[drums rolling]
- [Expert] Minerals are what make up rocks.
Igneous rocks are one kind.
Silicon and oxygen,
those two chemicals make up three-fourths
of the Earth's crust.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Big Schwag] Okay Monster fans,
they're rocking the garage as hard as they can.
We got a rock doctor.
- That's magma cooled in the earth.
- [Big Schwag] And a rocking fan.
[upbeat rock music]
Jesse and the boys are getting down.
- [Expert] You got amphibole and pyroxene, quartz,
[chimes]
granite, sandstone.
♪ Hey hey
[upbeat rock music]
- Silica. [chimes]
Shale. [chimes]
- [Big Schwag] So put your dancing shoes on,
it's my Monster Garage on the rock.
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Na na na na na
♪ Na na na na na
♪ Na na
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] Join us now as Jesse
and his g*ng of Maverick mechanics ripped,
grind and burn,
transforming ordinary street vehicles
into monster machines in the Monster Garage.
[lightning roaring] [rain pounding]
♪ Monster
♪ Monster Garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster Garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster Garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster Garage
♪ Monster Garage
The challenge, take a 1968 Ford Bronco
and turn it into a 1968 Ford Bronco
[screeching]
that can crawl straight up a wall.
The rules...
When built the monster machine must appear to be stock.
The team can spend no more than 3000 bucks
in hard cash for parts.
Jesse and his crew have seven days and nights.
On the first day, they design.
On the next five, they build.
On the seventh day, they race.
If successful,
each team member takes home a $3,400 set of Mac tools
and the clock starts now.
[car revving] [car whirring]
[car revving] [car whirring]
A 1968 moves a lot slower 25 years later.
The Bronco crawls into the garage followed
by the design team.
The only thing Jesse knows about the Rock Crawler Project
is that it's the winner
of the "Monster Garage" Viewer's Choice Contest.
Other than that, he's crawling blind.
- So we're gonna make a rock crawler.
I don't even know what it is.
I don't even know what it is.
I'm a little confused.
So the best thing about this,
since it's a viewer's choice show.
Rock crawler.
Rock crawler. I don't even know what it is for sure,
but I'm sure I could make it.
It's gonna have some crazy articulated suspension
and wider differentials
and it's probably gonna be a pretty heavy duty parts list.
- [Steve] For rock crawling, motor's not a big thing.
- [Narrator] Steve Rumore is always on the leaning edge
of rock crawling technology.
Designing and building extreme crawlers
like the sn*per and the Assassin.
- I've been doing off-road fabrication and design
for about 17 years.
A year ago, my wife and I started Avalanche Ranch,
which is an 832 acre off-road park
where we can take our toys and play
and host rock crawling competitions and club events.
- [Jesse] So we need to make a parts list.
We need a front and rear differential,
probably have to get some good shocks for it.
Definitely have to do something with the steering.
- [Steve] I think the best thing to do
is just go full hydraulic right off the bat.
- [Narrator] Sean Smith,
a student at Art Center College of Design
can build as well as draw cool cars.
- I like getting in there with my friends and family
and building hot rods and shoppers also.
It just takes me back to my roots
and doesn't let me forget where I came from.
- [Jesse] I kind of like that look
with the tire spaced way out
- [Steve] We can do full width on the axles
and that'll put most of the tire outside of the body.
- [Jesse] We're gonna run solid axles front and rear, right?
- [Sean] Yeah. - Correct.
- [Jesse] No independent suspension.
- [Sean] No.
- [Jesse] What size tires? - Big as we can get.
- 35? - [Steve] Forties to 44?
- Really, that big?
- [Steve] If we can narrow the grill up to,
there's just enough for the radiator.
- [Jesse] Yeah.
- And then same thing for the back.
Then, you got a lot more clearance.
- [Jesse] Now should you automatically make it
so it can roll over and withstand it.
So everything's gotta be anchored down, batteries and-
- [Steve] When you're sitting up there
on the side of a 30 foot cliff
and rocks sh**ting out from underneath you,
it certainly gets your attention.
- See how this is right here? - Yeah.
- [Lindy] On a Bronco, it's off to the side.
- [Jesse] Okay.
- [Lindy] So when the axle comes right here,
it's hard to get it to clear this bar right here.
- [Narrator] Ryan "Lindy" Lindberg restores vintage Broncos.
This baby blue relic was his,
but now it's the sole property of Monster Garage.
- I've always been into off-roading,
opened up the shop Strictly Broncos
and I don't even know how you guys found me
to tell you the truth.
- [Steve] There's two types of drivers.
There's the hammerheads and there's the finesse drivers.
- I already could tell I'd be a hammerhead.
I'd be the guy caught on tape.
Oh God.
[vocalizes truck sounds]
Think we should definitely make it custom,
but keep that gumby color.
I like it.
It's that Alabama mini truck turquoise.
- [Narrator] The Bronco will keep its stock looks,
but that's all.
Its monster upgrades will include a roll cage,
a more flexible suspension, beefier axles,
and enormous tires.
[upbeat music]
[engine revving]
[upbeat rock music]
Day two, the six man build crew arrives
to kick out the Monster Garage stalls.
[upbeat rock music]
Mike Duncan is a four by four specialist
from Burbank, California.
Andy McClosky is an attorney from San Diego
who wrenches on the side.
Brandon Gillen is an extreme rock crawling champion
from Sandy, Utah.
Mike Allen is the editor of "Popular Mechanics" magazine
who lives in New York City.
