You can’t lie to me, I know you always wanted to know how much does it cost to build a monster truck.
It is quite hard to find the companies and get pricing on the products but in this article, we got some insider information and found prices for most of the stuff you need, to build a monster truck.
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How much does it cost to build a monster truck?
It costs approximately $290,000 for all the parts to build a monster truck and another $16,000 for labor, for assembly if you are not planning on building it yourself.
This is quite an eye-watering amount as you can buy a house with this amount of money, but can you jump and drive over other cars with a house…. No!
Let us dissect the monster truck and look at the costs of individual parts.
How much does a monster truck wheel cost?
The 66 inches (167.6 cm) tall and 44 inches (111.8 cm) wide BKT tire and rim combo can cost anywhere between $3,000 and $4,500 per wheel.
The rims are 25”x40” agriculture rims, the tires are specially made these days just for monster trucks, previously monster trucks ran combine harvester tires but they were too imbalanced at speed.
One wheel can weigh up to 675 lb (306.2 kg), which is a whopping 2,700 lb (1,224.8 kg) for all four.
To imagine how heavy that is, it is as much as a Toyota GT86!
How much does a monster truck axle cost?
The axles housing and gearset with side shafts, steering knuckles, and planetary gears at the end cost around $45,000 and is made by CRD in the USA.
The axles were originally built for construction cranes and modified further by CRD to withstand the punishment of jumping a 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) monster truck 50 feet (15.24 meters) into the air.
Ryan Anderson (Son Uva-Digger) said in his interview with Hoonigans that an axle can weigh anything from 1,500 lb (680.4 kg) to 2,000 lb (907.2 kg).
How much does monster truck suspension cost?
The gas over liquid coil-overs that have 26 inches (66 cm) for the front and 30 inches (76.2 cm) travel costs $6000/strut each wheel has two, and $4,000 for the suspension arms, which equates to 8 struts and $52,000.
These are not your normal everyday vehicle coil-overs; they can withstand immense bump pressures and absorb the insane jumps a monster truck can take.
How much does a monster truck chassis cost?
Also made by CRD you can buy a chassis from them for $48,000 or buy the plans for the chassis from them and build it yourself, keep in mind when it’s altogether the chassis won’t fit inside a normal garage.
Just think how strong these chassis are, they are used multiple years and outlive most of the driveline a few times over and can withstand falling on the roof, nose, and the rear without harming the driver and engine.
How much does a monster truck body cost?
There are only a handful of fiberglass shops in the US that manufacturers monster truck bodies and can cost anything between $11,000 and $16,500 depending on what body you choose.
The bodies available are most of the iconic Ford, Chevy, and Dodge pickups and some older vans from the 60s to 70s.
Most of these bodies are made of fiberglass but for an extra cost, some of the shops can produce it in carbon fiber and even carbon kevlar.
How much does a monster truck motor cost?
According to the rules of Monster Jam, the biggest V8 that can be fitted is a 572 cu in (9.37 liters), and a built 572 motor costs between $14,000 and $20,000 depending on the modifications done to the motor.
Some of these 572 motors can make upwards of 950 hp (708 kW) without any forced induction.
But 950 hp is a bit on the low side to propel this 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) beast so an 8-71 supercharger/blower is installed on the motor to pump it up to 1,400 hp (1044 kW).
Keep in mind the average lifespan of a monster truck engine is about 20 hours, yes hours!
How much does a monster truck supercharger cost?
The standard helix 8-71 superchargers/blowers used in monster trucks cost $12,400, this includes the supercharger/blower, the top hat (intake of the supercharger/blower), and the pulley kit.
The rule book of Monster Jam limits the size of the blower to 8-71 with standard helix rotors and the supercharger/blower may not spin faster than 10% over the crank speed.
How much does a monster truck transmission cost?
Monster trucks use the old and trusty 2-Speed Powerglide transmissions, modified by ATI to handle the 1,400 hp (1044 kW) and cost about $6,500.
The transmission of a monster truck is the biggest point of failure, since the slightest human error while driving can overstress parts in the transmission causing it to strip or literally explode, the latter is quite a rare occurrence.
How much does a monster truck transfer case cost?
These are specially made transfer cases, from Sniper Gearbox, because the engines are mounted pointing to the rear of the truck and also quite high up in the chassis, they can cost between $2,900 and $4,700 depending on the length of the transfer case.
The lower you mount the engine in the chassis the shorter the length of the transfer case to keep the prop shafts at the right level.
This can be from 10 inches (25.4 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) tall.
How much does a monster truck hydraulic steering cost?
Made by PRO-Series the hydraulic steering on a monster truck costs $1,800 per axle so $3,600 in total for both axles.
Even being so big and heavy with both axles steering a monster truck can be agile and do insanely fast donuts, that even disorientate the professionals.
How much do monster truck brakes cost?
Not that much larger than production car brakes and made by TBM the 2 brakes of a monster truck costs $4,000.
Even though there is only one disc brake per axle and not that much larger than a production car brake it can brake so hard that even on a tarmac surface it will lock up the wheels.
They are engineered to withstand immense heat generation and can quickly cool down so the driver has full control over the monster truck no matter what happens.
How much does a monster truck fuel injection system cost?
This is everything from the intake manifold that fits with the 8-71 Blower, fuel injectors, digital dash with data logging, engine wiring, and adjustable race ECU that in total costs $10,232.
With the race ECU, the driver has full control over the engine of the monster trucks and the vitals that is displayed on the digital dash.
If anything goes wrong like a sudden loss of oil pressure in the engine it will come up on the digital dash so he can turn off the engine.
Frequently asked questions
Can you build your own monster truck?
Yes, that is the coolest part of it, and since it is so large in size it is easy to work on yourself and build it.
Be aware you need a shop that fits a monster truck and they are quite large, they are 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) tall, 12.5 feet (3.81 meters) wide, and 17 feet (5.2 meters) long.
What fuel do monster trucks use?
They run on 100% methanol fuel, the fuel aids against detonation due to the high octane rating and because of the quantity used it cools the motor as well.
You need quite an amount of fuel to cool down a motor, monster trucks motors can consume over 3 gallons/minute (11.36 liters/minute).
You can see condensation forming on the intakes of the motors as the vaporization of the methanol cools down the air entering the engine and the supercharger/blower itself.
And the biggest plus point of running on methanol is that it is carbon-neutral and made of renewable resources.
How fast are monster trucks?
According to the Guinness book of world records, the fastest monster truck could go 99 mph (159 kph), but at shows, they are usually gear limited to around 60 mph (97 kph) for better acceleration.
Final thoughts on how much it costs to build a monster truck
There might be minor stuff missing like more nitty-gritty parts and certain work that won’t influence the final price that much.
With the biggest and most expensive parts listed this article hopefully gave you an idea of how much it costs to build a monster truck.