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Fullsize Pre-runner Thread!
- Thread starter Avery4jc
- Start date
All you guys who a talking about making it light. Try riding in a Dakar chase truck. I got the chance to ride in one in Baja. Nothing like sitting 8 feet off of the ground in a 12 ton truck doing 60 mph across the desert.
My Jimmy is full body to look stock. Cops stop me to look at it, not write it tickets. It has been 20 feet off of the ground and gone off 10 foot drop offs at speed. I can run a SCORE course at race speeds and bring an injured driver back on a backboard. It was built as a search and rescue vehicle.
The trick is in the shocks and valving and geometry. A descent prerunner can not be built with lowbuck equipment, unless it is a poser. I took many $100 bills from rice burner prerunners in the desert after 20 mile runs.
My Jimmy is full body to look stock. Cops stop me to look at it, not write it tickets. It has been 20 feet off of the ground and gone off 10 foot drop offs at speed. I can run a SCORE course at race speeds and bring an injured driver back on a backboard. It was built as a search and rescue vehicle.
The trick is in the shocks and valving and geometry. A descent prerunner can not be built with lowbuck equipment, unless it is a poser. I took many $100 bills from rice burner prerunners in the desert after 20 mile runs.
There you are... I was hoping you would join the discussion...
I've looked at the pics in your photobucket and it looks great! So that d44 has held up to jumping?
BTW since you're retired you should trailer that beast out to Oceano sometime and tear it up w/ us on the West Coast
I've looked at the pics in your photobucket and it looks great! So that d44 has held up to jumping?
BTW since you're retired you should trailer that beast out to Oceano sometime and tear it up w/ us on the West Coast
There you are... I was hoping you would join the discussion...
I've looked at the pics in your photobucket and it looks great! So that d44 has held up to jumping?
BTW since you're retired you should trailer that beast out to Oceano sometime and tear it up w/ us on the West Coast
Oceano? We used to call that Pismo Beach. I used to dune there when you could drive to competition hill to the south and run as fast as you wanted too on the beach.
The 44 has worked great, other than a seal leak. The trick to making parts last is not ever letting anything hit hard. $12,000 in shocks and 4" air bumps are the trick.(I did not pay that for the shocks).
Sponsor? I was going to say...shesh what in the world did you retire from that lets you spring $12k for shocks
Yep Oceano/Pismo... they are basically the same thing but technically the section of the beach you drive on is Oceano... But yeah man that'd be such a blast if you ever make it out this way! There are some CK5 members in that area and some that actually live in Pismo so I'm sure there would be a good size group of old chevy iron...
Yep Oceano/Pismo... they are basically the same thing but technically the section of the beach you drive on is Oceano... But yeah man that'd be such a blast if you ever make it out this way! There are some CK5 members in that area and some that actually live in Pismo so I'm sure there would be a good size group of old chevy iron...
Yes on the sponsorship. Sway-A-Way, BFG, PRP seats, PCI radios, Fox, GM Goodwrench, Allied wheels and others.
1260 mile to Oceano at 12 mpg = $368 x 2= $736 in fuel only. I just did that to my parents in So. Cal. to pick up a Bridgeport mill. Not spending that cash any time soon. Thanks for the invite.
1260 mile to Oceano at 12 mpg = $368 x 2= $736 in fuel only. I just did that to my parents in So. Cal. to pick up a Bridgeport mill. Not spending that cash any time soon. Thanks for the invite.
Understandable... give me a couple years to get a sand toy built 
On another note a link was posted in another thread in the garage to a fiberglass site... saw in their gallery...
A 4wd 'yota "pre-runner"... more along the lines of what I was originally thinking (but in a full-size of course) b/c you could run it in 2wd and have fun but then when you get stuck (or have to go slow) you can pop it in 4wd and its not a big deal...
http://www.glassworksunlimited.com/gallery2.php
On another note a link was posted in another thread in the garage to a fiberglass site... saw in their gallery...
A 4wd 'yota "pre-runner"... more along the lines of what I was originally thinking (but in a full-size of course
) b/c you could run it in 2wd and have fun but then when you get stuck (or have to go slow) you can pop it in 4wd and its not a big deal...http://www.glassworksunlimited.com/gallery2.php
I run mine in 2wd almost all of the time. The truck was weighed at 6100lbs. The most 4wd I have done was in Moab for BB07. I did hells revenge in 2wd until the sand off of the trail at the end. Just had to play.