Steve Rumore is sticking around for the build
and so is Ryan Lindbergh
who wants to see his Bronco go loco.
Stone cold Jesse gives the hard facts
to Team Rock Crawler.
- A couple of you guys got some rock crawler experience.
I know you got Bronco experience.
So basically what we're gonna do is make something
that's gonna be able to basically go vertical.
I think a great goal for today is
to get the thing gutted.
[upbeat rock music]
Attack!
[upbeat rock music continues]
[machine whirring]
- [Narrator] Before it can scale a rock wall,
the Bronco needs to be scaled down.
- [Jesse] Okay.
- [Mike] I got it.
- That thing really that much extra weight.
- For a rock wall and you want a thing
to be as light as you can get up on the side of rocks.
You don't want to end up going over. [whirring]
- [Builder] You need the drive shaft to come out too.
- Drive shaft coming out.
- [Narrator] The front drive shaft comes out,
followed by the entire front end.
This team is just getting started
on their Bronco demolition derby.
- [Builder] Yeah!
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] The crew has no time
for a moment of silence
before drilling into the precious metaled body
of the pristine Ford.
- And basically cut this,
I'll weld them back together in the middle.
So there won't be a Ford. It'll just be an F and a D.
[whirring]
I like this, everything's metal.
[hammer pounding]
[parts clanking]
To modify somethings to make it better
We're making this way better than it is.
[whirring]
[steel clanking]
[whirring]
It's getting hot.
Giddy up!
- [Narrator] The team continues to carve
and kick their Bronco into submission.
- [Mike] Got a piece of junk out of it. [part clanking]
- [Narrator] The whole rear end is removed
as the steel tubing arrives for the roll cage.
[everyone cheering]
- [Narrator] This team is so hungry for rare vintage steel.
They aren't satisfied with cutting up the body.
They want the frame too.
[steel clanking]
- [Mike] Junk.
[machine whirring]
Whew, that's like work.
- [Narrator] A few more cuts in the Broncos laid bare
and the crew's ready for a cold one.
- [Lindy] Yeah, we need a cooler rack right about here.
Beer's a cute factor in a lot of things.
Carbohydrates. - I don't eat hardly at all.
I just usually just drink beer.
It's a lot cheaper.
- [Lindy] I consider it a vegetable
since it comes from like wheat.
- [Narrator] Wrong food group Lindy.
Wheat is a grain, not a vegetable.
- It looks good, nothing left.
- [Mike] I think we're gonna be done ahead of time.
I don't think we're gonna be down to the last minute.
No way.
- [Brandon] We got that thing stripped down.
It's getting ready to go back together already.
- [Narrator] These guys are confident and for good reason.
So far, they've been kicking butt on day two,
but their Bronco is about to kick back.
[horse neighing]
- That look like what I think it is?
- [Builder] Water? - Yeah, sure does.
Yeah, that ain't gonna last very long.
Look all the metal in it.
- It could be anything.
Whatever it is, it's not good.
- [Narrator] Lindy's old Bronco might be lame.
It may need to be taken out and shot.
[g*nsh*t blaring]
- I think it's fine.
Why make problems until they come up?
We'll have problems, maybe not this one.
- [Narrator] Mike Allen is usually a little cleaner at work,
editing "Popular Mechanics" magazine.
He said he'd lend a hand in the garage under one condition.
- Okay, I'll come and I'll help,
but I'm not getting any tattoos.
We've got a really talented bunch of people here
and they're working together extremely well.
I'm very impressed.
They learned this the same way I did it
by hanging around with people
that their mother didn't want 'em to.
I'm just running as fast as I can,
trying to keep up with 'em.
- [Narrator] With the valve covers off,
the picture is even less pretty.
- [Brandon] Good gracious. - [Andy] That's nasty.
- [Brandon] Holy, look at this.
- This is the type of stuff you get
when you never change your oil.
- You would never find a Chevy motor looking like that.
I don't care if you never change your oil.
- I wanna see what the cylinder walls look like
when you get these heads on.
I mean they may just be trash.
- [Mike] There we go, straight up.
- [Narrator] Andy will have to take the heads off
to really know what's up with this bad pony.
[ominous music]
- I wouldn't do this if we were gonna use this head.
- [Lindy] What's up?
- [Brandon] Heads up, heads up.
- Should have drain the coolant.
Andrew McCluskey is a gearhead lawyer
from San Diego, California.
- I think they were a little shocked
when they found out that a lawyer
was gonna be on their team.
So they're kind of trying to figure out where I fit in.
They need a couple of people who just know
what they're doing and know their way around the garage.
I'm very good in the mechanical department
so I'll be able to help out with the motor, fuel injection,
getting the thing wired up,
and getting it actually running.
- [Narrator] These guys rock the garage
on the day two tear down,
[hammer pounding]
[metal clanking]
but it's not all good under the Bronco's hood.
- [Andy] That's not good.
- [Mike] There's- - You feel that?
That's no good.
That ring's hanging, feel that?
- [Mike] Look at this one too. This cylinder's same too.
- [Narrator] Bad cylinders equals bad compression.
- Those are way more than a couple thousands.
- [Narrator] And bad compression equals bad performance.
- Nah, it'll run.
It'll just smoke.
- [Mike] You're just gonna put a lot of good parts
on a bad motor.
- [Andy] It's kind of a waste of money.
- [Mike] Kind of waste of money, waste of time.
