Calling all f100/f250 Prerunners

[Tycho]

Hey guys,

Im having trouble finding information about building a f100 or f250 prerunner. Can't seem to find any kits, or any places that specialize in fabrication for these trucks.
I have a chance to buy some really clean, cheap trucks here in AZ and I've always loved the look of the F100/F250s from these years.

I'm mainly looking for travel not just lift. If anyone has ANY sort of information or can direct me to some place I can start figuring out much this is going to cost  

Not looking to build out a full on race truck but just a weekend toy and something to work on.

Any help is greatly appreciated. At this point, google has failed me!

thanks

[papabug71]

Hey Tycho, Welcome to FORDification. I have a feeling you & 1971ford are going to become great friends. He has one of the only pre-runner bumps on the site. If I remember correctly, he has custom fabbed alot of his stuff  

I'll let him holler at you. I dont know heads or tails about pre runners. We just call them 2 wheel drives.

Have a good one.

[Tycho]

Hey Tycho, Welcome to FORDification. I have a feeling you & 1971ford are going to become great friends. He has one of the only pre-runner bumps on the site. If I remember correctly, he has custom fabbed alot of his stuff  

I'll let him holler at you. I dont know heads or tails about pre runners. We just call them 2 wheel drives.

Have a good one.

Yeah his truck is not only nice, it's pretty much exactly what im shooting for. I had already sent him a PM before I made this thread.
I see a lot of F100s in magazines and whatnot, but none list who did the fab work or where you can find any sort of information on work for these trucks.

[1971ford]

This shall be the official prerunner thread, that i can link people to. So ill start stuffing information in here.

Here's mine,
project thread: http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... &start=315


Only thing missing in this picture of the interior is the Baja 540c GPS. And its a bad picture.

September 5th, 2009. First race


Currently, but not for long, it is sitting on autofab coils up front and stock leaf packs in the rear with 2 leaves pulled out of each pack.
However it is now off-season and we plan on swapping the rear springs out for Deaver race packs, 16" smooth body shocks mounted to bed cage, and up front we will be adding a shock hoop for my 10" resevoir single bypass shocks. Many other plans of course, including tranny swap, coolers, engine rebuild, all that fun stuff.
The truck rides better than i expected with the current suspension. The only problem is that without a good set of shocks up front, once the front end starts bouncing.... it bounces.. and doesn't like to stop.
The rear leaf's are OK with a 32 gallon fuel cell and two spares on top. It was bottoming out however because we did not test with a full cell.

I could go on and on about my truck, let me know what you want to know about it and i'd be glad to help out.

I have TONS of pictures of old ford prerunners, i have collected them for a very long time. It'd be hard to post them all.
Here are a few build threads you should check out.
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=77541
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthre ... 287&page=3
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=83702
http://www.off-roadweb.com/features/050 ... to_01.html
http://www.desertrides.com/forum/viewto ... sc&start=0
http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56135
http://autofab.com/F100%20Prerunner.htm
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthr ... 194&page=2
there's some

Also check out this magazine Keith scanned
http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=31472

[Tycho]

Alright, maybe I should break it down a bit more

Say I grab one of the MANY f100s or F250s sitting around here in AZ (Anywhere from 500 to 1500 depending on engine, trans and body condition)

whats the first step to getting some travel out of the suspension? I'm familiar with Deavers and I assume I could find some for the back. What about the front?

Autofab's site is prehistoric so if anyone has any concrete info on where and for how much I can buy a front kit I'd REALLY appreciate it. I realize these trucks are
somewhat of an oddity in prerunner land but there has to be info out there.

I've got plenty of money for this pet project I just want to do it on the cheap since it will only be a weekend toy (and definitely not a race truck of any sort)

[1971ford]

Autofab makes great stuff, he's all about the old Ford's too. However his website is practically famous for being a disaster.

http://autofab.com/65-79.htm
http://autofab.com/wheel.htm

This is what i'd reccomend for you, very nice kit. Throw some resevoir shocks on there (either buy used or get new FOA's. FOA is the new shock company that has by far the best prices)
http://autofab.com/5lift.htm

THen you will probably want some fiberglass instead of cutting your fenders but it's up to you.
I have autofab fiberglass, that was donated to me but you can get it straight from John too, it's not cheap though. Keep an eye out on Race-dezert classifieds all the time for good deals.

