1st Gen Ford Expedition Prerunner SUV with Long Travel Suspension

If you are a fan of PreRunner trucks but are kind of tired of seeing modified Chevy Silverado and Ford F-series trucks everywhere, then you will definitely appreciate this Ford Expedition PreRunner build. Being quite an unusual choice for a prerunner platform, it actually features everything one may need to build a real desert-worthy truck, such as the Triton 5.4L V8 engine, extended length chassis, and a limited-slip rear differential in stock form.

These trucks were equipped with either rear or four-wheel drive drivetrains, featuring a dual-speed transfer case. Since the majority of components are unified with the Ford F-series trucks, it opens up a lot of possibilities for swapping parts with the 10th Gen F-150.

Expedition Prerunner Build

The owner of this 1997 Ford Expedition decided to turn his family hauler into a full-out desert truck and completely reimagined the front and rear suspension of this SUV, making it eat bumps and whoops like a real trophy truck.

Obviously, it wasn’t an easy task since there isn’t much knowledge in building Expedition-based prerunners, but the similarity with the F150 trucks and a desire to create something awesome helped him accept this creative challenge with great enthusiasm.

Suspension

As with any PreRunner build, the suspension was the major element of this project. To achieve the ultimate result in terms of durability and wheel travel, it was decided to use a Dixon Brothers long-travel 4×4 suspension kit, which was adapted to this SUV with minor modifications.

The truck was fitted with Alhzeim steering, with boxed lower and tubular upper control arms with factory arm mounts that could be aligned easily to make the truck absolutely roadworthy.

2.5-inch King coilovers with triple bypass and bump stops were installed with the help of Nexus Metal Works fabricated shock mounts and a simple single bar over the motor to provide ultimate suspension kinematics and maximize durability of this setup. As a result, the builder managed to achieve impressive 16-inch front wheel travel with a fully functional 4×4 drivetrain.

Rear suspension obviously required much more modification since it’s very different than a similar leaf spring setup on F150 trucks. Among the upgrades are factory lower link mounts with 4130 boxed links and uniballs on both ends, two fabricated high-mounted upper links, and a hard bar that aims for very predictable handling and reduced sway. King 2.5-inch coilovers with bump stops allowed achievement of an even more impressive 18 inches of wheel travel with large 35-inch tires, making this Expedition an absolutely race-worthy prerunner.

Safety

The safety features were not overlooked in this project either, so the interior was outfitted with a full cage which is completely TIG-welded at a professional shop. Four Beard bucket seats with 5-point Crow harnesses were installed to keep the driver and the crew securely planted during desert runs.

---

---

Conclusion

Based on our comprehensive off-road capability rating system, this expertly crafted Ford Expedition prerunner build scores an impressive 60 out of 70 possible points, with the only notable omission being the absence of a front locker. However, while a front locker would be crucial for a rock crawler build, its absence is hardly noticeable in a high-speed prerunner build like this where the emphasis is on maintaining momentum through desert terrain rather than a slow crawl over the rocks.