This prerunner owner is not afraid of heights.
I met Brandon the owner of this white Ford Ranger Prerunner on a forum, where I posted a thread looking for other prerunners in Las Vegas. The thread continued to get diluted with personal chat, so I stopped looking at it. A couple months later I got an email from Brandon giving me an update on the post I started and that they were planning a run.
After some emailing back and forth Brandon and a couple other guys brought out their prerunners for a little fun. Next month you will see the other Ranger prerunner we shot, but youll just have to wait for that one.
Our day started in the early afternoon; man it was hot, but with the A/C cranked it sure did not stop the action. After meeting and looking over each others prerunner we hit the desert.
We headed back to an area with a small jump to see what Brandons Ranger could do. He had so much travel up front it simply soaked up the jump like it wasnt there.
This prerunner handles the bumps in front thanks to the help of an H&M Motorsports Ranger kit. The custom a-arms are 5 inches wider per side, holding onto custom spindles all constructed from 4130 using CAD software. Each piece of steel is precision cut using a laser, so every kit they build is top quality. All of this attention to detail equals 16 of usable travel.
Brandon chose 10″ King 2.5 Single Rate coil-overs, and if he jumps it a little too high the King bumpstops help cushion the landing.
6 inch Glassworks fiberglass front fenders cover the 33 BFG All Terrain tires.
The rear of this truck is still stock but you wouldnt know it be seeing the air Brandon catches. In order to make room in the rear he does have the stock bedsides flared. This gives him the necessary clearance for those 33s.
Editor’s Note
If you notice in the picture of the rear that it is all sky in front of the truck that because of the location. From our first location, I saw this mountain to the north of us. I thought it would make for some great pictures. I led the way then Brandon hauled past me and hit this mountain. When we reachedthe base of it I had no idea how he was going to make it up there in a 2WD Ranger wil the stock 3.Slow v-6 and stock gears. This had 4WD Jeep written all over it. His first attempt left him about 20 feet from the top. It turned out the top was really rutted making the climb even harder. He gunned it a second time from the spot he stopped and the truck lurched and bounced and he finally made it. I was in such awe I didn’t even think to get the camera out. I did however catch next month’s feature prerunner climbing this mountain so you’ll have to wait to see it.
I asked Brandon when the rear was getting done and he is looking for a 9in rear-end to slip under his Ranger, and then he will get the Deavers and bedcage. He also plans on using 16 King by-pass shocks with another set of King bumpstops.
Another plan in the works is Brandon will be building a cage from front to back. He figures with his addiction to air he better keep himself safe so he can continue to enjoy it.
I asked Brandon how he got into prerunners and he said, “I started building my truck because I have been going to desert races ever since I moved to Las Vegas in 2001. I instantly fell in love with the whole off road scene and it just grew from there. We owned a class 9 car and then when I was old enough to drive I decided to get a Ranger once I saw other prerunners at the races. It kind of just snow balled from there.”
After all the abuse Brandon was putting his truck through something finally gave. Check out our Prerunner Carnage column for details on what Brandon broke.
Stock rear or not Brandon loves to catch air in his Prerunner take a look at these picks.
