A chassis is the basic framework of a monster truck and serves as its most fundamental building block.
History[]
Bigfoot 8 during testing in 1989, one of the first monster trucks to run a tubular design chassis.
Monster truck chassis are the primary component of a monster truck and are almost always custom-built, following the early days of using stock truck frames on larger tires, oftentimes reinforced to increase their strength. Using a fully custom monster truck chassis rose to prominence in the late 1980's and became the standard by the early 1990's. Today, nearly all competing monster trucks are composed of a custom chassis (although some lesser-known, non-competing trucks are still built with a traditional pickup/military truck frame).
Differences[]
For many years, very few monster truck chassis were exactly the same. They may very in terms of length, height, width, and weight. They may also vary in terms of wheelbase length and suspension componentry. Trucks may also have their chassis painted to match their theme and color scheme. In the modern era, uniformity among monster truck chassis designs is the most commonly used approach, which makes sharing and swapping parts easier.
Chassis constructors[]
This is a list of notable monster truck teams who have constructed chassis for themselves and/or other teams as well.
Note: The list covers only some of the most used chassis in the business. Countless other chassis are custom built by other teams for their own trucks with different designs and additions for safety and the trucks overall performance. Custom built chassis are often referred to as an "Inhouse" chassis.
Chandler[]
Designed by Bob Chandler and built in-house at Bigfoot, these were the first chassis design featuring steel-tube frames and four-link suspension, which influenced all subsequent monster truck chassis designs. First used for Bigfoot 8 and Bigfoot 9, and modified to have a rear-mounted engine for Bigfoot 10 at the suggestion of Dan Patrick. Bigfoot 12 was the last Chandler built Bigfoot chassis.
Willman[]
Created by Jack Willman (the chassis' namesake). Only three chassis were ever made (Taurus 3, Taurus 4 and Taurus 5) These chassis were known for having its engine mounted in the front. This chassis also has a slightly longer wheelbase than other chassis styles. One misconception with these chassis is that people often get them confused for a Meents chassis since they have a similar design; the last Willman chassis was built in 1992. Since then, none have been built. Several copies of Willman chassis have been made over the years including Bulldozer (Meents), El Toro Loco (Meents), Outlaw and the rear engine Monster Patrol 2.
Patrick Enterprises Inc. (PEI)[]
Built by Dan Patrick following his time building and designing chassis for Bigfoot. The first to debut was Magnum Force but Patrick quickly built for other drivers including himself. In 1994, Patrick made the chassis more standardized and not as specialized. PEI chassis have been used for over 100 trucks under a variety of teams and are one of the most commonly-used monster truck chassis of all time. From 2000-2010, Monster Jam commissioned PEI to build their fleet of trucks starting with Madusa and Wrenchead.com in 2000, and including Grave Digger 14, Grave Digger 18 and Grave Digger 22. Many teams still use PEI as their chassis builder of choice to this day. There has been at least five different generations of PEI chassis. The current generations are PEI XT3 and PEI XT1.
PEI generations:[]
- PEI generation 1 (Custom designed): 1992-4
- PEI generation 2: 1994-2007
- PEI generation 3: 2007-2020
- PEI XT3: 2020-23
- PEI XT1: 2023-current
Cohen[]
These chassis were designed by Paul Cohen, a former chassis specialist at Digger's Dungeon who built many of the in-house chassis for Grave Digger as well as for other teams during the 2000's and early 2010's. Grave Digger 19, Grave Digger 20, Grave Digger the Legend, Grave Digger 30, Grave Digger 32, Blue Thunder and the first two Son-uva Digger chassis were among the many of Feld Motorsports trucks to run Cohen chassis. Only a few independent teams run Cohen chassis including Miss Over Bored (formerly the second Over Bored chassis) and a Kamikaze and Jurassic Attack for Team Throttle Monster.
A CRD chassis, Bigfoot 19.
Willman chassis.
