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The perennial project vehicle, the Jeep CJ / YJ series, has appeared time and time again in most forms of media. In short, nearly everything that "can" be done to a Jeep, has been done. Being the strong individualists that off-roaders are, they have begun looking beyond the venerable Jeep for new challenges & vehicles to meet them on. Among the many options, the emerging favorite is the Ford Ranger. With several million trucks sold over the past decade, early model Rangers’ have become very affordable on the secondary market. Secondly, the Ford Ranger is a very durable vehicle in stock form, having proven to be a dominant competitor in desert racing’s stock & mini truck classes over the years. Lastly, the Ranger is well supported by the automotive aftermarket, making a wide variety of performance parts readily available to the truck builder.

Off-Road.com has undertaken Project Pre-Rocker (PPR) to build a Ford Ranger that is highly capable in the deserts of the American Southwest, and beyond. Utilizing the long travel suspension technology derived from desert racing, and the "go anywhere" abilities of rockcrawling SUV’s, we are creating a true Multiple Use vehicle capable of outstanding performance in a variety of terrain. This is a high performance vehicle project, and as such, will utilize components based solely on their fitness for the application, and not aesthetic value. There are enough "Trailer Queens" & Boulevard Cruisers" masquerading as Prerunners out there, and we have no intention of building another one.

It is our intent however, to bring desert racing technology to a wider audience. Many enthusiasts are confused and misinformed as to what constitutes a Prerunner / Desert Racer, their chassis / suspensions, and how & why they work. Working in concert with industry professionals including Donahoe Racing Enterprises, Stewart Raceworks, Protruck Racing Org., RaceFab Mfg. Baja Brokers, and racers like Greg Foutz, Krieg Donahoe, Dale White/White Lightning Racing, Carlos Iribe, Gerardo Iribe & Larry Ragland, we will be bringing  you factual, useful, and easy to understand information on the subject. Off-Road.com editor & Baja 1000 champion Rick Sieman (builder of the famous Off-Road Magazine "Big Oly" Bronco) will be adding his own irreverent expertise with several articles, including "Determining Spring Rates", Tube Bending", and others which have been grossly misunderstood by the off-roading public at large.

Sieman, famous for his easy to understand, humorous articles, brings a dimension to the project which is sorely lacking in the industry today. Namely, taking unbelievably complicated subjects and turning them into useable knowledge that the average off roader can put into use right in his own garage. The bottom line is that you, the reader, will be exposed to a side of off-road performance that you may not even know existed. You will learn about the the technology that goes into prerunners & desert race trucks. More importantly, you will learn how it can be applied to your own vehicle, resulting in a much stronger, better performing trail machine.

While it goes without saying that Project PreRocker will perform well in it's natural element, what is not apparent is what it's capabilities will be in varied terrain, such as rockcrawling, mountain trails, and mud. To date, no publication has tested and reported on the performance of prerunners & their technology in any terrain but the desert. One of the major questions to be answered by Project PreRocker is "What If..." What if you took a 4wd prerunner to the slickrock of Moab? How would it perform? It has the articulation, clearance and wheel travel.....could it hold it's own against the rock rigs? Could it, in certain areas, even exceed them?

What if you took a 4wd prerunner and entered it in "Tough Truck" competition? is desert tech strong enough to withstand the punishment?

What if you went "Sportsman Class" racing in the desert? Just how close to a "real" desert race truck is a prerunner anyway?

What if you took a 4wd prerunner & went to the dunes? Is it to heavy to navigate the sand, or would it's long legs have your adrenaline pumping in anticipation as you crested a razorback?

What if you took a 4wd prerunner on a regular club outing with your friends in the mountains? Are those big flared fenders a bit too wide to make it through the trails, or will you be enjoying a pretty comfy ride, while the owners of trucks equipped with "normal" suspensions reach for the kidney belts?

It's the intent of Project PreRocker to answer all these questions, and more. It's our belief that prerunners & their technology make them the ultimate "go anywhere, do anything" vehicle, and we're setting out to prove it. Will we be successful? Is this technology "too specialized" for general usage? Only time will tell, but we're gonna' find out, and we're inviting you along for the ride.

So, in the words of longtime desert racer Frank "Scoop" Vessles,

"Get in, strap down, shut up & HOLD ON"!