12° North Industries
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Joined: Thu Nov 23rd, 2017
Posts: 389
Name: Occupation: Vehicle Upfitter ... Interests: The great outdoors, nature, back to basics ...
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JAMMAN wrote:
Most of the prerunner ranger projects I see are 2WD. Actually all of them so far. I have no idea the origin or meaning of the name.
mhoward wrote:
Well, glad I'm not the only one that thinks "prerunner" is a dumb concept!
Ordinary Biker wrote:
mhoward wrote:
Well, glad I'm not the only one that thinks "prerunner" is a dumb concept!
Yeah, it just never made sense to me, but I guess some like it!
Technically, the word “prerunner†refers to a vehicle that pre-runs an off-road race course. A lot of off-road racers have a designated prerunner that's very similar to their actual race vehicle, which gives them a chance to run a course without having to ding up their race truck.
However, many off-road race teams have been known to pre-run rental vehicles, dirt buggies, bikes, etc., so the technical definition is pretty “loose.â€
The more common definition of the word “prerunner†is a 2WD truck that has a lift kit. The Tacoma PreRunner basically matches this description, but a lot of people build prerunners with long-travel suspensions, 500hp motors, etc.
Also, majority of all your desert runners doing 60-75MPH across the desert floor are all RWD only, this would include Baja, 500, 1000, the LV Brick 400.. With the right tires, especially in sand or dunes. A RWD will run circles around 4x4 all day and then some. Not exactly "our" thing but we have a lot of customers that cross pollinate from or towards overlanding/Baja racers.
In this last video, the green ranger is 4x and you can see how in comparison to 2WD and better suspension, or setup of said suspension how much more nose heavy a 4x is in comparison to the more level "flight" of RWD only. Most Baja trucks run 35-37" tires, depending on class and truck, and sit lower than most people's 4x's and can still yield 20-34" of suspension travel depending on the type of truck and racing. There are no 6-10" lift kits on these trucks. Those on the West Coast are just a different type of truck (Ranger when implied) owner/driver compared to those that think that muddin' or getting stuck in mud is fun.
On a personal note, I do think a Standard cab/Standard bed (6ft), with a combination of a long travel suspension setup, a Deaver 8-10 pack rear leafs, and a super lightweight RTT bed rack setup being able to mimic the driving habits of say the "Warthog" from the HALO games minus the AWS (All Wheel Steering) function in the sense of a lightweight vehicle, being able to go some distance across any terrain at 70+ MPH where the cab barely moves but the suspension jogs underneath like a trotting cheetah.. I'd be all in probably regardless of make if it were setup right. Maybe we might convert one of the 3rd Gen Rangers to such a thing and see how it turns out.
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North Industries
Las Vegas, Nevada 89118
Web http://www.12degnorth.com
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