Then its all up to you on extra stuff such as a fiberglass hood for a big weight save, and things like that.

For the rear, you need to think about building atleast a bedcage. That's the only way to get a 16" shock in the rear that can work with all your travel. I can probably look through all my picture and find a few simpler bedcages for ideas.
you also need to keep an eye on your weight distribution, in example, if you had a 460 up front and nothing in the rear then you will be landing straight on your nose, which is why i have my 32gal fuel cell and spares on the very rear.

You might want to think about a simple cabcage too though, i know you said not fully caged but what's going to happen when you roll the truck? or when your leaf springs buck you over your front end? If you don't cage it, don't run 5 point harnesses. Racing seats are fine but keep the stock lap belts if you don't cage it because when the cab folds down in a roll, you want your body to be able to fold over too.

[Tycho]

This is what i'd reccomend for you, very nice kit. Throw some resevoir shocks on there (either buy used or get new FOA's. FOA is the new shock company that has by far the best prices)
http://autofab.com/5lift.htm

Nice. couldnt find that on his site. appreciate it. So I'd need to buy 4 reservoir shocks total?

THen you will probably want some fiberglass instead of cutting your fenders but it's up to you.
I have autofab fiberglass, that was donated to me but you can get it straight from John too, it's not cheap though. Keep an eye out on Race-dezert classifieds all the time for good deals.

body work is a low priority. But that fenderflare website that makes them for the F100/F250 seemed reasonable.

For the rear, you need to think about building atleast a bedcage. That's the only way to get a 16" shock in the rear that can work with all your travel. I can probably look through all my picture and find a few simpler bedcages for ideas.
you also need to keep an eye on your weight distribution, in example, if you had a 460 up front and nothing in the rear then you will be landing straight on your nose, which is why i have my 32gal fuel cell and spares on the very rear.

You might want to think about a simple cabcage too though, i know you said not fully caged but what's going to happen when you roll the truck? or when your leaf springs buck you over your front end? If you don't cage it, don't run 5 point harnesses. Racing seats are fine but keep the stock lap belts if you don't cage it because when the cab folds down in a roll, you want your body to be able to fold over too.

Hope I don't roll the truck   Cage is last but important, I understand. I'm more worried about getting the thing in the air and on some 35s. Didn't know that about the back, though. Guess I need to start looking around Phoenix for a shop that can do good cage work! Gonna be expensive im sure  

[1971ford]

I'm not sure what John recommends for that kit, I'd ask him for the best advice on how many shocks per wheel, what travel and what kind. I guess if you were re-using your old buckets then you would only use one shock, possibly two per wheel and they would just be a stock-replacement type (since the shock configuration on the front of our trucks is a peg on the top).

There are definately some good off-road fab shops in AZ, that can set you up with a nice simple bedcage.
I'd build you one if you one for cost of materials if you were local. I'm guessing for a simple bedcage it would be about $75-150 in materials, but it totally depends on what you use.  You can get away with mild steel, or DOM (better mild steel) or you could use Chromoly (overkill for a non-race beast).
Take a look at this.
http://www.desertrides.com/reference/bedcage.php

Other things to concider into your bedcage...
You'll want a spare with you, and you will want it attached to the bedcage for it to be secure, so do a simple tire holder. But you may want two, because once you blow your first tire, the fun is over and you must take it easy. But with two, you can blow two tires and still drive home. Totally up to you, many prerunners run a single spare.
Other thing is if you want your bed to still be function, i have seen many clean bedcages that still allow 90% of beduse.

[Tycho]

Quick question. What type of lift do I need for 35s? Might just do that first, and then figure out the cage and all that eventually. Take a more gradual... less wallet shocking approach  

[1971ford]

the tires i have on my truck right now, are 34 1/4 or something. Not quite 35's.
It depends on how much cutting you want to do but I'd say get 4" lift springs or something, and cut your fenders appropriately (i have autofab fiberglass).
However you will have camber issues because of the liftage. My springs are progressive autofab springs but they have got to be something like 5-6" of lift, which gives the truck quite a bit of camber. We toed it out quite a bit so it tends to take away some of the camber when moving, and the truck rides perfect, including highway. It doesn't wander, sway, nothing. I drive mine with the camber like it is, it just weard tires faster and looks funny. Im bending the beams soon though.
To correct the camber you will need to bend the beams (autofab, or if you can find someone that can do it) or you could use drop brackets but you want to avoid that.
For the rear, well i actually pulled two leaves out of each pack and still stuffed my "35's" in there with fender cutting (that you see in the pictures). You could do the same. Note your gearing will be different and your speedo will no longer be accurate. And you need to watch you rim offset, and how wide your rims are.

