5.4 t11,900 lb
A Monster Jam truck weighs about 5,400 kg (around 12,000 lb), roughly as much as three or four family cars. The series requires at least 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) per truck, and Monster Jam’s own spec sheets list 12,000 lb. The heaviest monster truck ever built, Bigfoot 5, weighs 17,236 kg (38,000 lb).
| Bigfoot 5, heaviest everBuilt 1986, on 10 ft (3 m) tyres | 17.2 t38,000 lb |
|---|---|
| Monster Jam truck, typicalListed at 12,000 lb | 5.4 t11,900 lb |
| Monster Jam minimum10,000 lb | 4.54 t10,000 lb |
Monster Jam, the touring series run by Feld Entertainment since 1992, gives its trucks as 12,000 lb each, which is about 5,443 kg; we round that to 5,400 kg. The trucks are about 10.5 ft (3.2 m) tall, 12.5 ft (3.8 m) wide and 17 ft (5.2 m) long, although many event write-ups round the height up to 12 ft.
The rules set a floor of 10,000 lb (4,536 kg), so no truck in the series can run lighter than that, and reports from events put most trucks at or near 12,000 lb.
The tyres are a big share. Each BKT tyre is 66 in (1.7 m) tall and 43 in (1.1 m) wide, and with its wheel it weighs 645 lb (293 kg). All four together come to about 2,580 lb (1,170 kg), around a fifth of the whole truck. They run at very low pressure, about 16 to 23 psi, so they soak up landings.
The engine is a custom-built supercharged engine of up to 575 cubic inches (9.4 L) that runs on methanol and makes about 1,500 horsepower, several times what an ordinary pickup produces. It sits in a frame built from steel tubing with a steel safety cage around the driver, on nitrogen-charged shocks with 30 in (76 cm) of travel. The body on top is custom-built fibreglass. Two technicians need about 80 hours to put a frame together from more than 800 ft (240 m) of tubing.
Guinness World Records lists Bigfoot 5 as the largest monster truck: 4.7 m (15 ft 6 in) tall on 3 m (10 ft) tyres, weighing 17,236 kg (38,000 lb). That is more than three times a modern Monster Jam truck. Bob Chandler built it in 1986, one of 17 Bigfoot trucks he made, and it now stays parked near St. Louis, Missouri, as a display truck.
Bigfoot itself is usually counted as the first real monster truck. Chandler began modifying his Ford F-250 in 1975, and by 1979 it had four-wheel steering and 48 in tyres. In 1981 it performed what is counted as the world’s first car crush, which is still a staple of monster truck shows.
A Monster Jam truck weighs about 12,000 lb, and the series requires at least 10,000 lb. Bigfoot 5, the heaviest monster truck ever, weighs 38,000 lb.
A Monster Jam tyre on its wheel weighs 645 lb (293 kg). It is 66 in (1.7 m) tall and 43 in (1.1 m) wide.
Monster Jam gives its trucks as about 10.5 ft (3.2 m) tall, 12.5 ft wide and 17 ft long, and many reports round that to 12 ft. Bigfoot 5 stands 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) on its 10 ft tyres.
About 1,500 horsepower, from a supercharged engine of up to 575 cubic inches that burns methanol. At full throttle it uses about 3 gallons (11 litres) of fuel a minute.
Bigfoot 5, built by Bob Chandler in 1986. Guinness World Records lists it at 17,236 kg (38,000 lb) and 4.7 m tall.
Last checked October 3, 2026.
