Monster Trucks versus Mega Trucks, off road culture gets dirty

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Over here work is moving along. I’m always looking to create new art, or finish projects. I hope to find something fighting game related to write about for the blog. Until then I wanted to talk a little bit about monster trucks. You might know that I’m a huge fan of monster trucks. I’ve been a fan most of my life. Like most boys it was a natural offshoot of my love of cars, and trucks of all types. In the early days I was obsessed with a big blue Ford truck from the midwest called Bigfoot. The truck could be considered The Godfather of monster truck culture. Back in the late 1970’s, and early ‘80s the off road crowd were always trying to outperform each other. Bob Chandler, and his wife Marilyn would go weekend camping in their truck. They’d meet up with other enthusiasts to go off roading, wade through the mud, or climb some hills. Mr. Chandler was very competitive, and would often break something on his truck. He would limp back to his off road parts store where shop manager Ron Magruder would ask what he broke with his “big foot.” Chandler thought it was a clever nickname and had it painted on the side of his truck. The name had nothing to do with the Bigfoot aka Sasquatch cryptid. 

Over the years he would add bigger, stronger axles, suspension, engine, and transmission. Of course he also started using bigger and bigger tires. He jumped from 48-inch tires to the monster defining 66-inch tires. Whenever Chandler showed up at the off road meets he had a truck that was literally head, and shoulders above the rest. Competition trucks were usually created to specialize in a few events, such as the ability to plow through mud bogs, climb gravel hills, or pull against tractor sleds. Bigfoot was the truck that could do it all. It was the envy of the community. It ended up appearing in magazines, which helped spread the name from coast-to-coast. The reputation of the blue Ford took off when Chandler started driving over cars. He asked the builder of the King Kong monster truck Jeff Dane what was the best way to crush cars. Chandler pulled off the stunt for his shop’s promo video. A few years later event promoter Bob George got him to do it in front of 70,000+ people at the Pontiac Silverdome. The crowd went absolutely crazy, and surrounded the truck. Chandler locked the doors, and didn’t move for a half hour. He had no idea what he had unleashed on the world. 

Car crushing went from an exhibition to a competition race. Suddenly Bigfoot was battling other monster trucks. The goal was to see who could flatten rows of cars the fastest. The earliest rivals included USA-1, King Kong, Bear Foot, King Krunch, and Grave Digger. By the mid ‘80s the monster truck craze was in full effect. Promoters were paying big money to get the biggest, and baddest trucks to show up at their events. Monster trucks started popping up on television, and in movies. It wouldn’t be long before toys appeared on the shelves, and video games in arcades. This made me extremely happy. Game developers were becoming aware of everything that these trucks could do. They often highlighted mud bog, hill climb, sled pull, and of course car crushing events. Many of the early arcade video games like Power Drive lacked fun gameplay. They didn’t do much better on the home consoles. 

It felt like the monster trend was dying down by the time the Bigfoot NES game appeared. It was developed by Beam Software, and published by Acclaim in 1990. The graphics were nice, but the experience seemed dated. Especially since arcade graphics were improving by leaps, and bounds. The Super Nintendo would come out a year later, as did the amazing arcade game Double Axle. These were all the things I spoke about previously on the blog. Yet I wanted to take a step back to the early days of off road culture. Whenever I read the magazines about off roading I was always struck with how cool the events were in the midwest. The sled pulls, hill climbs, and mud bogs all sounded amazing. They featured mind bending trucks, and tractors in competition. Trucks with multiple supercharged engines, or tractors with jet engines were not uncommon. I knew that in the mountains there were people that would go rock crawling with their 4x4’s. Being a Southern California native I noticed that off road culture here was a little bit different.

Up north we had national parks, and southwest we had the deserts that were featured in the pages of Four Wheeler magazine, and Petersen’s 4Wheel & Off-Road both of which I was subscribed to. The writers made going camping look so cool. These people were the last cowboys, the remnants of the pioneers that settled the west. I noticed that the home-brew builders made their trucks unique for their chosen activity. A Jeep designed for climbing up mountains would be set up differently from a truck designed for racing on sand dunes. Then there were the people that lived in the city. They also wanted to be a part of the culture. They would lift their trucks, put them on big tires, and cover their engine, and suspension in chrome. They might have been able to do all the same things that midwest 4x4’s could but were referred to as show trucks. They were just too pretty to get dirty. These were the types of trucks that I most often saw.

As a kid I always wished to have a massive 4x4 of my own. I wanted it to actually take it out to the desert, and get it dirty. I felt sorry for the people that had lifted trucks but never did anything with them. I grew up and realized that I had neither the money, nor time to be an off road owner. It didn’t stop me from being a lifelong fan of monster trucks, or keeping tabs on the advancements in off road technology. That was the way it was for decades. I’d see news of new trucks, new shows, the passing of legends. I’d share my interests, and memories on the blog to new readers. This kept me happy. There was an off road trend that I never brought up because it was so niche, at least to people on the west coast. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in my thoughts on Mega Trucks, which were distinct from Monster Trucks.