Overall, really all you need to get are some lift coils, and do some fender trimming and you can stuff 35's on.

Let's see some pictures of your truck

[Tycho]

I plan on buying the autofab kit, as well as fenders and a hood to save weight up front. What's your name? Ill be sure to mention you sent me  

For the back I've read that shackles with deavers is a great combo that cycles a lot of travel without costing too much. And on that note, does anyone make
F100 bedsides (or any other bedside for that matter) that bolt up nicely?

I have, somehow, managed to locate a f100 with a 351 windsor in it. Saves approx 200+ lbs off the front end by itself. No, it's not the original engine but
a lot of work went into it and its a total steal at the price its at. Hopefully picking it up tomorrow or Sunday.

Will more than likely be doing the truck in Blitz Black for the time being. Anything is better than the current calico theme.

Wheels are 5 on 5.5 correct? Will modern wheels like the stockers off a Jeep Rubicon or Dodge Ram work without spacers or anything fancy? I'm looking to
pickup some cheap used ones rather than going all out and spending more on wheels n tires than I did the entire truck.  

[1971ford]

I plan on buying the autofab kit, as well as fenders and a hood to save weight up front. What's your name? Ill be sure to mention you sent me  

For the back I've read that shackles with deavers is a great combo that cycles a lot of travel without costing too much. And on that note, does anyone make
F100 bedsides (or any other bedside for that matter) that bolt up nicely?

I have, somehow, managed to locate a f100 with a 351 windsor in it. Saves approx 200+ lbs off the front end by itself. No, it's not the original engine but
a lot of work went into it and its a total steal at the price its at. Hopefully picking it up tomorrow or Sunday.

Will more than likely be doing the truck in Blitz Black for the time being. Anything is better than the current calico theme.

Wheels are 5 on 5.5 correct? Will modern wheels like the stockers off a Jeep Rubicon or Dodge Ram work without spacers or anything fancy? I'm looking to
pickup some cheap used ones rather than going all out and spending more on wheels n tires than I did the entire truck.  

John at autofab wouldn't know me i don't think, Although i do have a few of his parts (fiberglass and coils), i got them used. The fenders were actually donated to me and the coils i got for $60 from a guy in so-cal on another forum, that is switching to coilovers.
Yep, deavers + shackles + a resevoir shock extending to a bedcage will work wonders. Is it short or long bed bedsides you're looking for? if it's short, then yes you will be able to find fiberglass but if it's a longbed then you won't have any luck finding fiberglass like me. I'm rocking the steel bedsides. Once they get totaled for some reason i will cut my whole bed out (the rest of it anyways) and hang another pair of metal bedsides off a scrap truck or something. Or if i feel like it i will shorten the wheelbase.
Quite a few prerunners run a 351w. Im not sure if you know of "brodozer" but it is one of the links i posted earlier of a built '69 racer. He run's a 351w and has some pictures of the engine and it's build in his project thread. That would be great if you got that truck. Long bed or short?
Yes, 5x5.5 is the pattern for the f100's. I'm not totally sure about interchangeability though, but i know some jeeps do have the same pattern.

[Tycho]

Bought the truck. pics coming tomorrow.

72 F100 Longbed 4x2 with AC, Power (disc) brakes, power steering

Engine is a 351 Windsor. Possibly out of a Torino. 3 speed AT

Very nice lady sold it to me and did a lot of the work herself. The body is in great shape!

[Brix542]

Can someone explain to me just what a prerunner is? New to here so just asking

[1971ford]

Bought the truck. pics coming tomorrow.

72 F100 Longbed 4x2 with AC, Power (disc) brakes, power steering

Engine is a 351 Windsor. Possibly out of a Torino. 3 speed AT

Very nice lady sold it to me and did a lot of the work herself. The body is in great shape!

Nice! Longbed power! Can't wait for some pics.

Can someone explain to me just what a prerunner is? New to here so just asking

A prerunner is really a off-road truck that is used to pre-run desert races (You may of heard of the Baja 1000), but the name prerunner has expanded quite a bit, now a off-road racing truck of anykind is often referred to as a prerunner, instead of saying "desert race truck".