Nagi posted:Oh man, I was pulling so hard for MLMT to come up and be the next big thing. I wasn't too much of a fan of that weird, knot-shaped course they ran (being able to see the trucks side-by-side to see how much of a lead one has on another is a huge part of the excitement), but the S-shaped courses they had were incredible. #4 was sold to a private owner in 2007, #8 is still in use as a display truck, and #9 is being used by some backwater locals in Brazil  It's extremely dangerous and runs like poo poo from the videos we've seen.John Piant races r/c cars around St. Louis!
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| # ? May 5, 2012 12:33 |
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Hire me to weld a Bigfoot for you.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 12:46 |
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^ Make this happen.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 13:01 |
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You know if I wasn't planted in this little northern Canadian town trying to set up so I can retire at 45 I would seriously consider applying at that shop as a shop bitch. When I was young (born in 1980) there were the 4 elements to the Universe: Hulk Hogan, Mike Tyson, Mr T, and BigFoot. I had a small electric Bigfoot toy from around 1984 or so, with a tractor pull accessory. I remember those televised monster truck races from the late 80's or early 90's, and for a couple seasons there was another truck that seriously stood out and seemed to beat Bigfoot often: USA 1. Can you tell us anything about that truck ?
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| # ? May 5, 2012 15:28 |
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USA-1's owner Everett Jasmer was one of the pioneers in the sport. He came from a drag racing background, and USA-1 was a force on the track. The team won the first TNT points championship, making it the first monster truck champion. Everett got out the sport soon after TNT fell apart, because he didn't like the "pro wrestling on wheels" direction the sport was going. He is rumored to be building a new truck, though. USA-1 number 1 and 2 are both still around in pristine condition.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 16:04 |
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The coolest thing I have ever done is a 20 minute ride in Gravedigger on the beach at Wildwood. End of the night, only teenagers in the back, and the driver loving hammered it until the gas ran out. Monster trucks are cool and if you don't like them you're stupid.  e- oh and my Powerwheels when I was 4 was Bigfoot VikingSkull fucked around with this message at May 5, 2012 around 16:16 |
| # ? May 5, 2012 16:08 |
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Who wouldn't like monster trucks?? It's like taking an r/c truck, making it 10:1 scale and turning all the dials up to 11.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 16:12 |
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I think also the late 80's was so good because the technology and innovation was advancing so quickly, you had such a wide range and styles of chassis' and bodies. Something like Equalizer was just mind blowing when it came along. You went from god-knows-how-heavy trucks that were entirely made of leaf springs and up to 48 shocks, to tube frames and 4 shocks.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 16:23 |
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Thanks for this thread, definitely brings back memories of my childhood. Pretty sure I had just about every Bigfoot/Bob Chandler VHS that existed. I got to fulfill my dreams of driving Bigfoot in 2004 at the jamboree in Springfield, MO. Although I dropped $500 on it, I will NEVER forget driving that beast. Best experience of my life!
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| # ? May 5, 2012 16:29 |
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Probably not a true fact anymore, but in the early 90's when the trucks were making 1500+ horsepower and the Porsche 911 was a bit slower, a typical Monster truck could out accelerate a Porsche to 60mph. That is a neat thing. It's kind of a shame that they shave down those tires so that they're almost a slick though. It would be neat to see those Chevron Pattern tires with full tread blasting about in the sand or mud. These days I have little interest in Monster truck races because Stadium hard concrete floor with 3" of fine packed dirt on top is not exciting like the old mud pit drags and tractor pulls and things they used to compete in. Imagine that, Monster trucks used to actually get dirty! I have a shitload of old developed photos from 1984 at BC Place Stadium, with a ton of cool trucks such as Midnight Pumpkin, Monster Vette etc. I think the photos are in mom's album back in Vancouver and I am out here, but I will get her to send them out so that I can scan them and put them up.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 16:33 |
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jonathan posted:I had a small electric Bigfoot toy from around 1984 or so, with a tractor pull accessory.  And while we're talking about kids-of-the-eighties exposure to Bigfoot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cosi-n3dFDg And to rinse that out of your eyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gx8iYueK9o
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| # ? May 5, 2012 17:12 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 06:22 |
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[quote="InitialDave"] Me too, though I didn't have the tractor pull toy to go with it. Witness an eighties catalogue from that bastion of UK childrens' Christmas lists, Argos: Wow, I had that thing. I played with it till it broke, then kept playing with it. I also had that stomper track. I love stompers 
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| # ? May 5, 2012 17:46 |
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