Do you run beadlocks and air down to single digits? I just need to get more experience out in the sand b/c I've had such mixed results so far... my k10 was fine (stiff but perfectly fine none the less) anywhere I took it out in the sand... but our tow rig (which is 2wd) was absolutely useless and had to be drug around EVERYWHERE... even aired down and it has wide AT's...
I'm a pre-runner researching fool!!!
Awh...come on man it was just once... 
Those little turds are pretty popular in this field
Those little turds are pretty popular in this field
Stormin
Registered Member
Damn I almost wish I hadn't found this thread. It's been too long since I've been out on the dunes. Blazinzuk, how is St. Anthony's on Memorial Day Weekend. I used to go to Moses Lake out here in Warshington but it's died down the last couple years...the local police got a little big-headed.
On another note, how about a little shock talk? Let's say you had an average lifted blazer and you wanted to take it out and thrash on it, maybe get some air under the tires. What mods would you do for 1-1.5K to give it a chance of surviving.
Good shocks? Maybe Bilsteins? Two per corner or just one? Maybe weld in some good solid reinforced shock mounts.
Axle trusses? Can you get away with just trussing the top? Anybody know of anybody that has a good truss kit for a D44 or D60 or even a template?
On another note, how about a little shock talk? Let's say you had an average lifted blazer and you wanted to take it out and thrash on it, maybe get some air under the tires. What mods would you do for 1-1.5K to give it a chance of surviving.
Good shocks? Maybe Bilsteins? Two per corner or just one? Maybe weld in some good solid reinforced shock mounts.
Axle trusses? Can you get away with just trussing the top? Anybody know of anybody that has a good truss kit for a D44 or D60 or even a template?
Stormin
Registered Member
Oh yeah one more thing I was gonna say. If prerunners and desert racing are your thing I'd like to highly recommend you attend the SCORE Los Terribles cup in Vegas. I went the the inaugural one a couple years ago. I think 08 will be the III. Seeing Trophy Trucks running side by side where you can see the WHOLE course is freakin' awesome. But that's not the best part. When I went, the friday before the weekends racing all the trucks were on display in the downtown Fremont St. All the trucks were parked right on the street and you could walk up and check em out. The drivers and chase/pit crew guys were all there just talking to people and having a good time. It was a really cool event that I'd like to make it back to.
I think I'd be more worried about springs... unless you're going all out I'd spend my $$$ on good springs and just go with some Bilstein 5150's...
Rangers and Toyotas are the best factory starting point for prerunners/desert race trucks. Anything GM is FAR behind in terms of starting basis and frame issues.
[/brand loyalty foolishness rant off]
[/brand loyalty foolishness rant off]
Yeah from what I've seen Rangers are highly respected and 'yotas that started as a 4x4 are next in line (stronger frame)... BUT I am still on the fullsize track
Being from So. Cal., I have seen too many Ranger's and Yota's "Pre-Runnered". From mild to wild. You can make a leaf sprung truck work OK with a good set of shocks. Shocks are like any other add on. Everybody has their own favorites. Bump stops are a must if full travel is going to be pounded on. If it never hits hard, things are not as likely to break. When building, we always comment,"it's not the quantity of travel but the quality".
Shocks should be rebuildable, which means you can valve them to your truck. Good shocks are going to run $600+ each. I went with 3" triple bypass. Adjustments out the wahoo. Took 6 sessions to get them dialed. You could feel them get better.
As for trusses on the 40, I have so much stuff welded to them, with the 3 link an shocks, there is not anyplace to truss.
The Currie (sponsor I forgot) rear end is bullet proof. Came fully trussed.
As for SCORE, they put on a great show in the states. Nothing like going to Baja. There is nothing like chasing down Ragland or Gordon on the highway and passing them because they are limited to 60mph on pavement. We took pictures as we passed them. They just waved, then blew our doors of in the dirt. I was in an FJ looser.
Shocks should be rebuildable, which means you can valve them to your truck. Good shocks are going to run $600+ each. I went with 3" triple bypass. Adjustments out the wahoo. Took 6 sessions to get them dialed. You could feel them get better.
As for trusses on the 40, I have so much stuff welded to them, with the 3 link an shocks, there is not anyplace to truss.
The Currie (sponsor I forgot) rear end is bullet proof. Came fully trussed.
As for SCORE, they put on a great show in the states. Nothing like going to Baja. There is nothing like chasing down Ragland or Gordon on the highway and passing them because they are limited to 60mph on pavement. We took pictures as we passed them. They just waved, then blew our doors of in the dirt. I was in an FJ looser.
Uhhh...Avery...that appears to be a Ford...may I see your man card please?
Taco's OK?