- [Mike Allen] I wish we had a boat
because now we have an anchor for it.
- That was an unforeseen obstacle.
- Can we get a refund?
- I think we gutted it as far as we could so.
- [Narrator] The end of day two comes
with a sinking feeling.
On top of an already heavy workload,
the team will have to swap out their Bronco's motor.
[intense music]
Monster Garage Factoid,
the world's largest rock is found
in the Australian outback.
Ayres rock, the mysterious red monolith rises 1400 feet
from the desert and is over five and a half miles
round its perimeter.
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] Day three, the team gets going
on reviving the horseless carcass
they left for dead last night.
- [Steve] Andy and Mike,
are you guys cool with dealing with the motor?
- Yeah I can jump right on that, no problem.
- [Steve] And then, Mike and Brandon and Lindy,
you guys want to start doing tubes?
- Okay. - Nailed it.
- [Brandon] Let's go. - [Steve] All right.
We can thank Sparkle
for the wonderful racing buckets we got here.
Bling bling.
- [Announcer] Freebie, freebie.
Zero.
- Good seats still make it a good rig,
but let's bend some hoop.
- [Narrator] After Andy and Mike Allen dig out
the dirty clogged up part,
there's nothing left of their steel horse,
but part of the frame, a transmission, two doors,
and a cracked windshield.
[upbeat music]
The rest of the team starts on a new rib cage.
Lindy brought a pipe bender from his own shop
to do the job right.
- [Lindy] This bender is a mandrel bender.
It bends around a form
and it bends one way instead
of a muffler bender pushes the pipe in the middle
and it puts a kink in the pipe.
This doesn't kink the pipe in here
and it makes it a lot stronger.
So if we do actually roll this,
we'll k*ll ourself or our buddy Jesse over here.
We should try to follow the same line of this door.
- [Narrator] By taking careful measurements
before every cut, bend, and weld,
the roll cage turns out plumb, level, and square.
- [Lindy] Weld it. [whirring]
- That looks pretty good to me.
- [Builder] It looks great. - [Builder 2] Looks perfect.
- I think that's pretty damn good.
- Perfect.
- [Builder] Spot for the harness. [machine whirring]
[upbeat music]
- And we can put the seat belts to here.
- It's not in the line.
- I'm gonna do my best and if it sucks,
I will blame it on Steve.
- [Narrator] Brandon Gillen started anarchy off road
in Salt Lake City, Utah
to support his championship rock crawling habit.
- I was a series champion.
I took first place for the year,
the year 2001.
[people cheering]
It means a lot more to me if you win in something
that you built with your own hands.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Narrator] Brandon knows firsthand
that the steel cage is a crawler's best friend.
- There's been some accidents in the rock crawl scene.
It's dangerous when you roll over,
you know on rocks are jagged.
They're sharp.
They can come in through your roll cage.
A good friend of mine lost a leg.
Same friend, his son actually just got his pelvis broken.
[machine whirring]
- [Narrator] Work on the roll cage continues.
- The thing's gonna come in and attached up underneath here.
- [Mike] You mean drill in through the floor?
So you can do that. [Lindy whistling]
[machine whirring]
- Pretty.
- Just matching this to this. - [Mike] Oh yeah.
[machine whirring]
- [Narrator] The entire roll cage is welded directly
to the sturdy frame,
protecting both motor and driver.
- You'll be able to land this rig as hard as you want
to on rocks and nothing will give.
- [Narrator] Mike Duncan a four by doctor
in Burbank, California is a specialist
to driving Jeeps upside down.
- We've been in the desert racing for years.
We used to race a scrambler
and everybody in the racing circuit
thought we were really crazy.
After about a year's worth of racing,
I endowed it end over end about 65 miles an hour.
I couldn't count how many times it went over.
I lost count after about the second end over end.
The viewers are gonna like what we do here.
Maybe Jesse will flip it over.
Roll it, crash it, thrash it.
Yeah, it's all good.
- Yeah, we expect to roll this thing over repeatedly.
- That's the test.
It needs to roll over and survive.
[upbeat rock music]
[playful music]
- Just gotta...
[car whirring]
- [Narrator] To accelerate the process,
Steve heads over to Dynatrac
to see how their axles are coming.
Jim McGee put the Dynatrac assembly line on hold
to make custom axles special for the Monster Bronco
- [Jim] Coming along on these things,
we specialize in building super strong axles
for all types of applications.
Everything from competition rock crawlers
to mining machinery,
as well as buses, trucks, all kinds of vehicles.
And we're gonna get these guys climbing over rocks
by the end of the weekend. That's our goal.
- [Narrator] First, a 100 ton press squeezes
two heavy duty Dyna 60 axle tubes
into a custom Dynatrac differential housing.
- [Jim] We've designed this housing
to be 40% stronger than an ordinary Dyna 60 housing.
I also has more ground clearance
than even a much smaller axle.
Essentially the power is gonna come in here,
this is where the drive shaft's gonna connect
and it's gonna turn the pinion gear through this housing
and that pinion gear is gonna engage this ring gear.
We're using a precision gear 5.13 ring and pinion.
The tolerances are within one
or two thousandths of an inch
so it's really important that we set these up properly.
We're also setting you up with a Detroit locker
in the front axle.
- [Narrator] While an ordinary axle delivers power
to only one wheel,
custom locking differentials have geared teeth
that engage under power
to make sure both tires on the axle
are clawing their way to the top of the rock.
Add an extra thick chrome molly axle shaft
and this beefy bronco will be tough to beat.
