SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1524296
PRE-RUNNERS The Ultimate Street-Legal Off-Road Vehicle By Dan Sanchez Pre-runner trucks are considered the ultimate off-road vehicle, simply because they are as capable as a full SCORE Trophy Truck but can be driven on the street. No offense to the many F-150 Raptor, Chevy Silverado, and Toyota Tundra owners with full custom suspensions, wide fenders, and King Shocks; those are cool vehicles, but they’re not pre-runners. Pre-runners are at the “top of the food chain” when it comes to off-road enthusiast vehicles. They can power up steep sand dunes, fly 10-15 feet over the desert, and have the power and wheel travel to go over any terrain. So why doesn’t every off-road enthusiast have one? The simple answer is that not everyone knows how to build and maintain one or has the means to have one built for them. For the enthusiast pre-runner owner, it takes a severe addiction to off-road, to want an expensive vehicle like this. It also takes knowledge and experience in metal fabrication, (or good friends with that knowledge) to begin building one. Furthermore, after you spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to build one, you have to be willing to destroy it and then repair it again, every time you take it out for fun. That’s what all pre-runner owners have in common. But even among these unique owners, there are two kinds. The first are the actual race teams who need these vehicles as a tool for serious Baja racing. The other are the enthusiasts who build their own for the ultimate off-road fun and are willing to use them. TOP BUILDS Those pre-runners that are designed for racers and teams to pre-run a race course are high-dollar vehicles that are truly works of art. According to professional pre-runner builders, like Stewart’s RaceWorks Inc, Armada Engineering, Jimco, Alumicraft, and others, these pre-runners are intended for racers to drive and have the same feel as the team’s race vehicle, but with much more comfort. “Most of the pre-runners we build are for customers who are true Baja racers,” says Craig Stewart, owner of Stewart’s RaceWorks. “When teams drive these for thousands of miles, day after day, they have to be as good as a SCORE Trophy Truck, but with the comfort of air conditioning, heating, a well-designed interior, and more.” Stewart’s RaceWorks has been building pre-runners for some of the top teams in off-road motorsports. One, which was featured in SCORE Journal Magazine, was for Steve Menzies, father of Bryce Menzies. It has a full carbon fiber body and all the comforts of a Ford F-150 Raptor. “Pre-runners like the Menzie’s Ford, is like a combination of a SCORE Trophy Truck and Motorhome all in one,” says Stewart. “Yes they are heavier than the race Trophy Truck, but they also need to carry more people (seating three or four), all of the electronics like comms, GPS, etc., but with the comfort of leather interior and a compact refrigerator. These types of builds can vary in price from $500K to over $ 1.2 million.” These high-end pre-runners take about a year to build and are typically made from a donor cab from a factory vehicle, like a Ford F-150 or Chevy Silverado. The shell is then attached to a complete tube frame chassis with a full-race suspension, high-performance crate-engine, and in some cases, a full-race six-speed sequential transmission similar to what is used on a SCORE Trophy Truck. “A serious pre-runner is a tool for those racers that take the time to pre-run a course in detail to win in Baja,” says Elliot Pollock, owner of Armada Engineering. “Most of the pre-runner trucks for teams cost about 3-4 million dollars and they have all of the bells and whistles for comfort combined with all of the off-road racing capability.” Because there are a limited number of highly competitive teams who can afford these top builds, which are mostly used for long-distance races, Pollock has come up with a more cost-effective solution. “Most teams have great mechanics so we are in the process of offering do-it-yourself pre-runner kits,” he says. “When I first started, I tinkered with modified trucks, working around an OEM platform. It was a nightmare trying to get everything to fit. That’s why the most expensive part of a top pre-runner build is taking a steel cab and fabricating a full-tube chassis around it. We developed our own fiberglass cab that unbolts, has working doors, power windows, etc., and eliminated the labor aspect of purchasing a donor truck for the pre-runner.” The first version was built by Pollock, and Toby Price used it to pre-run the SCORE Baja 500 course. Price and Paul Weel won the race in the SCORE Trophy Truck class and will use the pre-runner again at the SCORE Baja 400. “They liked the truck and this prototype had a full cabin with AC, and all the comforts,” says Pollock. “We are planning on selling them for $175K, with no motor and transmission, but it comes with a full assembly manual. If you’re in California, you can also register it under a special exemption, making it smog-exempt and fully streetable!” ENTHUSIAST BUILDS TERRA CREW SPECIAL FEATURES BY DAN SANCHEZ PHOTOS BY BLACKHAT STUDIOS Leave it to hardcore enthusiasts to find ways to build their own pre-runners. Many are fabricators and have put their skills to work on their own creations. SCORE Journal teamed up with the TERRA CREW, an organization of off-road pre-runner owners who are not afraid to take their vehicles to the extreme. Within the membership we found several pre-runner owners who either built their vehicles over long periods (5-8 years in some cases), while others are custom car builders who turned from hot roads to off-road and found an entirely new customer base. Whether the builds are a combination of readily available long-travel suspension components attached to a factory cab and tube chassis, or each component is custom fabricated, you’ll find these pre-runners at off-road shows, and out in the local desert making sky-high jumps and traveling across the terrain at Trophy Truck speeds. Most of these pre-runners are built with the same types of suspensions found on race vehicles, including large tires, bypass and coil-over shocks, high horsepower engines, and tube chassis. Yet most are streetable, which is part of the ideology for the typical TERRA CREW member. SCORE Journal wanted to look more into what the TERRA CREW was all about and talk to some of its members. In the following pages, we showcase some of their pre-runners ranging from home-made creations to those made by professional customizing shops. In either case, these pre-runners, as well as those built by the pros, are influencing off-road racers and enthusiasts to the off-road lifestyle, and what it takes to reach the highest levels of vehicle capabilities.