Carrol Racing Design (CRD)[]
Mostly used by FELD-owned trucks like recent Grave Digger trucks, Son-Uva Digger and Monster Mutt Dalmatian. It is based on the Cohen chassis. It is also the first known chassis to be made digitally. Independent teams also use this chassis, such as Black Pearl, Game Over, Hooligan, Shark Bite, Shell Shock'ed and Fullboar 2.0. Bigfoot 19 is unique among Bigfoot trucks for being a CRD chassis.
Concussion Motorsports[]
This chassis is used by some of the bigger names as Bigfoot (used for Bigfoot 18 and Bigfoot 21), Midnight Rider, High Maintenance, Over Bored/Wild Side, Terminal Velocity, Monster Patrol and Bear Foot.
Cory Rummell (CRC)[]
Built and designed by Cory Rummell. This chassis has a longer wheelbase than others, with a majority of the bodies ran having to be modified in order to fit properly. Avenger 3 and Rage are so far the only current trucks running CRC chassis.
DKP[]
A relatively newer chassis builder. These chassis are designed by Dave West. Trucks that have run DKP chassis include Big Kahuna, Brutal, Monster Moose, Obsessed, Pretty Obsessed and Wild Card.
Eddie Majka[]
A newer style of chassis similar to a CRD. Bad Company, Krazy Train, Plane Krazy, Buckshot, The Haymaker, Kamikaze (the one previously running as Hurricane Force), and a few others use this type of chassis.
Flame Motorsports[]
Built by David Smith. This chassis has been used by King Krunch and El Matador.
Freedom Racing (Woodcock)[]
These types of chassis are very tall and feature the engine placement very high and in the very rear of the truck. These chassis are known to wheelie very easily because of this. Some trucks that still use this type of chassis are Shocker and Sheer Insanity. The second Cyclops, Don King's Bear Foot, The General, Red Cactus Crusher, Torqzilla and Voodoo were past trucks to use this chassis as well..
J&B[]
This chassis has been notably run by Storm Damage and Extreme Attitude (Natural Disaster), Shockwave and Be Aware (Braukmann Racing), Hurricane Force, Killer Bee and the original Stinger's (Rettew Racing).
Koehler[]
Built and created by the Team Scream and named after its owner Jim Koehler. The first and second Avenger (with the second now being ran as Axe/Wrecking Crew) and Brutus 3 use this type of chassis. Some non-Team Scream trucks like Aftershock and Nothing But Trouble also use this chassis.
Kreg Christensen Motorsports (KCM)[]
A chassis that is developed, fabricated and built by Kreg Christensen. Used by Controlled Khoas, Dragon Slayer, Vendetta, High Tide and Kamikaze. There are also a number of Australian trucks that Kreg built with this design, such as Revenge, Wicked, Executioner (Aussie), MisMayhem and Extreme.
California Kid, the short wheelbase chassis.
Team Hot Wheels Firestorm, on a long wheelbase chassis.
Meents[]
Built by Tom Meents, it is used by most Max-D trucks. They are similar in principle to Willman chassis, with front-mounted engines, but are built by Meents' shop, not Willman, despite common misconception. There are two variants of the chassis. The longer wheelbase Max-D trucks and the slightly horter wheelbase used for Meents Bulldozer/El Toro Loco chassis. Later Max-D's and the El Toro Loco were made with better support for the drivers in particular stronger roll cages similar to the Cohen and CRD chassis running in Monster Jam at the time. Sniper/Incinerator is a rare truck that was made by Meents but not owned by Tom and instead was sold to another driver. Mike Harper's Outlaw chassis mimics both the Meents and Willman chassis.
A Racesource chassis
Racesource[]
Built by Pablo Huffaker. Used by his Grave Digger trucks, his teammate truck and other trucks like Brutus 2, Night Life/Devastator/The Felon, Fatal Attraction, The Patriot, El Matador and Prime Time.
Straight Up Racing (SUR)[]
SUR offers four different chassis designs:
- The first design is very similar to other major chassis designs, and it is used by trucks such as Spitfire, Reverse Racer, Identity Theft and Honda Generators High Voltage. It has also been used by trucks built or rebuilt by SUR for other teams or drivers, such as Double Trouble and Crash Test Dummy.
