Rangers were unable to hold on to a lead that practically lasted the entire game after Gareth Ainsworth had put the R's ahead early on.
The former Preston man gave Rangers the lead in the fourth minute, after the visitors had dominated the opening exchanges and were looking particularly lively.
His conversion of Lee Cook's corner was no less than Rangers deserved based on their early work rate.
But Preston began to take hold of the game and Paul McKenna's late header was a cruel blow to Rangers after having led for so long, but in truth, gave a more realistic scoreline to the proceedings.
Gary Waddock named an unchanged side for the Championship fixture at Deepdale.
And it was Rangers who flew out of the traps, failing to hide their intentions that they were here for all htree points.
Ainsworth steamed down the right wing of his old stomping ground, robbed his man of the ball and whipped a telling ball into the box.
There was no one there to meet it on this occasion, so the winger took matters into his own hands moments later when he put Rangers in the lead.
With just four minutes on the clock, Ainsworth scurried into as much space as he could muster and jabbed home Cook's corner.
But jubilation turned to despair minutes later when Martin Rowlands went to ground unchallenged and signalled to the bench immediately.
Steve Lomas replaced the midfielder and set to commanding his area straight away.
The balls were flying in to the Preston 18 yard box; this time Cook whipped it in and forced Carlo Nash to fly off his line and punch away.
And when Nick Ward let fly from outside the area, the Preston fans voiced their frustrations at their team. At the other end of the field however, "We are QPR" could be heard ringing around the ground.
Any previous fears of Ward being unable to adapt to the tough tackling Championship were proving to become more and more unfounded as the game progressed. In fact, the Australian seemed to be relishing the physical side of football.
Preston then enjoyed their spell in the sun, but squandered their best chance of the game when David Nugent blasted over the bar.
Mauro Milanese then had to be on his guard to head over a Simon Whaley cross as Preston continued to push Rangers at the back.
But when Ray Jones was pushed flat on his face 20 yards out, Rangers were able to regain their composure and enjoy a breather before Cook's free kick.
Although his effort beat the wall, the midfielder also cleared the cross bar.
Preston then suffered an injury worry of their own when Kelvin Wilson was stretchered off, forcing Alan McCormack to take his place.
That led to five minutes of injury time being played out at the end of the first half, which brought on a few jangling nerves as if it were the end of the full 90.
Rangers didn't rest on their lead though and Dexter Blackstock fired a 25 yard shot into the arms of Nash.
Play immediately swung to the other end and Preston had looked certain to equalise when David Nugent's header made its way towards goal, only to be tipped round the post by Paul Jones.
That man Nugent was again causing chaos at the back for Rangers when he ran on to a Matty Hill cross, and despite looking certain to score, he blazed his shot over the bar on the stroke of half time.
With the second half only a minute old, Whaley showed what Preston's intentions were when he sent a low drive straight at Jones.
But in keeping with the theme of this end to end game, it was then Rangers who were on the attack as Ward put his low effort wide of the post.
The second half certainly didn't have as much pace as the first, but considering the Preston pressure Rangers had recently been subjected to, the visitors looked glad of the respite.
Jones was again called into action when Danny Pugh shot from outside the box, but it was bread and butter for the Welsh international.
He was however tested further when Pugh again got his shot in after pushing his way through a crowded six yard box.
Luckily for Rangers, he was again without his shooting boots and the visitors were handed a let off.
The only Preston man who didn't seem to have any haste about him was Carlo Nash, who was only too happy to take his time over free kicks and goal kicks - much to the Rangers' delight.
Ainsworth then almost scored a copycat goal when once again he was on the end of a knock down from a Cook corner.
But a deflection saw his effort land on the roof of the net.
Jason Jarrett then stormed through the Rangers midfield, only to waste his possession by skying his effort into the stand.
With ten minutes left to go, Rangers upped the ante in a bid to secure the three points and exerted yet more pressure on the Preston goal.
And then the tide turned and it was Rangers who were under the kosh, fielding strike after strike from Preston before conceding a free kick which Pugh had deflected over the bar.
A knock to Ray Jones then saw Kevin Gallen replace the youngster as Rangers looked to fend off the late pressure from the home side.
Immediately he set to work on his task of making the ball stick at the 'correct' end of the field, firing a shot wide of the upright.
Patrick Agyemang then had Rangers fans catching their breath, only to slip in the box.
But there was no stopping McKenna when he rose in the box to head past Jones late, late on.
It was cruel for Rangers, but in truth, no more than Preston deserved.
Shabazz Baidoo then replaced the Rangers goalscorer, but even his super sub presence couldn't help find a way back for the R's.
Preston: Nash, Pugh, Jarrett, Sedgwick (Agyemang 85), Nugent, St Ledger, Chilvers, Whaley, McKenna, Hill (Neal 78), Wilson (McCormack 40)
Subs: Lonergan, Stock
Scorers: McKenna 87
QPR: P Jones, Milanese, Stewart, Rehman, Rose, Ainsworth (Baidoo 90), Ward, Rowlands (Lomas 10), Cook, R Jones (Gallen 86), Blackstock
Subs: Cole, Kanyuka, Baidoo
Scorers: Ainsworth 4
Att: 11,879
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