Over the past decade mega trucks had been in the car culture spotlight. The tall 4x4’s had popped up in the mainstream, and been popularized on YouTube, Instagram, and even the Discovery show Dirty Mudder Truckers. If you don’t know the mega truck was a performance 4x4, specifically designed for racing through the mud. They were sometimes called mudders, swamp buggies, or mudpluggers as well. I didn’t really talk about mega trucks because people on social media used them as a flex. They would brag about how much money they put into the build. How big, tough, and powerful they were. How poor their gas mileage was, etc. At the same time I noticed how pretty they kept them. The flashiest of them never seemed to get dirty. It gave me similar vibes to the show trucks I saw growing up. It made no sense to me why they would roll around with chunky mud tires on city roads. I wanted to see these beasts get thrashed in the mud, rather than doing donuts on the street.

In the South and Midwest the mud bog was a defining challenge for how badass a truck really was. Lifted trucks were okay to look at, but would they break apart in waist high mud? Depending on their size, weight, and power how would they perform? Would they be able to power through thick sludge like a clydesdale draft horse, or speed over it like a thoroughbred race horse? The off road community kept track of the baddest trucks around. They would build a reputation by going county to county, and even state to state. They were following in the footsteps of the monster truck pioneers from 50 years ago. The locations themselves also became the stuff of legend. The toughest bogs often came with a bounty. Some of those locations could remain undefeated for years. If someone could run their truck all the way through they would win a big cash prize.

Getting dirty was something that the best off road rides were known for. Going muddin’ was a guaranteed way to have a good time in the midwest. You could pack a cooler, bring your friends, play your music loud, and drive your 4x4 all out. I could say with all certainty that it was something that never occurred to the people on the west coast, especially not the city kids in Long Beach. West coast car culture, especially Latino car culture was more about being seen. It was about having the cleanest, most detailed ride. Driving low, and slow on the boulevard was the only way to go. Some people were about performance, racing on the streets, or being able to do donuts at intersections. Some people just enjoyed sitting in the presence of supercars, or imports and never going anywhere.

I remember what a huge cultural touchstone it was knowing anything about mud bogging. I was talking about car culture with a friend from the south. He lamented how people from the city didn’t know how to have fun. I said “I get it, it’s not like you can just pack your stuff and go muddin.” He fell out of his chair. “How… how do you know about muddin?” He wondered. It was as if I was speaking a secret language, one that he hadn’t heard in years. He couldn’t believe that a Latino living on the west coast knew anything about off roading, let alone going mudding. I told him I was a huge fan of 4x4 culture. I was aware of the different ways that people went off road. I told him if I had time, and money I would definitely have a swamp buggy to call my own. Fast forward 15 years I was now watching mega trucks going crazy on YouTube. They brought back memories of watching monster trucks do the same thing when I was a kid. It felt like forever since I had last seen a monster truck competing outside of a stadium show. Mega trucks were rekindling the spirit of the old school monster trucks that I grew up with. This detail was not missed with the pioneers behind the culture.

Dennis Anderson was the man that created the Grave Digger monster truck back in 1982. Not many people realized that the Grave Digger was originally a rust-colored 1952 Ford truck made out of junk parts. It later became an infamous black and green Chevrolet panel van. Anderson stated that "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it." His truck was named after his reputation, similar to Bob Chandler. Dennis was known for being super aggressive in the mud. He would either beat the bog, or blow up his ride in the process. Grave Digger’s legend grew rapidly because of his all-or-nothing approach. Mr. Anderson would fix up his truck, add a stronger motor, bigger tires, etc. It was arguably the only truck that could be considered as famous as Bigfoot. The Grave Digger reached global popularity in the late ‘80s, and early ‘90s. This was because network, and cable TV were regularly featuring monster truck races.

Toys, video games, and soft goods soon followed. Eventually Mr. Anderson sold the rights to Grave Digger, and the team in 1998. He, and his family stayed on with the new owners to drive, and advise on the Monster Jam tour. Mr. Anderson started his legacy 40+ years ago with junk parts. When he stepped away from the sport the average monster truck cost over $250,000 to build. It required more than deep pockets, but rather full corporate sponsorship to field a team, and keep a truck running throughout a season. A semi-retired Dennis decided to return to his roots. He went back to the early days of the monster truck scene. When everything was DIY. When people could build up a stock truck, and turn it into something amazing. He built a mega truck called King Sling in 2010. It was a fraction of the price of a monster truck, but equally fun to drive. King Sling made regular appearances all over the country over the next decade. Mr. Anderson should be celebrated for his contributions to both the monster truck, and the mega truck cultures.

As far as this blog went I was not as enthusiastic about mega trucks as I was about monster trucks for several reasons. The simplest answer was because mega trucks were not a new idea. No matter how fantastic they looked, how modern their construction was, or what space age materials they used, they were following in the footsteps of the monster community. A flashy shop built mega truck would never have the primal impact of a home built monster truck. At least not to me. If you don’t believe me then watch this tug of war between the mega truck “2nd to None” versus the monster truck “Big Brown”. The new mega truck got humiliated in public by an old monster truck. It was like watching a kid trying to take down their big brother in an arm wrestling match.