- [Jesse] These babies will take about
all the torque you guys can make.
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] Back at the garage,
Steve returns from Dynatrac with a pair of mock axles.
- [Steve] The actual disk will be here tomorrow.
We got these dummy tubes to kind of get us started.
- [Narrator] This baby needs to crawl before it rocks.
Some brand new rubber booties from BFGoodrich roll in
to start the team off on the right foot.
- [Announcer] Freebies, freebies.
Zero.
- These are prototype BFG Krawler T/A
and they've never been put on any vehicle before.
We got the first set.
These are new aluminum military style bead locks.
They were originally used on Hummers
and this ring basically presses the tire bead
and sandwiches it on the inside
right in here [machine whirring]
and then on the outside.
The bead of the tire is sandwiched in that space
and locks it in position
so we can run super low tire pressures
and we don't have to worry
about the tire rolling off the bead.
The lower tire pressures allow us a lot bigger footprint
between the tire and the rock surface
so we get a lot more traction.
- [Narrator] Steve and Lindy struggle
with mounting the tires in the bead lock rims.
[upbeat rock music]
[machine whirring]
Jesse gets on the body work,
sectioning and welding the front grill
so the fenders can taper in and clear the tires.
With no more parts arriving,
the team starts to run out of things to do.
- [Steve] I'm a little concerned about getting
all the parts in time.
- [Mike] Tomorrow we get the axles.
We're not getting the motor until Thursday.
We thought we were ahead of the game on Monday.
We're like behind the game now.
- [Brandon] We're going home.
- That's a wrap.
- [Narrator] For the second day in a row,
the team leaves the garage facing
what looks like a rocky road ahead.
[upbeat rock music]
[glass breaking]
Day four Team Rock Crawler races into work to work.
Once inside the garage,
the builders find a pile of new parts,
none of which they'd had to pay for.
It's a freebie fest.
This team's getting more donations than the Salvation Army.
Hydraulic steering components from Avalanche Engineering,
a fuel cell from Fuel Safe,
and Atlas transfer case from Advanced Adapters,
King shocks and springs,
exhaust headers from Mac,
a fuel injection kit from Edelbrock.
And last but not least,
the Pro Rock 60 axles from Dynatrac.
Add to that the tires, rims, seats, and motor
for a total freebie package of 29,230 bucks.
- I'm happy, look at all the new parts we got.
- [Narrator] Still, they've got no motor
so Mike Duncan brought one from his shop.
- [Mike] How is everybody?
Why don't you guys gimme a hand man?
- Lemme help you out.
- Okay, thanks. - No problem.
- [Narrator] Mike's replica of a Ford 289
will help the team work out some clearance issues.
- Start it up.
- A lot of guys in NASCAR and stuff like that,
they use plastic motor to setting up a lot of stuff.
It gives you all the perspective of the motor sitting there
so you know where your bracket tree on lines
and everything have to go.
The new fuel cell mounts perfectly in the cage.
- [Brandon] She's in with straps.
We got gas.
- [Mike] Down.
- [Steve] And slide it this way.
- [Narrator] While the team is setting
the gargantuan axles in place,
lucky Lindy steps in to help out.
- [Lindy] Just kick it.
Just kick it.
Oh yeah, not that much.
- [Mike] You all right? - Yeah.
- [Mike] That could have been ugly.
- [Steve] I meant just like you know...
- [Lindy] I didn't kick it hard.
- [Steve] Next time we do that, let's move the Bronco.
Now we got some work to do.
These are nice.
- [Narrator] With the real axles in place,
the team descends on the Bronco in an avalanche of activity.
Brackets are made so the shocks and springs can be mounted
and the tires go on.
Even Mike Allen gets in on the action.
[upbeat music]
[whirring]
Brandon starts making control arms
for the coil over suspension.
He wells threaded bungs into the heavy wall tubing
so a Heim joint can be threaded in.
- These are gonna be our front lower control arms.
There'll be three of these on the front end
and then on the back end there'll be four, the four link.
- [Narrator] The rear axle will have four control arms,
stabilizing it with coil springs and shocks,
allowing the axle to articulate up and down
as much as two feet.
[engine revving]
Jesse arrives to continue the body work,
clearing the way for the monstrous 40 inch tires.
- [Jesse] So this is the stock fender.
We're gonna section nine inches out.
All this in here is gonna disappear.
We'll re-radius our our wheel opening for the big tire.
[machine blasting]
So took that nine inches out.
So this should slide right up
and kind of jive in a nice straight tack line.
[machine whirring]
- [Narrator] The Atlas transfer case is one of the best ways
to increase the crawler low end torque.
Torque is the measure of rotational force
that must ultimately turn the Bronco's 40 inch tires.
The new motor should put out
about 300 foot pounds of torque.
This is multiplied by the gears in the transmission,
transfer case, and differentials.
The finished crawler will put out over 16,000 foot pounds
of torque at the wheels.
Compare this to the stock Bronco's 5,000 foot pounds
or a Honda Civic's 2000 foot pounds.
- You basically could let this thing idle by itself.
It would mount the side of your wall
and right up the side of the hill.
It would go about half a mile an hour.
- [Narrator] With their new parts,
the team is finally making some headway
and a new motor from Wayne should arrive tomorrow.
[upbeat music]
Monster Garage Factoid,
the first Ford Broncos were released in 1965,
around the same time
the Rolling Stones released "Satisfaction".
Both were big hits.
