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.” 28 

PRE-RUNNER BUILDERS 

JIMCO 

https://www.jimcoracing.com/

ALUMICRAFT 

https://www.drivealumicraft.com/

GEISER BROTHERS RACING 

(602) 944-4333 

STEWART’S RACEWORKS INC. 

https://stewartsraceworks.com/

ARMADA ENGINEERING 

https://www.armada-engineering.com/

RJ FABRICATION 

https://robrjfab.com/ 

JAKE VELASCO RACE PREP 

El Cajon, Ca 

HANNA RACE AND DESIGN 

https://www.hannarace.com/

BRENTHEL INDUSTRIES 

https://brenthelindustries.com/