While race vehicles need every ounce of savings they can get, off-road vehicles like prerunners don't need to starve themselves entirely, just cut through the excess fat. How far you go is up to you, because there's nearly no end to what can be removed or replaced.

Before jumping into high dollar mods, stop & consider what the vehicle can easily do without. Remember that small items can quickly add up to big savings. Old exhaust hangers, unused brackets, lines & wires (from previous mods), sway bars (if you intend to remove them), factory spare tire carriers, insulation / sound deadening material, & factory carpet padding can result in over 100 lbs. saved alone.

In a purely off-road vehicle, the carpet, headliner, trim pieces, & door panels can be removed entirely, or replaced with aluminum counterparts. This can net another 20+ pounds in weight savings. Factory seats are enormously heavy. suspension seats like Beard or Mastercraft can knock 20 lbs. or more off the vehicle weight, and add tremendously to comfort & control in the process.

Stereo Equipment - Can you live without the 4 - 15in. sub woofers & 5 amps in the back of the cab? Will a couple 6x9's suffice? Those big magnets are extremely heavy. Again, this is a choice only you can make, based on what you value more.

Moving back to the outside of the truck, any trim pieces can be removed for a small savings, before getting into the really hard core mods. Since trim often gets ripped off on the trail, this has the advantage of being preventative maintenance. What about mirrors? If you don't need semi sized mirrors, replace them with lightweight plastic units. They are cheap and easily replaced in the event of damage.

For a dramatic savings in weight, there are fiberglass replacement pieces. Fiberglass fenders can be several pounds lighter than their stock counterparts, and fiberglass bed sides, a similar amount. The biggest weight saver of all fiberglass pieces is a fiberglass replacement hood. With the stock hood weighing well over 40 lbs., the fiberglass versions 10-15 lbs. seems small by comparison. all totaled, fiberglass pieces can save between 50 & 150 lbs., depending on the vehicle. The bigger the truck, the more weight will be saved.

Window glass is very heavy. Your vehicle's windows contribute an incredible ammount of weight to your total GVW. Thanks to the aerospace industry, there are now Lexan replacements available which are worlds stronger, extremely light weight, and can take direct rock hits with a smile. Unfortunately, Lexan is not cheap. Many off-roaders would be hard pressed to justify the expense, but for those wanting, or needing to shed every unwanted ounce, it's a sure fire method of weight loss...Richard Simmons not included.

Another trick for the extremely hard core wheeler, is eliminating the pick-up box entirely, and fabricating brackets to mount fiberglass bedsides. While this shaves several hundred pounds off the vehicle's weight, you loose all your carrying capacity outside the cab. With some suspension mods, the box may end up looking like Swiss cheese anyway. Coilover, 1/4 Elliptic 3 & 4 Link desert suspensions (among others), structural race cages, & other mods like fuel cells, dual spare tires, relocated batteries & radiators would render the box useless.

What about your engine? Aluminum water pumps & intake manifolds (replacing factory cast iron pieces) can free up well over 100 pounds over the front end, depending on the engine. Open element air filters (where acceptable for use) are pounds lighter than a factory unit. Headers in place of cast iron manifolds will also yield big weight savings, and up your power & mileage to boot!

Lastly, there is the use of alloy steel, like Chro-moly. Due to its strength, thinner wall tubing & plate can be used in the construction of structural cages, suspension parts & elsewhere, saving weight when compared to the equivalent strength mild steel pieces. The ways to reduce weight are only limited by what you're willing to do without, your imagination, and of course, cubic dollars. The path to en-"light"-enment, young Jedi, is entirely your own.

Redistribution Once you've pulled every trick in the book, knocked several hundred pounds off your truck, and sit in smug satisfaction of a job well done, you will find that the majority of the truck's weight is still carried over the front end. This is not what we call "a good thing". Since the "ideal" distribution is 50% front, 50% rear, you must now begin the arduous task of relocating that weight to achieve a 50/50 weight bias, or as close to it as possible.