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] Day five. [car crashing]
Lindy brings a half cab Bronco top
from his shop.
- One half cab top.
- [Narrator] This will help keep the stock look
without adding too much weight.
- Yeah, buddy.
- [Narrator] Jesse arrives to continue the fender work.
[hammer thumping]
[hammer thumping]
- Yeah.
- We kept it original, somewhat.
- [Narrator] Mike Allen must be working on his article
for "Popular Mechanics"
'cause he sure isn't working on the Bronco.
- [Jesse] How come you're not helping us?
How come you're all dirty everyday homes
and I don't see you doing nothing?
I wanna start my own magazine called "Unpopular Mechanics".
- These two lines will go into the input
on the rear steer valve.
- Where's that valve at?
- It's not here yet.
The hydraulic stuff won't be that complicated.
We just gotta get them.
- No, I'm just looking at all the stuff that we have to do.
- Reading a little bit of a installation manual,
trying to figure out what the heck we're gonna do
when the motor shows up.
- [Narrator] Andy, the lawyer would be working on the motor
if he had one.
- You need a frigging motor.
- [Narrator] In the meantime, Jesse's working on him.
- You got a BMW?
- Yeah. - Really?
- [Andy] 73. - What'd you buy first?
Your BMW or the outfit?
- It came as a package. - [Jesse] Did it?
Was that in the trunk?
The shorts and everything.
[everyone laughing]
- You wanna help me?
- [Narrator] Jesse gets Lindy on a project.
- [Jesse] Cut those out.
[machine whirring]
[upbeat music]
[Jesse blowing raspberries]
[hammer thumping]
- [Steve] What are you doing?
- Putting my arms back in with the-
[everyone exclaims]
- [Steve] See what happens when you just sit around
and run your mouth all day
and you're not paying attention to what you're doing.
- Shut up. [Steve laughs]
- That hurt.
- All because of a Bronco.
- We got a motor.
- [Narrator] Finally, Wayne himself rolls in the motor
he built in two days.
- It's time.
- [Narrator] The attorney gets on the case.
- [Andy] This Edelbrock Pro-Flo fuel injection system
basically replaces your carburetor
with the specialized manifold
and it's got a fuel injector for each cylinder.
So the carburetor,
anytime you get on any type of extreme angle,
you won't have enough gas to keep running.
So fuel injection just solves
all of those problems instantly.
Test fit.
Coming together.
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] The new motor is bolted
to the stock transmission and Atlas transfer case.
- So I think we're good to go.
- What do you want?
- [Narrator] The motor transmission and transfer case
are bolted together and ready to go in.
Mike and Andy want to put the motor mounts in first,
but Lindy has another plan.
- [Andy] Twin sticks are way in the way.
Not yet, they're not.
Just hold on.
Ready going in.
Now you gotta take off the shifters.
We're gonna try it.
If it doesn't work down, I'll do it. It isn't gonna work.
- [Builder] No, we can go down lower here.
- Just for the record.
- [Builder] Here.
- [Andy] Okay, we tried.
- [Lindy] It won't work.
I've done this before.
- [Andy] You're the Bronco guy.
- [Narrator] As Andy predicted,
the transfer case shifters need to come off.
Lindy gets on it.
- There you go, it's moving.
Slow down.
Now it's under it.
Push back.
There we go.
- You okay Mike?
- No,
on my fingers.
[upbeat music]
I was afraid it was broken but I don't think so.
- [Steve] Forward.
Okay right there, get some bolts in it.
- [Narrator] The motor's in and Andy wants to fire it up,
but he's still waiting for Alex, the garage manager,
to show up with a few kind of useful parts.
- We don't have spark plugs. - Spark plug?
- [Andy] Ask for wires too.
I'm tired of waiting for this crap.
It's like fricking five bucks worth of parts,
I'll buy it myself.
- [Builder] We need more parts, where's Alex?
- That guy's got a chip on his shoulder.
You know, he won't give us any parts.
Give us a [beeps] I don't know.
- [Narrator] Spark plugs for a Ford?
Not hard to find.
But for this team, hard to get.
For Team Rock Crawler, it's hard to swallow.
- We gotta mount the radiator, mount the front fender,
mount the grill, finish the hood,
fire the motor,
break in the cam,
put in the drive shafts that we don't have,
mount the steering rams,
build all the lines,
bleed all the hydraulics,
mount the rear steer valve,
bleed the brakes,
rear fenders.
- We don't have anything done.
We're not even close.
I don't think we're gonna make it.
- [Narrator] There's one day left
and there's still missing parts.
There's way too much work to do.
Day five has rocks in its head.
It's over.
- [Big Schwag] You gotta be kidding me.
Jesse's learning how to crawl in his new monster.
It's a lean machine and it's leaning-
Watch out!
But you better keep watching.
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
[car screeching]
- [Narrator] Day six,
this team will not be crushed.
On the final build day with a huge workload remaining,
the team pounces on the unsuspecting Bronco
except for Lindy who has not yet shown up.
- Well here we are Friday morning.
After a late night last night,
we're running out of time.
I think we're gonna be done ahead of time.
- Hopefully sometime before noon today,
we'll be able to hear this thing run.
- [Narrator] The team speculates on Lindy's whereabouts.
- I don't know.
I think he's probably still asleep.
- Lindy, you suck dude.
Where are you?
- [Jesse] Hey look who's here.
- [Builder] Where the hell have you been?
- Sleeping beauty.
- He's bringing his clothes.