I’m sure the mega truck could race circles around the monster, however in a head to head contest it would get flattened. The lack of DIY in their builds was a major reason why I didn’t talk about mega trucks here. At the dawn of the monster truck era no two builds were alike. They were created by hand. These off road enthusiasts turned their farm / work / camping trucks into monsters over several seasons. They had no templates to work from, they figured things out as they went along. The trucks had different bodies, different power plants, different types of tires, different suspensions. They were all Frankenstein builds cobbled together from farm, military, and scrap parts. Some of the modern monster, and mega trucks were becoming uniform in construction. They had similar steel tube frames, and fiberglass bodies. Owning a mega truck, or monster truck was a financial flex. You didn’t have to build them when you could just buy them.

Mega truck culture highlighted which builders could weld parts onto already expensive work trucks. Or which builders could attach truck frames onto tall platforms. It didn’t matter how they looked or performed in the end. Such was the case for massive rides like Monstermax 2, and Monstrosity. These were monster trucks that took the build mentality of a mega truck. They were famous not for what they could do, but rather because they were huge. Monstermax 2 was owned by Cody Shane Detwiler aka WhistlinDiesel. He amassed an enormous following on social media. He used his money to buy expensive cars to thrash, or build massive rides. To be fair if I had a lot of money I’d probably do the same thing. The aesthetic, and performance of the truck wasn’t as important as how over-the-top it was. It should be noted that Cody was arrested for tax evasion charges on November 12, 2025. Motor Trend wondered if Monstermax 2 had surpassed Bigfoot V as the world’s biggest monster truck? They presented their case, and highlighted all of the massive parts that were bolted on an already large truck. With this kind of thinking why didn’t the magazine do an article on Monstrosity by Trey Theiss as well? He put dually’s on the truck, and it rested on a taller platform. Wouldn’t that make it the new biggest monster of all time?

The tradition of putting together a super truck from scratch was lacking. Worse was that these owner blurred the lines between mega truck, and monster truck. They were famous for being enormous. This highlighted the main problem that I had with spectacle builds. The spirit of competition was missing. Monstermax 2, and Monstrosity didn’t show up at public truck meets. They did not put in the work in the mud, the hills, car crushes, or sled pulls. Instead they were filming short social media clips on private compounds. They weren’t meeting their community around the country, but instead hunting for likes. They got a ton of attention, but they also go push back from the community. People argued that these builds would probably snap in half if they tried taking on an actual mud bog challenge. It was obvious from the videos posted online. The trucks from Mr. Detweiler, or Mr. Theiss were so overbuilt that they lurched around at a snail's pace. The spectacle of having the biggest was more important than showing what they could do. This was the opposite of what the most famous monster trucks could do. Bigfoot V, and VII were in the Guiness Book of Records for being the tallest, and heaviest trucks. Bob Chandler didn’t just build them for show. He toured the country putting in the work. He met with the people. He proved that he could run a mud bog, or crush cars with these titans. I had yet to see anything as impressive from Monstermax 2, or Monstrosity.

Rather than speculate on their size, I wanted to figure out which monster was the biggest. I put on my detective hat. The Motor Trend article said that Monstermax 2 rode on the largest Goodyear Optitrac tires currently available (as of 2025). These were 82 inches in diameter. Being a monster truck historian of sorts I knew right away there were a few trucks that had bigger tires. Al Thurber’s Godzilla had 73” tires, and later rode on 96” tires. Bob Chandler’s Bigfoot V had 120” tires. The most colossal monster that I knew of was Richard Arel’s Superfoot. His pink Suburban had 150” tires. I did a mock up on Photoshop to see how the trucks might look side-by-side. This wasn’t completely accurate, but it would help give us an idea of how massive the super heavyweight monsters really were. Monstermax 2 was very close, it was certainly among the elite, however I don’t think it was the biggest. Of course I was measuring by the top of the truck roof, and not by any attachments, such as the ship horn mounted on top of Monstermax 2. In this way people couldn’t try attaching a big antenna, and claim that was part of the total height.

It may seem like I was dumping on mega trucks in this blog. That couldn't be further from the truth. Mega trucks were from the same evolutionary branch that gave us monster trucks. They would always remain cool. 99% of the rides were home builds created to get down and dirty. Like most things in modern society it was the vocal 1% that got on my nerves. I wished that some people didn't buy their way into the culture for clout, but participated in it fully without expecting fame. People that enjoyed off roading for the sake of it were the best people in my book. They were enjoying a lifestyle I could only dream of. I wanted them to keep on rolling. I’d like to know your thoughts on mega trucks. Do you like them, loathe them, or are indifferent? Do you like off road trucks? Rock crawlers, desert buggies, or mud monsters? Let me know in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!