Calling all f100/f250 Prerunners

[Tycho]

Can someone explain to me just what a prerunner is? New to here so just asking

I would say, generally speaking, it is a truck or vehicle that has suspension that has more travel (that is the up and down range of motion for the wheels) rather than articulation (the total flexability of the axles and wheels) Often times these trucks have a wider track in the front than their stock counterparts and hence have to have flared fenders. The object of prerunning is to maintain stability over uneven terrain (desert) at high speeds. The object in say, a trail rig, is to just manage to get through the damn trail. Prerunners are more weight conscious than other off road rigs, including weight distribution. That is why you see guys with spares in the back, and fiberglass all around.

Nowadays people play fast and loose with the term prerunner. They could be talking about their truck which has a body lift and 33s on it, or a fully caged truck with long travel suspension. It really just depends. The act of 'prerunning' itself comes from the term where you go down an off road course ahead of the race to map all the features and whatnot. Hence, running before the race (pre-running) It's sort of a generic term now to describe any type of lifted truck that focuses on travel rather than just lift height.

[Tycho]

Pictures... Ill update this when I take some of my own with a better camera.





Anyone know where that steering column and wheel is from? Mechanic friend guessed Torino.

BEFORE:



AFTER:



NEED HELP IDENTIFYING THIS REAR END:



Problems:
- Brakes suck. They dont squeal or anything, and stop the truck, they are just weak. Too much play in the pedal, and the pedal is way too far forward. If I was 5'1 it'd be cool but I'm 6ft. Gotta fix it
- Broken shackle on the back left spring pack. Not a big deal since they will be replaced, but explained partially why the truck handled like a marshmellow
- Left turn signal is fried, turn signals overall are weak and slow to blink
- Carter carb linkage is not ideal, but works as its rigged
- Bed sits slightly off kilter, with the left side being higher than the right. Not sure what the deal is with this one.
- Steering Wheel.... ! Thats all I have to say. First thing to go. It doesnt telescope so it sits on your chest.

[1971ford]

Looks like a good start,
The steering column looks stock, the wheel i have no idea though. Torino sounds like a good guess
And is that a bent leaf on the drivers side? Interesting it has small lift blocks
The brake pedal is always way far forward on these trucks. My dad is 6'10" and i am 6'5" and it is really hard to lift from the gas to the brake, especially in a fire suit. I am going to make a new pedal arm soon. I might make them a easy swap and sell them, not sure.
Rearend looks to be a 9in. to me.
I'd look over your leaf springs really good since a shackle is broken and it looks like there is a bent leaf in the pics. Once you fix your leaf spring problems your bed might sit right.

[Tycho]

Looks like a good start,
The steering column looks stock, the wheel i have no idea though. Torino sounds like a good guess
And is that a bent leaf on the drivers side? Interesting it has small lift blocks
The brake pedal is always way far forward on these trucks. My dad is 6'10" and i am 6'5" and it is really hard to lift from the gas to the brake, especially in a fire suit. I am going to make a new pedal arm soon. I might make them a easy swap and sell them, not sure.
Rearend looks to be a 9in. to me.
I'd look over your leaf springs really good since a shackle is broken and it looks like there is a bent leaf in the pics. Once you fix your leaf spring problems your bed might sit right.

Yeah, leaf spring is jacked. I want to replace them asap. What's a dirty cheap option? Salvage yard? What donor vehicles can cough up some usable leafs?
Rear is a 9 with 3.25 gears. We decoded the VIN. Original AZ truck, great condition. Probably wouldn't believe what I paid for it.
Going to get it totally comfy on the street and then recharge funds for the huge pop the kit, fenders + hood and wheels/tires are going to cost me.
Was quoted 1200 for the whole fiberglass front end, + 1400 for the autofab kit + god knows what for 35s + wheels if ones I pickup cant be re-used.

Ripping the AC out on Sunday, then tearing into the engine to see what we've got. Could be a gimped 351 for emissions. Prepping the truck for paint
on Tuesday or Wednesday. Not much at all needs to be done to it for prep. All new weatherstripping and some misc stuff is on the way from LMC.
Truck will be Blitz Black. Can't wait. Love the flat/satin look. Have all the trim pieces as apparently they were in a small box & bag in the bed. Once
we paint it, we can polish that good stuff and pop it on.