He must have stayed out last night.
- Did you wake up a little late from last night's escapade?
- What'd I say- [playful music]
- [Narrator] Steve unpacks the long awaited steering rams
from Parker Hannifin
[upbeat music]
but finds a problem.
- These are the hydraulic rams
for the steering front and back.
The rams are good.
The shaft is pretty big.
These things are way big.
We just don't have that kind of room down there.
- [Lindy] Let's move the tires all the way
and see how much room we have in between here.
- [Narrator] Steve and Lindy troubleshoot how to work
around the enormous bracketry
that came with the steering rams.
- On top here, take that Panhard bar
and just cut it off.
And it's already. - Okay.
- Put a bolt through there
and that way it's got a bushing in there.
- [Steve] Get the Panhard bar.
We'll cut it and look at it.
- [Narrator] Lindy steals the front Panhard bar
from the rutting guts of the old Bronco
to test his solution.
- [Lindy] This should work perfect, huh?
Oh, look at that.
- That would probably qualify for Monster Garage.
Yeah, we could probably get by with that.
- [Lindy] From what we've seen in the past.
It will definitely qualify for Monster Garage.
[machine crackling]
- [Narrator] Lindy's modified steering rams
seem to work just fine.
Mike Allen unwraps a present from High Angle Driveline.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Mike] It's heavy.
- [Narrator] Heavy duty front
and rear drive shafts custom made
to fit this bucking beast.
- High Angle Driveline.
- [Narrator] Mike installs the shafts
with some beefy new U joints.
- We're under the g*n right now.
- No radiator, no hoses.
- The footage are holding us up right now.
- Yeah, I'm waiting for Alex or not for the bolts.
That's what I was waiting.
- [Narrator] It's starting to seem
like the real holdup is Alex the Monster Garage manager.
It's Friday but there's still no radiator,
hoses, or hydraulic fittings.
- Alex, if you don't have all the parts 'til this morning,
you're going down.
[dog huffing]
- [Narrator] Jesse feels a different energy
in the garage today.
- You guys are all serious now today, on the last day.
Yeah, we'll made it.
It's gonna be so good.
Man, we have a hurry.
- [Mike] I think we're gonna be done ahead of time.
I don't think we're gonna be down to the last minute.
No way, no way, no way.
- [Narrator] While Andy gets the motor ready to fire,
Steve and Lindy fill the shocks with nitrogen gas.
Jesse starts mounting the rear fenders.
The team is beginning to unravel.
- [Mike] What?
You cut, this has to be level right?
- [Lindy] No, this has to line up right here.
This is the important line.
- So that's level and the fender's like this and like this.
Then, that doesn't matter it's that level.
- It's not gonna be like this and like this
'cause we cut 'em the same.
They're both gonna be the same.
- [Mike] How do you figure that?
- Because the line's gotta match up, idiot.
- If he's gonna give you a level up here-
- [Lindy] There's nothing to do with that.
[simultaneously talking]
- [Lindy] I told you not to weld to back on
until we got this straight
'cause otherwise we're gonna have to cut it off and fix it.
- Okay, so the fender runs downhill,
I know who to blame.
[Jesse laughing mockingly]
- [Jesse] You guys are all happy and partying
for the last four days.
And then, now the final day
when we actually have to get it done,
everything's all serious.
- Steve and I already checked it out.
We level the fenders.
They're level. - [Jesse] But oh well.
There you go.
- Don't you think it's more important
that this lines up than the level [beeps]
- [Jesse] I think it's funny that you guys are fighting
about something that's neither one of your decision
or you don't have nothing to do with it
'cause I'll fix it no matter what.
I'll make it level and fit.
You like that?
- What do you think?
- [Jesse] You guys should have a knife fight
to see who's right like in west side stories.
[Jesse laughing]
A dance fight or a break dance w*r.
That would solve it.
Call that. [upbeat music]
Oh, the glory of day number five.
Two hours into day five,
everyone's on "I hate you!"
- [Narrator] The clock is running out on this team.
Time for drastic measures.
They still have no radiator
but they have to see if this motor works.
Are we doing welding back here?
[machine whirring]
- It's really, really Ret*rded.
- Damn lawyers.
- [Narrator] With only a few hours left,
the motor won't catch.
The attorney searches for any evidence he can find.
It's the brains of the operation.
- [Narrator] Turns out the fuel injection kit
was shipped without a computer chip.
- No chip.
- [Lindy] There's no chip in there?
- No, they they give you a Pro-M based on your application.
- So it's missing a part?
- [Andy] It's got no chip, no Pro-M.
- That's pathetic.
- Can't run down to Napa and get that.
- Andy's on the phone with Edelbrock right now.
- Alright, we gotta go get a chip.
I told you guys it wasn't my fault.
- [Narrator] Andy runs off to Edelbrock
to get the missing computer chip
as Alex the Monster Garage manager returns
with the wrong hydraulic fittings for the steering.
- They can't, you can't cross the two
or figure out what it is?
- [Alex] I already told 'em what the cross part number was
and it didn't help them though.
- Every [beeps] fee we have here doesn't drive
with anything here.
- All right, take this.
Take all that.
Take any other fitting that's wrong and can you go there?
- [Narrator] A frustrated Steve sends Mike Duncan
to the hydraulic shop before they close
to make sure they get the right fittings
to finish the steering system.
- [Steve] He's getting frustrated.
You're getting frustrated.
We're all running out of time.
If he gets back here and [beeps] wrong again...
