Image editorial credit: Nigel Jarvis / Shutterstock.com
If you consider yourself to be a motorsport enthusiast, then you have certainly heard about monster trucks, or you have been to a monster truck extravaganza. These events are always spectacular, with many different trucks performing amazing tricks, jumps, and car crushes. I’m sure you have imagined yourself driving one of those trucks but left it there since it’s not just a case of going to the local track and hiring a monster truck. If you were wondering about the possibility, I found four places where you can go to drive a monster truck.
The four best places to drive a monster truck would be on private property, a designated track, at a fair, or a car show. Monster trucks cannot be driven on public roads unless they adhere to state lift laws. Driving a monster truck requires hands-on training regarding handling and safety regulations.
Only a few states allow for elevated or monster trucks to be driven on public roads. They have to adhere to strict lift laws to ensure the safety of other drivers. This usually includes displaying specific lights, the safety bar at a certain height, and the number plates visible. If you would like to test out your skill in a monster truck or if you own one and would like to improve your driving, there are a few designated tracks where you can pay a fee for the day and send it. Let’s look at places you can drive a monster truck a bit more in-depth;
Do I Need A Different License To Drive A Monster Truck?
Since a monster truck is not usually driven on public roads, you do not need a special license to drive it like heavy machinery or abnormal load licenses. In the states where they are allowed on the road, your usual driver’s license is all that is required.
If you own a monster truck and would like to enter into an extravaganza or monster truck competition, the organizers will require you to have a special license for the day. This license shifts the public liability onto you in case of injury to yourself or the crowd. This also indemnifies the event organizers from any responsibility if your truck gets damaged.
Can You Rent A Monster Truck?
Not many truck owners would allow just anyone off the street to get into a 12’ high 1000hp truck with tractor tires and a 6 figure price tag to just rent their monster truck and drive off. However, several monster truck owners rent out their vehicles for special occasions like;
- Weddings
- Birthdays
- Corporate events
- School or state fairs
- Fundraising events
- Sports events
- Motor shows or off-road extravaganzas
For a set fee, these monster trucks will appear at your event. Some monster trucks have been modified to allow several passengers on the back. There are seats and safety belts to ensure everyone is buckled in during the parade or event.
Renting a monster truck will certainly give an edge to any event they appear at. Monster truck rentals for corporate events are also trendy, and it adds some flair and breaks away from the office’s formal setting.
Best Places To Drive A Monster Truck
As we saw, there are a few places that would be ideal for driving a monster truck. These locations will give you a few options, and depending on your skill, and you can certainly give the truck a push to see what it can do. Let us look at what you can do at each place;
#1 – Private Property
This option would be mainly for those who already own a monster truck or have a friend that owns one. If you are the owner of a monster truck and have sufficient land, you could easily construct yourself a track. Check your land for an area free of rocks and big trees, and this would be the best location to create a track.
You would need some earthmoving equipment like a backhoe and a grader to grade out a smooth road and use the backhoe to create a series of ditches and jumps. If you have a local scrapyard, you can purchase a few car wrecks and build yourself a crushing pile and a two or 3-car jump section. There is nothing quite like crushing cars under a monster truck. You would need to replace these wrecks at intervals.
#2 – Designated Tracks
For those who would love to drive a monster truck, several companies and private individuals own one or more trucks and offer driver experience days. These packages range from either being driven in the truck for a specified time, going around a track to more hands-on experiences. This allows an individual to pay for an instructional course and then drive the truck.
These packages are tailor-made, and many offer a variety of options. This is a pretty exciting proposition to be given control of such a powerful vehicle. What you can typically expect from a package such as this is the following;
Beginner or Rookie
Usually, a 2 to 3-hour session learning and participating –
- How to maneuver and rear-steering a monster truck
- How to start and shut down a professional monster truck. Instruction on understanding the gauges and controls.
- A short safety induction course covering rolling and recovery procedures done by a qualified safety instructor.
- How to steer, drive, maneuver and stop the monster truck
- Instruction on flat track style racing. Also known as Chicago style.
Advanced Driver
Here you will get a single 5 to 6 hours course doing the following:
- Learn the maneuvering and the rear-steering of the truck.
- Learn how to start and stop the monster truck. Understanding the gauges and controls and how to read them.
- A short safety induction course on roll and recovery instructions. An authorized safety instructor does this.
- Learning how to steer, drive and stop the monster truck.
- Instruction on flat track style racing. Also known as Chicago style
- Hole shots with the starting lights.
- Learn how to control the throttle for jumping and landing.
- Learn how to pop-and-drop wheelie over designated objects and obstacles
- Under a minute freestyle round on a monster truck arena course.
These courses and day packages are absolutely worth spending the money on. This allows you to experience a safe, controlled environment and something you can mark off a bucket list.
#3 – Fair or Parade
The next place to drive a monster truck would be at a fair or in a parade. You can have the option as a monster truck owner to hire out your truck for this special occasion and add some excitement to the event.
Many parades that use floats find the idea of hiring a monster truck a great one. Depending on the theme or the goal of the parade, a monster truck will always bring crowds. Usually, the monster truck owner can offer rides to the public in a designated and cordoned-off area. Safety rules need to be followed, and the owner will need some limited liability insurance for the specific day. This covers the owner and the public in the case of injury or accident.
#4 – Car Show Or Monster Truck Extravaganza
There are two options with this location. If you own a monster truck, you can enter your vehicle as a competitor and participate in the competition to test your skills. This will require you to pay for a special license, and you would need to prove your competency to drive the truck.
If you are entering your monster truck in a car show, chances are you might be able to drive it around in a designated area. Sometimes, a car show organizers a monster truck for the added value and crowd pulling factor. Usually, this will be restricted, allowing the public to purchase driving experience tickets. The truck owner will then drive people around the area; unfortunately, the public cannot drive the truck themselves.
Conclusion
There are quite a few options for monster truck owners and enthusiasts alike to have a great driving experience. The fact that there are designated tracks out there where you can spend a day learning how to drive and wheelie a monster truck is super exciting. This means that you do not have to own one to drive one.
As a monster truck owner, you have the chance of regularly driving your incredible machine on behalf of great causes, art shows, fairs, and just for yourself on your private piece of land. Depending on your status as either owner or enthusiast, you have four great places you can choose to drive a monster truck on.
