Diesel Brothers is an American reality television series. The series premiered on January 4, 2016, on Discovery Channel. The program follows a group of friends in Utah who repair and customize pickup trucks.
Despite the name and physical resemblance to one another, the Diesel Brothers are not actually brothers. Friends David "Heavy D" Sparks and David "Diesel Dave" Kiley started a fix-it shop for all types of vehicles and brought in two other men as shop helpers. They posted various videos on YouTube, one of which led to an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Subsequently the Discovery Channel contacted the Diesel Brothers.
On November 15, 2019, the series was renewed for a sixth season which premiered on December 9, 2019.
On July 16, 2020, it was announced that a three-hour TV special titled Diesel Brothers: Monster Jam Breaking World Records would premiere on August 8, 2020.
Lawsuit and arrest of Sparks In 2016, a Utah advocacy group called Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment filed a civil lawsuit against the Diesel Brothers, alleging they engaged in "significant, repeated and ongoing violations of federal law" by modifying vehicles to create black smoke from the exhaust systems, which the group characterizes as "one of the most toxic types of pollution there is".Trevor Mason (August 2016) Diesel Brothers Might Be In Legal Trouble DieselTechMag.com, accessed 10 March 2016 The physicians group bought a modified truck from Sparks Motors, and independent testing confirmed that without required emissions features, the truck produced 36 times the pollutants and 21 times the particulate matter compared to a stock truck.
In June 2018, after hearing testimony from an emissions inspector based in Davis County, Utah that a Diesel Brothers truck had been illegally modified, a judge issued an injunction prohibiting any similar modifications in the future.Tom Quimby (June 20, 2018) Diesel Brothers hit with injunction to stop modifying emissions HardWorkingTrucks.com, accessed 10 March 2020 Sparks stated he was modifying trucks only for off-road use under the belief it was legal and was working with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure compliance.
In March 2020, three of the Diesel Brothers (Sparks, Keaton Hoskins and Joshua Stuart) and their various companies were fined a total of $850,000Lauren Bennett (2020-03-10) Judge orders 'Diesel Brothers' to pay $850K for violating Clean Air Act, KSL.com, accessed 10 March 2020Mark Shenenfelt (2019) Judge hits Diesel Brothers with $848,000 in penalties for air pollution violations . The Ogden Standard-Examiner, accessed 10 March 2020Diesel Brothers Hit With $850,000 Fine for Tampering With Truck Emissions after Federal Judge Robert J. Shelby determined they had violated the Clean Air Act on hundreds of occasions and also had violated the earlier injunction. The fine was less than the maximum possible, as Judge Shelby recognized various mitigating factors.
The Diesel Brothers filed an appeal in April 2020, with their attorney arguing the case fell under a split circuit with contradictory Federal rulings.Mark Shenfelt (April 13, 2020). Diesel Brothers appeal $848,000 federal Clean Air Act violation judgment The Ogden Standard-Examiner, accessed 30 July 2020 In March 2021, Sparks and Stuart were ordered to pay $928,602 in legal fees, on top of the $848,000 which they owed from previous penalty rulings, to the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, over Clean Air Act-related pollution violations. In December 2021, the appeals court upheld the previous verdicts and noted "flagrant misconduct" by the Diesel Brothers, but also ordered Shelby to re-calculate the fine to eliminate penalties associated with trucks or components which were sold outside Utah.
As a result of show cause orders issued by Judge Shelby, Sparks and his 2021 lawsuit co-defendant, Joshua "Redbeard" Stuart, would each be found to have liability.
On October 2, 2025, an arrest warrant was issued for Sparks on a contempt of the order charge which had been initially issued against both him and his co-defendants on June 24, 2024. Sparks and his fellow co-defendants were also found to have not paid required fines. On October 7, 2025, Sparks was arrested by federal marshals on multiple federal court order-related contempt charges which resulted from his failure to pay $843,602.23 which he owed to the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment as a result of the 2021 lawsuit ruling. He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail in Salt Lake City. he has since been released.
Episodes
Season 1 (2016)
Season 2 (2017)
Season 3 (2017)
Season 4 (2018)
Season 5 (2019)
Season 6 (2019)
Season 7 (2020) Source:
References
External links