- Okay. - We're outta time.
- I know that.
- [Builder] You don't have any of those?
- Rock crawler. [Mike laughs]
- [Narrator] Lindy cuts out a new tailgate
that could read two different ways,
feeds on rock dinners or found on rocks dead.
- [Steve] The hose.
You got new hose now?
- We exchange it see?
These are all those fittings.
This is what I initially wanted.
[upbeat music]
I spent 15 minutes, got everything that I needed.
Right now, I gotta get the plumbing.
Where's our radiator?
- We're missing four of these for the rams.
Yeah, we got another problem.
I'm not gonna go there right now.
- [Narrator] Apparently, Mike Duncan didn't get
everything he needed at the hydraulic shop.
He's still missing a couple of fittings.
- Yeah man, we're gonna be done so early.
Drinking beer.
- That's it, we don't have them.
- It doesn't really matter whose fault it is,
just that they're not here right now.
So we need to deal with it.
Alex needs to go get these.
- You're on? - Somebody does.
- [Narrator] But it's after five o'clock on Friday afternoon
and there are no hydraulic shops
in the Pacific time zone that are still open.
- [Mike] That little snowmobile,
there's gotta have fittings for hydraulic on it.
- [Lindy] Go swipe 'em.
Guess we're parting out the other cars.
- It's called improvise.
Where the flashlight at?
We're gonna go hunting.
[ominous music]
- [Narrator] Mike Duncan and Steve go cannibalize
the fittings they need from the mini Cooper snowmobile
that's parked in the lot outside the garage.
- [Steve] There's a couple 90 degree fittings in the back,
but I think it's an adapter.
There. - [Mike] Where?
- [Steve] Is that anything?
- [Mike] Okay, okay.
We got another one down here. - [Mike] Okay, we can do that.
- [Steve] The state use the same lines
- [Narrator] In the Monster Garage,
there are no rules other than the rules.
- Four little fittings, don't know.
- [Narrator] And this team will have to do
what it must to survive.
- You stole fittings? [Steve laughing]
Steve's a thief!
- We're not stealing.
- [Mike] We're down to the wire.
Somehow this shop ate up two fittings
or I misplaced them somewhere.
It's getting late.
Gotta improvise.
This thing's rolling out this door tonight.
[upbeat music]
[machine whirring]
[machine buzzing]
- Ah, look at my cut dude.
Look how choppy it is now.
- Keep yanking my hose dude.
[beeps] [dog barking]
- Quit blaming me. [cat screeching]
[beeps] [crunching sound]
- [Jesse] Frosty's getting crazy with the damn saw.
Radiator.
One step closer.
[whirring]
- Jesse knows how to run a chopper way better than me,
but rock crawling is not his thing.
That is the first rock he goes over in this thing.
He is gonna get stuck on.
- [Narrator] Jesse pauses to admire
some of Lindy's craftsmanship.
- Those brackets look good, Lindy.
For that steering, that ram,
it's nice job.
Some good work. [laughs]
Is that a part you manufacture up at your shop?
[clock ticking]
- [Narrator] It's 10 o'clock and the radiator is installed.
The computer chip is plugged in.
The steering hydraulics are plumbed.
The brakes are bled.
This Bronco is ready to buck.
- It still looks like a Bronco.
- I like it.
- Let's fire it then.
Go! [car revving]
[car rumbling]
- [Narrator] The motor runs
and the front and rear steering are working,
but there's a new problem.
- [Mike] Oh, we got a leak.
- [Narrator] And there's no time for problems.
- The thermostat housing just broke in half.
- [Jesse] $6 part that we didn't get.
- [Steve] So Lindy's gonna grab one,
the one off of his Bronco
and we're gonna swap it out
and then we're ready to do some crushing.
- [Narrator] In a last minute sacrifice,
Lindy cannibalizes his own Bronco
to replace the cracked thermostat housing.
- It's fine. - Are we done?
- Let's go. [car revving]
- [Narrator] When they start the motor again,
coolant is still leaking.
Luckily, Jesse's been schooled by the best.
- It's like a goofy's car.
Okay, let's go.
[car revving]
- [Narrator] The team gets the burley Bronco outside
where Jesse is showing off his slick new ride,
a 1979 Oldsmobile Delta 88.
[upbeat rock music]
After a few donuts,
Jesse decides this car doesn't handle
as well as his Ferrari so it must be destroyed.
The old car is feeling the pain.
Its exhaust manifold is glowing red hot.
- [Jesse] The temperature light's on.
Yeah, the bill look.
Get it.
[machine whirring]
- [Narrator] An expl*si*n of boiling coolant
is the Delta 88 death rattle.
[machine whirring]
But the raining radiator fluid isn't enough
to extinguish the inferno under the hood.
- Yeah. [Jesse laughing]
- [Narrator] Jesse steps in to quiet
the car's restless soul.
Now, Jesse will bury the body
- Finger on that bad boy.
Put it out of its misery in style.
No, it was overheating.
Blew the radiator.
No, it's cool.
All right man, be careful.
[upbeat music]
[car revving]
[upbeat rock music]
- Come on!
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Wake me up
♪ Tear me down
[people cheering]
[upbeat rock music]
♪ I don't feel your pain
♪ You looks so insane
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Try to replace my crown
♪ You're going down
- Yeah. [Jesse laughing]
That's pretty fun. [everyone laughing]
- [Mike] What time is it?
Who's got the time?
- 12:03. [everyone laughing]
That's what I'm talking about.
