Bored? Come To The Chit / Chat Thread

[Halgar]

I like the old stuff better too! I've always loved MTs, I just don't care for a lot of what comes with MTs in general.

What comes with Monster Trucks in general that you don't like?

The knuckle dragger mentality, mostly.

[morrisey0]

The knuckle dragger mentality, mostly.

I use to enjoy going to the Nascar races in Richmond and Martinsville, but after awhile, yea, the same thing started keeping me away.

[Lowgear]

It's a shame how many of the famous '80s monster trucks and even pullers that are still around have been left in the elements to rot away. There's numerous stories and videos on the subject. There's even one semi-local to me that has received the same fate being used as yard art. I don't understand the mentality of not even upkeeping them in any way or selling it to someone for a decent price who will.

Hopefully with the advent of the monster truck museum, more can be saved from the scrap pile.

[Halgar]

Hopefully with the advent of the monster truck museum, more can be saved from the scrap pile.

I followed the above link back to it's home page and they only have 4 videos that are all 6 years old. So they're not maintaining a video blog about the museum. I did not search to see if it still existed or not. Hopefully it does, like you, the original trucks and the old school trucks are just plain cool. One of my favorite vids on the topic is the history of Big Foot, how the original truck was a show piece for all the 4x4 parts that Chandler's company sold. One day they drove the truck over a couple cars and the rest is history! At least, that is how I remember it.

[Dangeruss]

I followed the above link back to it's home page and they only have 4 videos that are all 6 years old. So they're not maintaining a video blog about the museum. I did not search to see if it still existed or not.

Would be cooler if they'd have made regular videos but, yep, still open, hosts a few different events every month, videos on youtube from people who've filmed their trips there.

The history of each of the Monster trucks is neat, I like that USA-1 used an all-aluminum can-am motor and aluminum wheels. Bigfoot is my favorite and its history is cool but after you hear it so many times it's like listening to your dad say how great his childhood was but then he only has the one story. Like any ex-racing vehicle though, the trucks aren't of much interest to the owners once they're no longer competitive. At least they've parked them to be restored at a later date instead of cutting them up to make room.

[RC10th]

Not sure which number Bigfoot this is but cool nonetheless.

Bigfoot number 4 maybe.....

[1911Colt]

When I lived in St Louis, I was just out driving around one day learning where things were and stumbled across Bob Chandler's shop. They had the original Bigfoot on display and the then-current racers Snakebite and Wildfoot in the bays being prepped for the next race. Out front was the publicity-only (non-racer) Bigfoot 10(?) with 10 feet tall tires. The Aerostar monster truck was there, too.

[1911Colt]

dupe post

[Halgar]

When I lived in St Louis, I was just out driving around one day learning where things were and stumbled across Bob Chandler's shop. They had the original Bigfoot on display and the then-current racers Snakebite and Wildfoot in the bays being prepped for the next race. Out front was the publicity-only (non-racer) Bigfoot 10(?) with 10 feet tall tires. The Aerostar monster truck was there, too.

That would be a sight, all those trucks in one place at the same time. As I recall, the BF10 tires came from a LeTourneau Land Train vehicle, the tires were old and dry rotted when they got them, which is why the truck is display only. Never heard of a Land Train before? Here ya go. This guy has several vids on them.


I remember reading that one of the BF trucks was lost in customs during an overseas event. How the heck do you lose a freaking monster truck?

[Dangeruss]

As I recall, the BF10 tires came from a LeTourneau Land Train vehicle, the tires were old and dry rotted when they got them, which is why the truck is display only.

I remember reading that one of the BF trucks was lost in customs during an overseas event. How the heck do you lose a freaking monster truck?

Truck was "lost" when they tried to return to the US and it was seized by customs in Brazil for import/export taxes. With the time, money, and deteriorating condition of the truck they gave up and called it a loss.

