You do not start a project like a monster truck diesel by guessing. We need to fingerprint the existing combination under real racing conditions first. That means logging throttle position, engine RPM, manifold pressure, intake temperature, ambient conditions, and chassis G-forces so we can see how the engine responds when the truck is pulling, flying, landing, braking, and turning. That data matters because throttle response is part of what makes a monster truck drivable, and that is the challenge for a turbo diesel. By measuring how quickly throttle input, boost, air density, and RPM move together, we can define what the new engine has to do before we ever build it. At the center of the setup is the Banks iDash 1.8 + data logging, fed by sensor modules for pressure, temperature, RPM, throttle position, ambient conditions, and acceleration. It gives us a compact way to record and replay real-world data, turning the truck into a rolling test lab instead of a guessing game.
Gale Banks opens by framing the project as the fulfillment of a long-delayed ambition: instrumenting and data-logging Monster Jam's Monster Mutt. He traces that interest back roughly 40 years to an encounter with Bob Chandler, the pioneer of monster trucks. In 1978, Chandler called Banks' San Gabriel shop looking for a twin-turbocharged Ford 460 marine engine for one of his trucks. At the time, Banks' company was building turbocharged marine engines and hot-rod engines, with turbocharging work dating back to the late 1960s. The request never reached a successful conclusion because it was dismissed internally before Banks even knew about it. Chandler later told him the story, and Banks remembered it as a missed opportunity that lingered for decades.
Now, in 2018, Banks finally gets the chance to work with a modern monster truck as Monster Mutt stops by on its way to San Jose. He emphasizes how far the sport has evolved. Although Monster Jam is a show, he is struck by the engineering development behind the vehicles and by the aerobatic nature of modern monster-truck driving. These trucks are launched into the air and maneuvered in ways that resemble aircraft more than conventional race vehicles. The trucks take repeated punishment, are repaired between events, and continue performing under extreme conditions.
He also outlines the basic powertrain configuration of the truck being tested. Monster Mutt uses a 540-cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet with an 8-71 supercharger. This particular blower comes from The Blower Shop in California. Banks says he has heard power figures around 1,200 horsepower. What interests him is not just the peak number, but the fact that this engine is subjected to severe abuse in a format that includes relatively long wide-open-throttle periods rather than the brief bursts typical of drag racing.
Banks uses the truck to introduce a broader instrumentation effort that has been developing for years. He describes the evolution of Banks gauges from an early IQ system that originally used a Palm PDA for data display and tuning control, then progressed to larger dedicated screens, including a 5-inch display. Over time, he concluded that many large-screen layouts were cluttered with decorative information rather than focused on useful data.
That led him toward a more compact 52-millimeter, 2-inch gauge format. His goal was to create a gauge that could read data from OBD as well as from standalone sensors, provide warnings, and perform advanced functions while fitting in the same space as a conventional round gauge. Just as important, he wanted it to calculate values that ordinary instrumentation does not show. His main technical interest is forced induction-supercharging, turbocharging, and air cooling-and he argues that traditional boost-only instrumentation is outdated because boost pressure alone does not describe what is really happening in a forced-induction engine.
The Monster Mutt test is not just a demonstration of instrumentation. Banks is trying to fingerprint how one of these trucks behaves under real operating conditions: while accelerating, pulling, and flying through the air. He wants to measure g-forces and correlate them with engine behavior to understand the truck's dynamics in detail.
That information is intended to support a future engine concept for monster trucks. Banks notes that some builders have already experimented with diesel-powered monster trucks, but he sees throttle response as a critical part of how these vehicles are driven and controlled. Traditional turbo diesels tend to feel soft in transient response, which is a problem in a vehicle that depends on immediate power delivery for jumps and maneuvers. His interest is in applying a super-turbo diesel configuration, but only if it can deliver the right response. To evaluate that possibility, he wants hard data on throttle movement, boost behavior, air-density response, and how quickly engine speed changes once the driver makes an input.
The project also serves as the first public use of Banks' new iDash 1.8 Data Monster, a product name he says had already been chosen months earlier and now happens to fit the monster-truck application perfectly. The Data Monster performs all the functions of the iDash 1.8 Super Gauge, but adds serious data-logging capability. A microSD card can be inserted into the front of the gauge, allowing recorded runs to be stored and later played back.
Banks explains that the system can log up to 100 channels, meaning 100 different sensors, at a rate of 10 samples per second. During the presentation, he points to four gauges that are replaying a previously recorded run from another vehicle using an SD card inserted into one of the gauges. The plan is to install this same system on Monster Mutt and capture data during the Monster Jam event. He presents the unit as a compact but professional-grade logger rather than a simple dashboard display.
Banks then walks through the sensor package being prepared for the truck. One of the first measurements is throttle position. For that, the team uses a string potentiometer, or string pot, attached to the throttle lever and mounted to a fabricated bracket. As the throttle moves, the string pot converts that motion into a position signal that feeds into the iDash loom. This gives a direct record of driver throttle input.
He also wants to characterize the air entering the engine before it is compressed. To do that, the team uses what Banks calls an AirMouse, mounted at the air intake. This sensor package measures ambient temperature, pressure, and humidity. He notes that it is also useful for locating the sweet spot for an intake opening on many kinds of vehicles. In this application, the ambient readings establish the starting condition of the air before the supercharger acts on it. Once those baseline conditions are known, the team can compare them with manifold conditions to determine how much the supercharger raises pressure and temperature.
A major objective of the test is to calculate air density, expressed as pounds of air per cubic foot entering the engine. Banks explains that to do that accurately, the team must know pressure, temperature, and humidity. Since the AirMouse provides the incoming humidity and ambient conditions, the rest of the system focuses on measuring what happens inside the induction path.
For pressure measurement, the setup uses a series of stainless-steel pressure sensors compatible with the new Data Monster system. Intake-air temperature beneath the blower is measured with a thermocouple placed in one of the ports below the supercharger. Additional temperature sensors are also part of the package, including conventional thermistor-based sensors such as a liquid-temperature sensor. All of these signals feed into Banks modules, including a four-channel analog module that accepts 0-to-5-volt inputs for temperature, pressure, and other analog measurements. The modules are linked through wiring looms into the central data stream, allowing the gauge/logger to combine raw sensor inputs with calculated values.
Beyond airflow and temperature data, the truck is also being instrumented for engine speed and vehicle motion. Engine RPM is captured with a dedicated RPM sensor and a signal conditioner. The team is also using a three-axis accelerometer to measure longitudinal, lateral, and braking forces. In Banks' description, that means the logger will show how hard the truck accelerates, how hard it brakes, and how hard it turns. He also mentions wanting to understand what is happening in the oil pan, while noting that the truck uses a dry-sump system.
He closes by emphasizing the scale and accessibility of the instrumentation package. All of the modules on the table feed into a gauge that, according to Banks, can be purchased for $379 while still enabling a fully professional level of instrumentation and logging on virtually any vehicle. For him, that combination of compact packaging, broad sensor support, and advanced logging represents the future of instrumentation. Monster Mutt is headed to San Jose, and Banks says the team will be there to gather data and continue the project, with more to come as the testing develops.