- Yeah.
- [Narrator] This crew took on and heroic dose of horse
and built a rock solid rig.
[paint whooshing]
While the team collects their bounty,
their pony gets a different coat of the same color.
- The stuff will protect the thing
when Jesse's out there beating
the thing up and all the rocks.
- [Narrator] The entire crawler is coated inside and out
with Line X for an invincible finish.
Monster Garage Factoid
rock crawling is the world's slowest automotive sport.
Rock crawler drivers are slow too.
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
- [Big Schwag] Are you ready Monster fans?
Big Schwag here and we are moments away
from another Monster Garage challenge.
As always, sitting on the rock next to me,
Frankie Whiteside.
Frankie, where the hell are we?
- [Frankie] Out in the Mojave Desert Schwag,
where it's so darn hot even the locals have to take cover.
- [Big Schwag] Well, I know one thing
that can always take the heat
of fresh hot monster right out of the garage.
- [Frankie] That's right Flintstone
and this one is turning off the pavement
and hitting dirt as we speak.
It's the viewer's choice special, the monster rock crawler.
- [Big Schwag] The viewers have spoken
and I like what they say.
Nice.
- [Frankie] Check it out, Schwag.
There's only one man I know
who can draw a crowd in the middle
of the desert Monster Garage has built upon a rock
and his name is Jesse James.
- [Big Schwag] Holy Moses Frankie.
- [Frankie] Let's listen up as build team member Mike Duncan
lays out the rules to this challenge.
- [Mike] What we're gonna do Jesse is we're gonna go down
between the two cactus over there.
We're gonna make a right.
We're gonna go pass that tall cactus there.
We'll hang a UE.
We'll head down into the rocks over here and come back up,
make a left, and there's some little technical stuff
up in there we can do.
- Why?
- [Big Schwag] Well, Frankie looks like Jesse wants
to break the rules.
Let's see if he can break some rocks.
[upbeat music]
- [Frankie] So far, so good.
- [Big Schwag] Oh, good shot from the drive shaft cam.
- [Frankie] Schwag, a car becomes a rock crawler
by modifying the transmission, transfer case,
and differentials to produce a very low gear ratio.
This results in a massive amount of torque.
For the monster rock crawler,
we're talking 16,000 foot pounds of torque at the wheels.
- [Big Schwag] I couldn't have said it any better, Frankie.
Oh yeah, Jesse's hitting the big stuff.
- [Builder] Alright, keep going.
Keep going.
[car rumbling]
[car rumbling]
[Jesse laughing]
- [Frankie] I think he likes it, Schwag.
- [Big Schwag] Uh oh, Jesse stuck
and his monster's losing precious bodily fluids.
[people laughing]
- [Frankie] That's transmission fluid, Schwag.
- [Jesse] Is it? - [Mike] Yeah, puking.
- [Big Schwag] A little upset stomach isn't stopping Jesse
and his monster.
Go get 'em buddy.
- [Frankie] He's working it Schwag.
[car rumbling]
[car rumbling]
- Let's see what the big deal is all about.
[Jesse laughing]
- [Big Schwag] Oh yeah, Jesse's putting on his helmet.
- [Frankie] That's a red sparkle 1964 Fury 400.
- [Big Schwag] That could only be one thing,
time for round two.
- [Frankie] Well, Schwag.
Jesse said he wanted to roll his new monster.
Let's see if he can.
- [Big Schwag] Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Oh no.
That's gonna hurt.
[everyone cheering]
- [Jesse] Oh, see I [beeps]
[everyone laughing]
- [Frankie] Looks like he broke one of the support rods.
- He broke the bolt,
and just ripped the bolt right out of it.
- [Big Schwag] He really launched it.
That was a beauty.
Kick saving a beauty.
[everyone cheering]
[engine revving]
- [Frankie] Uh oh, he tackled the front drive shaft.
That's not good.
- [Big Schwag] Well he said it from the start, Frankie.
There's two kind of drivers for rock crawler,
the finesse and the hammerhead.
Jesse Ball P. James is the head of all hammers.
- Unlock the door.
So is that a success or a failure?
- [Mike] She definitely crawled over rocks.
- Rock crawler.
[people grunting]
- [Frankie] Look Schwag,
Jesse's gonna roll it after all.
- [Big Schwag] Thanks to his desert followers,
way to go Monster fans.
- What a way to rock.
- [Frankie] Jesse's got a new dog, Schwag.
What's he call it?
- Her name's Lily the dominator.
- [Big Schwag] And to top it all off,
it just so happens to be Jesse's birthday.
The crowd gathers around
to help the master fabricator celebrate.
- [Frankie] And Jesse lets the dog get first licks
on the desert dessert.
- Dig in.
- [Big Schwag] I think I'll pass on the cake Frank.
You go right ahead.
- [Frankie] I'm not hungry either, Schwag.
- [Big Schwag] That's it folks.
Jesse's got no time for rocking without rolling,
crawling without falling,
and anything that looks like a dog.
Not on it.
He's got sparks to fly, metal to burn,
the next Monster Garage challenge is just around the bend.
- Yeah, buddy! - Fire in the hole.
- I hurt myself.
Lindy,
Steve,
Mike,
Andrew,
Frosty.
[everyone laughing]
Mac tools, "Monster Garage" CDs.
You only get this stuff if you make it.
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
♪ Monster
♪ Monster garage
[ethereal music]
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02x16 - Rock Crawler
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A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."