I found this Explorer online and felt it needed to be in our magazine. After tracking down the owner I was able to get the dirt on this Explorer prerunner.
The owner Trent Gilmore is a 20-year-old Long Beach native that bought this Explorer when he was 16. Working odd jobs and saving his earnings paid off for him, and at 18 he had his Explorer transformed into the long travel desert brawler you see here.
Trent had been into off-roading for some time and wanted his Explorer built so he could chase his friends that road dirt bikes. After seeing Trents Explorer his friends are now building their own prerunners.
Trent likes to hit all the California area hot spots like Ocotillo Wells, Barstow, Pismo Beach, and El Mirage, and by the looks of that picture above, he is not afraid of a little low altitude flying.
The front suspension on this Explorer is comprised of custom 4.5 over beams and radius arms with a custom engine cage tying everything together. Holding up the front end are 14 x 2.5 Swayaway coilovers.
The rear of this Explorer is made up of Deaver springs and Bilstein 5150s, all of this sitting on a set of 35 BFG All Terrains.
To offset the larger tire size Trent opted to have the 8.8-inch axle stuffed with 4.88 gears.
Every prerunner needs a custom bumper to house some off-road lights, and Trent had one built by CM Speed to hold 2 Hella 4000s w/HID conversion.
As you can see Trent built himself a great prerunner that just about everyone can afford. So when people tell you they dont have the money to build a prerunner, tell them about Trents Explorer and prove them wrong.