Need a recommendation on 15" wheels. Aluminum or Steel? What load rating? I'm coming up with jack. Most wheels seem to be poseur 17+ rims for guys
who want their trucks to look hard and not much else. Found a local set of 31/10.5/15s for dirt cheap that im going to try to snag and throw on the cragars
in the meantime. Any concerns about backspacing? I know Im going with 15x8 on 5x5.5 Not a whole lot to choose from.

[1971ford]

Looks like a good start,
The steering column looks stock, the wheel i have no idea though. Torino sounds like a good guess
And is that a bent leaf on the drivers side? Interesting it has small lift blocks
The brake pedal is always way far forward on these trucks. My dad is 6'10" and i am 6'5" and it is really hard to lift from the gas to the brake, especially in a fire suit. I am going to make a new pedal arm soon. I might make them a easy swap and sell them, not sure.
Rearend looks to be a 9in. to me.
I'd look over your leaf springs really good since a shackle is broken and it looks like there is a bent leaf in the pics. Once you fix your leaf spring problems your bed might sit right.

Yeah, leaf spring is jacked. I want to replace them asap. What's a dirty cheap option? Salvage yard? What donor vehicles can cough up some usable leafs?
Rear is a 9 with 3.25 gears. We decoded the VIN. Original AZ truck, great condition. Probably wouldn't believe what I paid for it.
Going to get it totally comfy on the street and then recharge funds for the huge pop the kit, fenders + hood and wheels/tires are going to cost me.
Was quoted 1200 for the whole fiberglass front end, + 1400 for the autofab kit + god knows what for 35s + wheels if ones I pickup cant be re-used.

Ripping the AC out on Sunday, then tearing into the engine to see what we've got. Could be a gimped 351 for emissions. Prepping the truck for paint
on Tuesday or Wednesday. Not much at all needs to be done to it for prep. All new weatherstripping and some misc stuff is on the way from LMC.
Truck will be Blitz Black. Can't wait. Love the flat/satin look. Have all the trim pieces as apparently they were in a small box & bag in the bed. Once
we paint it, we can polish that good stuff and pop it on.

Need a recommendation on 15" wheels. Aluminum or Steel? What load rating? I'm coming up with jack. Most wheels seem to be poseur 17+ rims for guys
who want their trucks to look hard and not much else. Found a local set of 31/10.5/15s for dirt cheap that im going to try to snag and throw on the cragars
in the meantime. Any concerns about backspacing? I know Im going with 15x8 on 5x5.5 Not a whole lot to choose from.

Actually, you could go to the junkyard and just pick up another set of leaf packs and swap them in...
But if it was me i would take advantage of the need of new leaf springs and grab a set of Chevy 1500 64" leaf springs...
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=90876
You're truck wouldn't be operational for a little bit as you swapped those in but you're ride off the road would be much better with those springs. There is some work you have to do though so then again maybe it should be put off for a bit. But save that for future reference. That's what i'm doing with the rearend of my '71. Chevy 64" leaf packs, arched 12", additional thin leaves added, longer shackle and shocks up to my bedcage should be very nice  
I actually plan on doing this in a few weeks, ill be sure to do a detailed how-to on the whole swap.
Run 15" aluminum wheels (or 16 like me, but it's a little harder to find tires. 17's are very popular and easy to find tires, they're really used for either 35's or 37's) , 8 or 8.25" wide. Steel is just bogus weight.
Those 31's will be fine for now until you get fiberglass/liftage, then they will be too small.

[Tycho]

Actually, you could go to the junkyard and just pick up another set of leaf packs and swap them in...
But if it was me i would take advantage of the need of new leaf springs and grab a set of Chevy 1500 64" leaf springs...
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=90876

Will any Ford truck be a viable donor vehicle?

And can I use the truck on the street with the chevy springs installed or will the trucks ass be a mile high in the air? Not
sure what you meant by nonoperational.

[1971ford]

Actually, you could go to the junkyard and just pick up another set of leaf packs and swap them in...
But if it was me i would take advantage of the need of new leaf springs and grab a set of Chevy 1500 64" leaf springs...
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=90876

Will any Ford truck be a viable donor vehicle?

And can I use the truck on the street with the chevy springs installed or will the trucks ass be a mile high in the air? Not
sure what you meant by nonoperational.

Any 1967-1972 F100 springs should swap in.

