5 Fun Facts About Monster Jam Trucks
Entertainment can come in all forms. For some it’s sports, for others it’s music, and for a lot of people, it’s massive vehicles driving around a dirt track and pulling off mind-boggling tricks. For years, Monster Jam has been one of the most underrated and overlooked forms of entertainment on the planet. Everybody who gives it a chance ends up loving it and wanting to get Monster Jam tickets again and again. People come to know their favorite trucks the same way they would their favorite athlete or musician. If you’re a Monster Jam newbie or find yourself wondering what is Monster Jam about, here are some cool facts about Monster Jam trucks that should pique your interest.
Monster Jam Trucks Are Massive and Cause Massive Damage
If you’ve never seen Monster Jam trucks up close and personal, it can be difficult to get a sense of just how big they truly are. Most trucks are 12 feet wide and can be upwards of 35 feet tall. In other words, look at a 10-foot high basketball hoop and imagine something two or three times as tall. Even the tires that go on Monster Jam trucks are huge, measuring over five feet in height and weighing well over 600 pounds, and that’s just one tire. Every truck during a Monster Jam event must weigh at least 10,000 pounds, which is why it takes between 1,500 and 2,000 horsepower to get them to move the way they do. As you can imagine, the trucks take quite a beating will all of the wheelies they pop and collisions with the ground. There’s roughly $10,000 worth of damage on every truck after every show that needs to be prepared in just a few days before the next show.
Grave Digger and Bigfoot are Big Rivals
If you’re going to know anything about Monster Jam trucks, two names you should know are Grave Digger and Bigfoot. Bigfoot was one of the first monster trucks to gain a huge fan following back in the early 1980s after driving over it drove over some regular-sized cars during a performance. However, Grave Digger has also gained a considerable following over the years and is arguably the most popular monster truck among today’s fans. Naturally, a rivalry developed between Grave Digger and Bigfoot that monster jam played up to boost fan interest. To this day, fans still debate their favorite between Grave Digger and Bigfoot, although not since the 1990s have the two monster trucks actually competed against one another.
They Don’t Run Like Regular Trucks
It’s obvious that Monster Jam trucks don’t look like your run-of-the-mill trucks, so it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that they aren’t built to run like normal trucks. For starters, the engine is custom-built and costs around $50,000. These engines are super-charged and methanol-injected, which allows for short bursts of power that enable monster trucks to reach speeds of 100 miles per hour at times. It’s also interesting to note that most monster trucks require a new engine about five times every year. Monster Jam trucks also utilize nitrogen gas shocks, usually one or two for each of the truck’s tires.
Trucks Have No Doors and Visibility Is Limited
Few people outside of monster truck drivers realize that the vehicles don’t have actual doors. Getting into the driver’s seat requires climbing that some compare to a rock wall. After making the tricky journey up the side of the truck and into the driver’s seat, most people would be surprised to learn that visibility isn’t all that great. Remember, these trucks are designed to look cool rather than transportation. Plus, the driver’s seat being 20 or 30 feet in the air makes it tough to see directly below. For safety purposes, there are radio operators in the crowd who help in monitoring the movement of the trucks that the drive might not be able to pick up. These radio operators are able to turn off the engine of a truck if something goes awry. This is a rare occurrence during Monster Jam events, but it’s a nice safety feature to guard against the limited visibility that drivers have behind the wheel of Monster Jam trucks.
3,000 Cars a Year Get Crushed by Monster Trucks
Let’s be honest, seeing monster trucks and drive over regular cars is one of the biggest reasons why buying Monster Jam tickets is appealing to fans. Side-by-side racing is entertaining too, but fans really want to see big trucks trample over small vehicles. As it turns out, an average of 3,000 steel body, full-size cars meet their demise this way every year. In addition to cars, buses, motor homes, vans, ambulances, and even the occasional airplane get crushed by monster trucks. Of course, these vehicles are usually taken out of junkyards, so it’s not as if Monster Jam is destroying vehicles that could still be serviceable. Nevertheless, with over 3,000 cars getting crushed by Monster Jam trucks every year, that’s an average of almost 10 per day.