- The second design has a low stance and the engine in the front, much like the Willman and Meents chassis; it is used by California Kid/Willy Crash. A variation is also used by the SUR-built current chassis for Anubis and was recently Trouble Maker. This design is noteable for the wheelbase allowing for power and slap wheelies.
- The third design is shaped similarly to the second one but has the engine mounted on the back; it was used by the original Rockstar.
- The fourth design, while being quite similar to the first variation, has a much lower height; it is run on the current Rockstar.
The Metal Shops (TMS)[]
A newer style of chassis created by Rick and Ryan Disharoon's The Metal Shop in Delaware. Trucks using this style include all variations of Saigon Shaker, Smokin', Toxic 2.0, Stinger Unleashed, and Paul Jensen's Jurassic Attack, which was later converted into the blue Velociraptor
Unique custom-built chassis[]
Awesome Kong®[]
Jeff Dane created a skinny bodied Awesome Kong® truck to work around a new rule set by TNT Motorsports to mandate an OEM truck body body being used to prevent situations like when the Danes ran Awesome Kong as a dune buggy like look (due to not having the fiberglass body ready) at the Louisville Motor Speedway event in 1988. The rule never stipulated the width of the truck. Dane thought the skinny truck's window would also help with the driver's field of view.
"Belly dragger chassis"[]
There were two differing belly dragger chassis with different designs.
Bear Foot 11[]
A mid engine chassis designed by Fred Shafer and Rich Cummings which debuted in the fall of 1992. The truck’s cradle sat extremely low to the ground, hence the nickname “belly dragger”.
Hercules[]
Tim Tesmer would also build a front engine truck that first ran as his Hercules and then later his first Carolina Crusher chassis. It later acquired by Wildfire Motorsports that would be affectionately referred to as the “belly dragger”. Under Wildfire Motorsports, it would run under many different names.
Big Dummy 5[]
Custom built by Frank Schettini, the truck was operated similar to a motorcycle. The truck is steered with a handlebar and the driver stand up while strapped into a harness.
Bigfoot 5[]
Originally built by Bob Chandler for Joe Ritter as Godzilla, Bigfoot 4x4 later bought the truck and rebuilt it into Bigfoot 5, which now holds the title of the world's tallest monster truck. The truck sits on 10-foot-tall tires that came from a scrapped military "land train" vehicle, built in the 1950's for use on the Alaskan tundra, in contrast to the long time 66-inch-tall standard monster truck tire. Little information regarding the construction of Bigfoot 5 has been released publicly, likely so that nobody could replicate it. Although they would rebuild Bigfoot 7 to be like Bigfoot 5, and later built a second replica with a 1999 Ford Super Duty body which now resides in a Roscoe, Illinois car museum.
Bounty Hunter[]
The current version of Bounty Hunter runs a skinny chassis and body similar to Awesome Kong and also more modern trucks like Detour, Time Flys and Wild Flower.
Grave Digger #7 & #8[]
Grave Digger 7 debuted in 1992 with its clone Grave Digger #8 debuting in 1993 were Dennis Anderson-built Grave Digger tube frame trucks known for their short wheelbases. Both trucks ran coilover shock set-ups. When Grave Digger 7 was overhauled for the 2000 Monster Jam season, Lucky 7 was changed to nitrogen powered bipass shocks which became the standard shock in monster trucks at the time. Lucky 7 would be known for power wheelies during its freestyles especially down sand drag pits. Digger 8 ran until 2002 but is was still used for displays as late as 2019 for Cedar Fairs Monster Jam Thunder Alley, while Digger 9 ran until 2005 before becoming a statue at Digger's Dungeon.
Grave Digger 12[]
Grave Digger 12 like 3, 7 and 8 before it, was another Anderson design. Unlike the previous Diggers, this truck was more advanced and more ready for monster truck racing. Digger 12 was the first Grave Digger to run nitrogen bypass shocks and at the time was the longest wheelbase ran on a Grave Digger. The truck lasted from 1997 to 2011 with Dennis Anderson, Todd Frolik, Norman Miller, Gary Porter and Tony Farrell being among its drivers.
