Apparently in Texas, they take their mud bogging very seriously. This extended cab Chevy truck is running a 745 horsepower Chevy 555 big block. It seems to be working out for him.
I’ve seen some very impressive 4WD Trail Rigs do some crazy things, but this is a little different. These guys are making it up the same treacherous hills in 2WD VW based Rail Buggies. The rear suspension of the VW Beetle lends itself well to offroad applications because the axle travels towards the rear of the car as the suspension compresses. That allows you to carry more speed over big bump obstacles. Combine that with having the weight of the engine over the drive wheels and you can see why Baja Bugs are so successful offroad. Take that formula one step further with a light and strong tube frame body and you have the monsters in this video. With big tires in the back where all the drive train weight is and skinny tires in the front, these cars are like the Nissan Deltawing of offroad hill climbing.
This is footage from the Gorilla Run in Hot Springs Arkansas. This course was cut specifically for this competition. 11 drivers showed up and drew numbers to see what order they would get to attack the hill. The first driver to get his rig to the top took home almost 10 grand in cash and prizes. This is Tim Cameron. He drew #1.
You know drivers aren’t messing around when they’re vehicles have crazy names like Bigfoot, Mental Breakdown and Grave Digger. Meet Jordan Tanner’s rock crawler named Screamin’ 2. It’s built tough to match Jordan’s driving style. Lets just say he’s not a finesse driver.
I found some vintage Monster Truck competition footage that made my jaw drop. From what I can gather, the US Hot Rod Association was the sanctioning body in a monster truck racing series in the late 80’s. Two trucks would race head to head around identical course that included sharp turns and cars to crush. The craziest part was that there were a plethora of tracked vehicles that competed with the 4 wheeled traditional trucks. Here’s a compilation of some of the more famous ones: