19.07.2024

JCB and Monster Jam

Ever a company to make the most of marketing opportunities, JCB has formed a partnership with the America’s Monster Jam and produced its own monster truck named DIGatron, for obvious reasons. The truck made its first appearance in January at a Monster Jam event at the Alamodome at San Antonio, Texas. A second unit made its debut on Saturday in front of a large crowd at the London Stadium, Stratford, UK.

JCB’s head of industrial design Ben Watson and his team worked with the expert Monster Jam engineers to produce the 5,443kg DIGatron which is 3.2 metres high, 3.8 metres wide with an overall length of 5.2 metres and is powered by a purpose built, methanol fuelled supercharged 1,100kW (1,500hp) Monster Jam engine.

The big truck uses a four-link racing suspension with four main bars that link the front and rear steering axles to the frame. The truck rides on clusters of nitrogen-charged shock absorbers that offer 762mm of suspension travel with four specially designed 1.7 metre diameter x 1.1 metre wide BKT tyres inflated to 23psi.

The unit also features a ‘symbolic’ loader at the front and a backhoe arm at the rear, incorporating a few components taken from the JCB backhoe assembly line. The truck was driven to victory in the 2023 Monster Jam World Finals Racing champion Tristan England who hails from Paris, Texas.

English in DIGatron won the Racing and Skills heats. But, during the final Freestyle competition, he ‘over-cooked’ it and flipped the truck onto its side adding to the spectacle and was unhurt. The truck was lifted back on its tyres with two JCB wheel loaders – a 437 and a 457 – equipped with special lifting arms.

The catalyst for the venture came from eight year old Otis Bamford – the grandson of JCB chairman Anthony Bamford – who lives in the USA with his mother Alice.

JCB is now the official heavy equipment partner of Monster Jam, and its machines were used to create the dirt track with all its jumps at the London Stadium this week. The London audience was also treated to a ‘JCB Dancing Diggers’ show with four 3CX backhoe loaders, two 531-70 telehandlers and two 270T compact tracked loaders.

The Monster Jam event at the London Stadium comprised three separate heats featuring the monster trucks DIGatron, Grave Digger, Megalodon, Black Panther, The Amazing Spider-Man, El Toro Loco, Iron Man and Thor.

The London Stadum Monster Jam event also saw the start of a special long-term partnership between JCB and the musician Joe Walsh’s charity VetsAid which helps American military veterans. His song “Dig It” with brother-in-law Ringo Starr on drums was played loudly as the JCB DIGatron entered the arena for the first time.