Jimco Racing Jimco Reaper Pre-Runner
05/17/2020
B obby Patton, Texas oil billionaire and co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team likes to drive off-road races - for example the Dakar Rally. Now he has had a new off-road racer built, based on a Ford F-150 Raptor, which is already suitable for off-road use. Patton wanted more power, more off-road mobility and more luxury. Jimco Racing from Santee, northeast of San Diego, has extensively rebuilt the Raptor for him. Now the Raptor is called Reaper (Grim Reaper).
Jimco Racing
Momo suede steering wheel and lots of leather: The interior of the Jimco Reaper.
With 9.1-liter V8
The Reaper is supposed to serve as a so-called pre-runner, i.e. explore the terrain beforehand during rallies - sometimes over a thousand kilometers. So the Reaper has to help its occupants to cover the route quickly and comfortably. Instead, the 400 hp V6 was thrown out and a 9.1-liter V8 from Dougans Racing Engines from Riverside east of L.A. came in. The re-bored Chevrolet engine for the Ford pick-up has an output of 811 hp and a maximum torque of 949 Newton meters. Gearworks specialist Gearworks from Las Vegas has specially adapted a four-speed automatic transmission of the type GM 4L80E to the monster engine.
Jimco Racing
Suspension with Fox springs and Fox bypass shock absorbers.
Up to 81 centimeters of suspension travel
The so-called Victory chassis designed by Jimco has a fiberglass body that is only vaguely reminiscent of that of the original Raptor. The independent front suspension and the four-link rear axle suspension are Jimco's own developments. They work with Fox racing springs and Fox 4.0 and 4.4 bypass shock absorbers. Jimco specifies the front suspension travel as 26 inches (66 centimeters), the rear suspension travel is an enormous 81 centimeters. The brakes are six-piston systems from Brembo, the brake discs have a diameter of 14 inches (35.56 centimeters). The 40-inch KR3 off-road tires from BFGoodrich Racing sit on 17-inch rims with beadlock protection.
Hard plastic out, leather and two air conditioning units in
In the interior, Jimco has replaced many hard plastic surfaces with leather ones. The original steering wheel had to give way to a suede steering wheel from Momo. The Pro4 racing bucket seats from MasterCraft from Indianapolis have been given diamond quilting and six-point seat belts keep the occupants in position during off-road flight. There are also several radios and an off-road navigation system. Jimco swaps the air conditioning for two more powerful ones and the cruise control is retained.
Jimco has not yet revealed the price of the Reaper. Used off-road racers built by Jimco start at 200,000 dollars (currently around 184,256 euros). Thus, new conversions should cost a higher six-digit amount.