Hot Stuff/High Voltage/Rockstar 1[]
During the early 2000's Bill Payne purchased the Jeff Bainter owned Jeep monster trucks. Throughout the decade, Payne would upgrade both trucks to make them safer and more competitive with the more modern tube frame trucks with modern suspension. High Voltage as it became the first Rockstar would see a shift from leaf springs to nitrogen shocks. The original Rockstar would be sold off in the 2010s after being replaced by the first purpose built stage 3 Rockstar, Rockstar 2. These trucks were known for their wheelies due to their shorter wheelbases.
Jesse James West Coast Cadaver[]
Cadaver started life as Taurus 5 before becoming the third Monster Patrol/Super Truck 20. In 2003, the truck started its conversion into Cadaver. Rich Inman of Concussion Engineering rebuilt the truck to be ready for the new hot rod body. The updated chassis debuted in 2007 but only competed a few times.
Monster Patrol 2[]
Monster Patrol 2 was the first new chassis for Paul Shafer. It was designed like Taurus 4 except the engine was in the rear to avoid the nose dives that caused the wing to be added.
Play'n Hookie 2[]
After JR Seasock purchased the custom built Temporarily Insane from Tyler Leicht, the front quarter of the chassis was altered by Kevin Ricco to be similar to a Gen 3 PEI, (with the measurements taken directly from Toxic), before debuting as Play'n Hookie in May 2024.
Pouncer[]
Debuting in 2025, the current Pouncer chassis is largely based off of Allen Pezo's mini monster builds he made for his son Brandon Pezo. The chassis is shorter than most other monster truck chassis.
Sinistar[]
This chassis debuted in 2005 as Total Chaos. After going through several owners, it would wind up ownership of Elliott Miller who would have the truck get refurbished by Eddie Majika.
Pouncer[]
Pezo created a new chassis for his Pouncer identity in 2025. This was the first in-house chassis he created since the first tube frame Predator (and later Hyperactive) from 1992. The truck has a shorter chassis length and based off of Pezo's mini-trucks.
Skull Krusher[]
Pezo sold off his Prowler PEI chassis in 2019 for Straight Up Racing to refurbish and modernize. Shane Plato would purchase the chassis and create Skull Krusher with the PEI/SUR hybrid.
Virginia Giant[]
A shock failure in Brookville, Pennsylvania in the late spring of 2022 caused Virginia Giant IV to break at center chassis, and fold behind the roll cage. Kevin Ricco of Ricco Enterprises was able to completely back half the truck and rebuild the drive train and engine in sixteen days. Ricco had previously rebuilt the roll cage to add backflip bars and repair the right front pillar earlier in the year after an early spring roll over. This would make Virginia Giant IV the first ever PEI/REI hybrid.
Uses[]
Motorsports leagues like FELD may have spare chassis for use in the case of a truck's regular chassis breaking, or they may also use the chassis of another truck. This happened in 2015 when Backwards Bob was destroyed in a trailer fire. It returned soon after on a spare PEI chassis. Another example was Team Throttle Monster running their own Scooby-Doo! and Megalodon after Feld Motorsports' Megalodon and Scooby-Doo! were damaged in a different trailer fire.
A year before, in 2014, Titan crashed hard into the wall during qualifying of Monster Jam World Finals 15, so Titan ran the actual World Finals on BJ Johnson's Mohawk Warrior chassis instead.
Some chassis actually have multiple identities, run promoter owned identieis or run sponsor identities depending on the promoter. Examples of this include The Bob & Tom Show (after the first year), 106.7 The Drive/The Fox/D's The D-molisher, Weapon 1, and The Rod Ryan Show. Devastator, The Felon, T-Rex (Harper) and Night Life all of which are run on the same chassis. Former driver Mark Schroeder alternated between Felon and Devstator two every seasons. Other examples are Wrongway Rick/Obsession, King Krunch/Fiesta/Nitro Fish, El Matador/Fiesta/Nitro Hornet, Spike Unleashed/Mega-Bite/Rage/Pirates Curse/Megalodon/Brutus, Avenger/Axe/El Toro Loco/Wrecking Crew, Over Bored/El Toro Loco, and Barbarian/Alter Ego/T-Rex/Crush-A-Roo.