You can definitely use the chevy springs on the street,  and for the ranger guys it is only giving about an inch or two of lift, depending on what shackle is used.
I meant un-operational as in the time it takes you to pull your old springs off, relocate your hangers and install the new springs. During that time you wouldn't be able to drive it is all.

[Tycho]

Actually, you could go to the junkyard and just pick up another set of leaf packs and swap them in...
But if it was me i would take advantage of the need of new leaf springs and grab a set of Chevy 1500 64" leaf springs...
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=90876

Will any Ford truck be a viable donor vehicle?

And can I use the truck on the street with the chevy springs installed or will the trucks ass be a mile high in the air? Not
sure what you meant by nonoperational.

Any 1967-1972 F100 springs should swap in.

You can definitely use the chevy springs on the street,  and for the ranger guys it is only giving about an inch or two of lift, depending on what shackle is used.
I meant un-operational as in the time it takes you to pull your old springs off, relocate your hangers and install the new springs. During that time you wouldn't be able to drive it is all.

ahh truck doesnt ever move for now, so thats not an issue.

Im getting conflicting reports of what fits with or without trimming the fender. I don't mind hacking the fender up as long as you help me  

I was quoted 1200ish for the entire front clip from the fender flares place for the F100. Just can't afford to drop that much on fiberglass right now.

Need to know what size tires I can fit with the stock suspension with just trimming.

Truck desperately needs new tires to even really be street-able.

[FORDification]

The term 'pre-runner' used to apply to trucks that were built to scout out an off-road race course, kind of a slower 'trial run', prior to actually running the race with the race truck. They had to be built to withstand the course, but didn't have all the high-dollar items that the main race truck would have.

I ran across the following pictures on my computer, thought I'd toss these into the discussion. These are of a '71 SWB that was listed on E-bay a while ago.

[1971ford]

yep the owner of that truck has been building away on it. You should see it now. He built a whole new front end along with many other things.
The paint is about the only thing the same now.

[Tycho]

AC is officially deleted. Saved a lot of weight, engine ran a lot better (smoother) and had more power.

Ordered an Edlebrock Performer intake manifold and some Hedman Headers. Going to run open headers for now since we're not driving it more than a half mile.

Also picked up some Rancho RS5000 that are going in on Wednesday. Still trying to track down some replacement leafs. Also still looking into tires & wheels.

All in all pretty hectic running around  

[Tycho]

AC DELETED!!!





Then we noticed something odd that we missed while inspecting the truck...



The carb is actually a 4 barrel 650 CFM Carter, but it is being force fed into a 2 barrel intake!
Removing the crap adapter and sticking my Edlebrock Performer on there tonight. Should make
a world of difference. Ill try to get video of it firing up and whatnot.

Pertronix Coil & Ignitor 2 is on order. Heard they make a world of difference. Anyone used these?

Also the person who owned it before me was lazy or whatever and used water as a coolant.
No wonder the damn thing overheats when it sits still for a bit.

[1971ford]

Looking good, AC is the first thing i took out of my truck too, and now look where it's at
Funny how that 4 barrel is stuck on there!!
I might be interested in that carb if you don't want it

[Tycho]

Looking good, AC is the first thing i took out of my truck too, and now look where it's at
Funny how that 4 barrel is stuck on there!!
I might be interested in that carb if you don't want it

Carb is good for now

I hope you have a performer intake or some kind of custom intake. The difference is incredible. Not only in just
raw performance but the weight saving was insane. At least 40-50 lbs. Truck is just crazy fast now. It runs a hell
of a lot smoother as well.

Put the Ranchos in the front but I was just too tired at that point (3AM) to take pictures. Real change will come when
we take the ORIGINAL shocks out of the back and put the Ranchos there. Petronix Igniter 2 and Coil is in as well but
I wasn't there when it fired up. Apparently runs even smoother throughout the power band.

New problems:
Radiator is junk. Bled all over the driveway. *sigh* another 200ish for a new one
Power steering bled as well, but fixed with just some new hose
Mechanical fuel pump still is finicky. Doesn't flow enough for our tastes and the engine
starts a little hard at times because of it.

33s for sure come today the 12th so I cant wait. Ill def grab some pics for you guys. It's going to take an apocalypse for us
to not bolt those mofos up and see how they fit.

Still trying to find replacement leafs for the back. Can't do anything with the rear till we find some

[1971ford]

oh man, that looks sweet, i'm sure you gained a little something with that intake swap  
Thats the same intake i am looking for, for my '69 f100 390 build.