But "weight" a second. there are other things to consider as well. Center of gravity is one of them. When you begin moving parts to places the factory never intended, your goal must be to keep the weight as low as possible, and in a position that will result in a truck balanced on all it's axis. Getting nervous yet? Balance, front to rear, and side to side are equally important. All things being equal, if the truck is nose heavy (say a 70/30 front rear bias) the truck will land nose down from a jump. Or it will dig it's front end into the sand or other soft surfaces, getting you stuck. At a 50/50 bias, the truck would fly levelly, or distribute it's weight over all 4 tires equally, perhaps avoiding the winch cable. The same applies for side to side bias. At 70/30 side bias, the truck will land to that side, or display terrible handling, possibly rolling over on a sharp turn.

That is a very basic description. The actual science gets into pitch, roll, yaw, polar movement of inertia, and a host of other concepts best left to the experts in the field. As an enthusiast, you're looking for a simple "what works & what doesn't". While there's no magic formula for every vehicle out there, here's a few ideas to move you in the right direction.

Items for Relocation

• Radiator
• Transmission Cooler / coolers
• Batteries
• Fuel tank / Cell
• Spare Tire / Tires

Desert trucks often mount their radiators in the bed, or across the "roll bar" portion of the rear cage. Air is ducted to the radiator by "scoops" above the roof line, to the side of the cab, or both. In every bed mounted application, there will be 1 or 2 electric fans per radiator (yes, some trucks run 2 & even 3 !).

Relocation of the radiator serves a couple purposes. First, there's the redistribution of weight. Big radiators carry a lot of coolant, and as such, are heavy. Second, the bed mount radiator is better protected than in the stock position. Branches, rocks, and other debris has a lot harder time finding it's way through the fragile cooling passages of the radiator core. Lastly is collision protection. In racing, a frontal impact can easily puncture, twist, or otherwise destroy the radiator, leaving the vehicle out of action. Rear mounting eliminates the problem entirely.

Transmission Coolers See above. The rationale for rear location of transmission coolers is nearly identical to radiators. Because of their smaller size, tranny coolers are able to be mounted in a number of well protected areas, while electric fans move the air, and reduce operating temps significantly. In dual cooler applications, one cooler is usually mounted on each side of the vehicle, maintaining balance.

Batteries Because of their weight, batteries are mounted as low as possible. In dual applications, they can be mounted side by side, directly behind the cab. A pair of batteries weighs around 100 lbs., and represents a significant weight relocation.

FuelCell The preferred location for fuel cell mounting is between the frame rails, directly behind the rear axle. This allows for easy fueling, and moves 7 lbs. per gallon (aprox.) of fuel to a centered position in the rear of the vehicle. With a 30 gallon cell, that's over 200 lbs. Stock tanks are often driver side mounted, and hang below the frame rail in a vounurable position. This relocation addresses several problem areas simultaneously.

Spare Tire Mounting The last major item for relocation are the spare tire/tires. There are only two real places remaining on the truck to mount a spare/spares. One is over the fuel cell / rear bumper, and atop the "down tubes" of the roll cage (above the rear axle). This is a compromise in weight, because it benefits the rear weight distribution, but raises the truck's center of gravity. The other is to design the down tubes / rear bumper to act as a spare tire carrier at their rear most point. This too is a compromise, as it is better for the truck's center of gravity, but sacrifices departure angle. Both designs have been used, and are proven to work well on desert trucks. Again, this comes down to what you are willing to sacrifice.

Had enough yet? Thought so. As you can see, there's a lot more to weight than meets the eye. While this article merely scratches the surface of what's possible, it's hoped that it will set you thinking in directions you hadn't yet considered. Weight reduction & distribution can have a dramatic effect on a vehicles performance. How dramatic that effect will be depends on how far you're willing to take it.