Tires on Bigfoot 5 were/are fine. Truck still performs, they take it to events occasionally:

2024 Summit Motorsports Park:



Car Crushing In 2022:

[Halgar]

Tires on Bigfoot 5 were/are fine. Truck still performs, they take it to events occasionally:

Interesting. My memory is that the tires were one-off for the land train and no longer made or available. I wonder if they found army surplus or if they had some custom made.

[Lowgear]

Like any ex-racing vehicle though, the trucks aren't of much interest to the owners once they're no longer competitive. At least they've parked them to be restored at a later date instead of cutting them up to make room.

The problem there is most times they never get restored. It's the age-old story of the guy who has sought-after cars sitting in his yard rotting away that aren't for sale as he's going to "fix 'em up one day" which is never happening. Then in the off chance the person would sell, it's for a price that's ridiculously high. If they were going to be sold or restored, they would have already been by now. The only chance sometimes is after the person passes away but whatever it is is likely too far gone by that point.

At least the green goblin head from Maximum Overdrive was able to be bought and restored.

[Dangeruss]

Interesting. My memory is that the tires were one-off for the land train and no longer made or available. I wonder if they found army surplus or if they had some custom made.

Good question. I always assumed it was the same set from back in the day. Bob Chandler bought his from a scrapper who purchased the last land train made, so... just a guess, he or his contemporary has more [of the 50-odd tires their train started with] than Bigfoot would ever need?... too bad it's the weekend and no one's there to answer the phone.

If they were going to be sold or restored, they would have already been by now. The only chance sometimes is after the person passes away but by that time whatever it is is too far gone by that point.

A lot of the owners, like Everett Jasmer, have said there's just no money in restoring them... however...

At least the green goblin head from Maximum Overdrive was able to be bought and restored.

proof there's always hope

[Halgar]

If they were going to be sold or restored, they would have already been by now. The only chance sometimes is after the person passes away but by that time whatever it is is too far gone by that point.

A lot of the owners, like Everett Jasmer, have said there's just no money in restoring them... however...

Jay Leno says the same thing. He gets a lot of calls from people wanting their cars to go to a good home, and while the car has value to the original owner, it doesn't exactly have market value, especially if it needs any kind of restoration. Like he says, you can spend six figures on a restoration for a $5K vehicle, so you gotta pick your battles wisely.

You gotta figure that the market value for a used MT is absolutely zero, maybe you can justify scrap price if you were to pay to dispose of the nonmetallic bits ($90/ton in my area) and scrap the metal. Scrap prices being probably somewhere around $100 a ton, minus dump fees, that would be around $500 to $600 for the typical used MT. Now, if you were to part it out, maybe you could get some cash back, but to keep the truck as a whole, in working, original condition, you've got a significant investment on something that will NOT generate an income, other than as a museum piece or possibly as a "give a ride" possibility, if you can get insurance to cover passengers on such a thing. Or, maybe as a road side spectacle piece. Regardless, the income generation would be severely limited versus the cost of a restoration.

If the museum guy can make it work, he would be able to get donations, municipal funding, and visitor fees to help in the restoration, maintenance and upkeep of trucks like this. For the individual it's just not possible. For the owners, like Bob Chandler and others, where the trucks have a history, then for them to keep the trucks in show spec/museum quality could make sense if they're willing to basically maintain their own museum and have paying visitors.

The fun and excitement gets sucked out of stuff very quickly when the financials start coming into play.

[morrisey0]

I know very little about monster trucks. I did go to a show or two at our fairgrounds when I was young, but that is about it. I do know that the home to Grave Digger, "Digger's Dungeon," is directly on a major road entering the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The OBX is a major tourist destination, attracting visitors from many states, and literally hundreds of thousands of vehicles past this garage yearly; TBH the numbers may be higher than that. They have always had a version of GD out front, and people have always been able to stop and take a pic with it. Many people, like myself, have been passing here for decades, and watching the evolution of the truck as time has gone by.