Sorry, in the first picture you can see the Griz off to the right and can also see "now that I have my glasses on" the pin striping just below the side marker light. Without my glasses on and with the two tone paint job it looked like wood grain, looks like it's time for bed.

 

I can hardly make anything out on a computer screen without my glasses.

Josh

 

Hmm... I never noticed that pin striping before!!
I guess I need glasses too!
Oh wait, I have reading glasses.
LOL!

 

Nice shot of your truck... And... er... well... while that car isn't the same model (vintage? I can't exactly tell what it is) as mine, I wonder if anyone saved those Police dog-dish wheel covers - they sell for $50.00+/set on Ebay...

Sorry... couldn't help but notice lol...

 

That picture was taken in 1991, so I guess not.

 

Out of curiosity, when you had the hauler painted, why not go red to match the beast?

 

I get asked that question often.
Here is the answer...
When I bought my truck (Thunder Beast), it had a red carpet and black velour interior. I liked Bigfoot, of course, but a lot of Ford Monster Trucks it seemed were also painted blue, like Bigfoot. I wanted to NOT be like Bigfoot. Samson I (a red Chevy) was my favorite Monster Truck and I painted my truck the same colors.
Red body, black frame (Samson I had a red frame), white wheels, and yellow control arms. Also, the logo on the doors of my truck match the colors of the truck.

When I bought my dually, it already had a blue interior. If I were to paint the truck red, the interior colors wouldn't match anything.
My first idea was to paint the truck black, but the owner of Maaco said it would show every imperfection in the body. They would have to do a lot of body work, even though the truck body was already in really good shape.
So my next choice was to paint the truck blue. I would be able to have both the colors I like... a red truck and a blue truck!
Before the dually was painted, I pulled all the chrome off the sides, leaving dozens of holes to fill and grind.
Later, I changed the grille on the 79 to match the Monster Truck.
I have always been satisfied with the dually being blue. I am glad I did not paint it black.

-Jeff

 

Just after my display show at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, for the West Coast
Truck Nationals, in which I won the People's Choice award for best Monster Truck,
I was driving by the storage complex where I had my shop...
I noticed there was a monster truck on display at a shop across the street!!
I moved in for a closer look...it was "Unnamed and Untamed", doing a display for an engine
long block re-builder, U.S. Engine!!
Apparently the owner was into mud racing and sponsored Mike West with engine work!
I parked and went inside, and talked to the owner.
After convincing him that there was a Monster Truck ACROSS THE STREET, he agreed
to provide me with engine work.
We made arrangements to have a new engine built for my truck. I continued for
a little while with my old engine, and put his business name on the frame of the truck.
After the display show at Olympic Off Road, it was time to move the truck into
his shop and replace the engine with a BUILT 428 Cobra Jet engine!!
I worked with the owner's brother, back in the install shop...we painted the
new engine red and put it in.
Well, it ran like it had 1200 HP!! It was great!!
I took the truck back home across the street and put it in my shop.

Then I went and did my next show...

It was in Longview, Washington again.

This time I did a display with Grave Digger...



When it came time for the show, the truck ran OK for a little while...





...then the new engine started having problems...

THE HEAD GASKETS BLEW!!

I was able to make it through the show with the radiator cap off... but there
but there was a LOT of steam! You can see it in this picture...



On Saturday I stripped the top of the engine off and drove to Portland, Oregon for new head gaskets. U.S. Engine had used STOCK head gaskets in a
high compression engine! I needed the gaskets with the metal rings in the cylinder holes.

I replaced the head gaskets in about 3 hours, including the drive to Portland!

Here I am taking a short break.. The blue trailer belongs to Larry Nukaya with
the Blue Max...



Well, the problems weren't over yet! The engine started to run poorly, and no one
could figure out what was wrong. The engine would barely run!

AND THEN MY JACK BROKE!!

I think Mike Welch loaned me his jack so I could change tires...and then I barely was able to get the truck on the trailer.

That was a disappointing weekend!

 

MORE! Please...I cant get enough of these photos and history.

 

Right after I got back from the show where my engine fell apart, I bought this truck I had been keeping an eye on.
It's an 1985 Toyota with 40" tires...








I wanted the truck to be bigger, so I bought the 44" tires from the owner
of the "Grizzly" (the Ford from the off-road show in a previous post).

The tires were a little worn down, but they were bigger!

 

Why did you base your operation out of Libby for seven years? we're like two hours from nowhere and then another two hours to anywhere.

 

I lived in Libby from 1995 to 2007. 12 years.
I did a show in Libby, up at the field on Kootenai River Road where they did the Demo Derby.
I liked the town (at the time), so I decided to move there.
I had originally planned to move to Billings. I had wanted to move to Montana for a long time, so I could drive my trucks without the hassle I got in Washington.
The rent for my house was $300 a month for a 3 bedroom house on a large lot!!
But in 1999 my truck was burned up in a shop fire and my Toyota was destroyed in a storm, so I became very depressed and then Libby became a very unpleasant place.
(I will be covering the fire later on in this thread)

I got my truck running again in 2005 and moved to Kalispell in 2007.
My truck is almost totally restored and I am very happy where I live now!!
I should have moved to Kalispell in the first place!!

 

I've got nothing against Kalispell per se, nice town, i just think the rents (and attitudes) are overly inflated, as they are in Missoula and Bozeman too, i can live here (Libby/Troy) three times cheaper and without all the traffic lol.

 

Well, we figured out what went wrong with the engine... the Engine House built
a 1000 HP engine using stock parts!! The pushrods were too long, and ground
the camshaft down. That is why the engine ran progressively worse until it
didn't run at all.
After the repairs, I had a show to do...this time in Ellensburg, Washington...

I did a display....







And did the show...

 

I love your truck.......it really captures the essence of a Monster Truck!

This is by far the most interesting post I have read in a long while! :