Ever heard the term ‘prerunner’? You will have if you are a regular at off-road car rally events. It is a vehicle that tests the terrain and the trail before the actual event to ensure a safe rally. A prerunner is any vehicle used to pre-run an off-road race course. It can be any car ranging from a truck to a motorcycle. The idea is to get a lay of the land and assess the lap timings before the race. 

It’s absolutely mandatory, as it directly affects road and driver safety. The courses that the prerunners navigate are not just tricky but somewhat dangerous, and skilled drivers scout the area before others so they can join the event. As to the details, let’s discuss the topic in-depth. 

Have you heard about Baja 1000? The Baja 1000 is a Mexican off-road motorsport race on the Baja California Peninsula and is among one of the most prestigious off-road races worldwide. The origin of the term Prerunner is hidden somewhere in these auto sport and desert races.

These desert races have no particular path or track, and the drivers do not compete on a set path. They are like an endurance test for your vehicle and sometimes include difficult terrain. The only objective is to get to the destination faster than other competitors. The first winner of the Baja 1000 was Spence Murray, and even after driving a Rambler American, which didn’t even come in the top ten trucks in the race, he went ahead and grabbed the first prize. 

But why are we talking about off-road races? It is essential to understand the nature of these events to understand just how prerunners operate. Racers pre-run the track to find the best route, learn the course, and get familiar with the terrain. The better drivers know a track, the better their chances of winning. 

Pre-running a race takes about two to seven days, depending on the competition. The term originated from motor-sporting events, as the terrain had to be pre-run to avoid accidents and address driver safety concerns.

The prerequisite for a prerunner is that it should be able to endure the difficulties of the racecourse. It is not a trophy-winning truck, but they are equipped with a long-travel suspension, oversized wheels, recovery gear, and a full cage. The basics of a prerunner are as follows:

A decent Prerunner should be able to survive the terrain. Therefore, a pre-runner should have good off-road tires, efficient shock absorbers, wide-body word, roll-cage, and a stout suspension. The capacity of each component can be tweaked depending on the kind of race, terrain, and speed you want to achieve while traversing the terrain. 

The Ford Ranger tops the list of the most popular trucks built into a prerunner. These trucks are inexpensive to buy and modify, which makes them one of the best choices for a prerunner. The next in line is the Toyota Tacoma which Toyota dubbed the prerunner from 1998 to 2015. The Tacoma would cost you more than a Ford, but it is very popular to race and pre-run with due to the slightly taller suspension and wider track width. One added advantage of the Toyota Tacoma was the locking rear differential. Toyota added the ‘prerunner’ badge to the trucks in the initial years, while the later models weren’t made for that.

Prerunners are regular trucks morphed into a machine meant to blast through the desert. They are built to catch air and jump and go fast. Sometimes, they are some of the fastest trucks on the track. You can even build your prerunner truck as a side project. Though, the project is going to cost you some and then some more. You will need to invest time, money, and effort into it, but the market is rife with all the components you need to build one. You will find body panels, suspension mods, roll cages, and many other accessories needed to build a prerunner truck. 

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© 2023 J.D.Power. All rights reserved.

© 2019 J.D.Power. All rights reserved.