Pre-Runner Parts

Have you ever wanted to drive your truck at blazing fast speeds off road, just soaking up the bumps as you go? If so, then you want to build a pre-runner. And for that, you're going to need pre-runner parts. But before we get into that, let's give you a little bit more background.

You've probably heard of it before, but rally racing has been a thing for decades now. There's a particular breed of rally racing for trucks where you take a specially prepped model out to the desert, woods or somewhere else off-road, and then go down a track at high speeds. Learning how the track is shaped and works is important, so racers used to get a stock truck — one that wasn't as custom as their race model — and use it to "pre-run" down the track. These "pre-runners" are lifted, have long-travel suspensions and just float down the strip. And if you want to build one, you need to get yourself a ton of pre-runner parts.

Now you can go a bunch of different directions with your build, but one of your first pre-runner parts should be the suspension. You need something that will allow your front and rear ends to cycle up and down a lot. The best pre-runner parts allow that cycling to happen while still keeping your front camber in good shape, that way you keep contact with the road.

The next pre-runner part on your list is the shocks, and these are absolutely critical. To understand why, let's give you a little bit of background. Your car, truck or SUV is held up in the air by the suspension. This could be coil springs, a leaf spring or anything along those lines. They support the weight of the vehicle, and allow the suspension to go up and down when it hits a bump. But a shock absorber dampens that ride. If they weren't there, every time you hit a bump your vehicle would just oscillate up and down seemingly forever. Shock absorbers smooth out that motion, which is why they're one of the most critical pre-runner parts.

Your truck or SUV is going to haul down those back roads or trails, and without good shocks, you won't have any traction. Those pre-runner parts are so critical that they hold your truck down to the ground, essentially. So your shocks need to be high quality.

You may also need to get pre-runner parts like shock hoops to mount those shocks. They give you a mounting point that allows you to run a remote reservoir and longer travel shocks entirely. It gives you more room and travel than stock, and that's a good thing.

Another one of the pre-runner parts that you might want to invest in are fender flares. These are bigger than the stock fenders, and have wider and deeper arches. They allow your larger-than-stock tires to travel deep into the fenderwells, so you don't bottom out when you're turning or hammering up a hill. Pre-runner parts like these are cosmetic, yes. But they also serve a valid purpose, so they're something to add to your pre-runner parts list.

If you have any questions about pre-runner parts, like which ones you should get for your next build, don't hesitate to give us a call. Our support staff knows how these things work, and they can get your pointed in the right direction. Or just swing by the shop and ask them yourself. They're here for you, too.