different way to lift a mazda

ok guys, this might sound kind of wierd, but bare with me. I like my lowered trucks, I really do, but realisticly. Its not for me. I need a lifted truck, and the only truck I would really like to have to lift would be a ford ranger. Thing is, i dont really like the way they look. i love the running gear and suspension options, just not the way they look.

ok so my idea, I have a nice 1986 Mazda B2000 ext cab. It runs good, but I am thinking the motor should be rebuilt soon cuase its got over 200k and its showing its age.

there are a lot of cheap 4x4 rangers for sale. I was thinking, if I got an extended cab ranger, I know it would be a lot of work, but take the mazda body off the mazda frame and drop it onto the ranger 4x4 frame. I could sell the body to the ranger easily,
I dont know how easy it would be to sell the chassis to the mazda.

Do you think, just for the look of the body, its worth it? I would get a mazda 4x4, but there are no options for lifts, and I am not a big torsion suspension fan. I think it would be awesome to go up onto the trail and people see this mazda and wonder what the heck is that doing up here. Plus I have already spent some money on this body and dont want to let it go.

is this even possible? is the ranger and the b2000 too different? Should I just put up with the square ranger?

any feedback would be great
-Mike

well it is indeed a wild idea. i dont really think the time and money thing is really up to us. what you need to do is ask yourself if its worth it. me personally have never really needed 4x4, ground clearence, big tires, any of that, sure it would have been nice but if i were you id just stick with the b2600i and lift it with the torsions but its all up to you man. best of luck and keep us updated. -bf

I vote that you do it! IMO rangers suck but jacking a frame from one to make a mazda better suit your needs would be great. I've seen a 4runner that a guy put a truck body on to lighten it up. (somewhere on web) Grab a ranger and sell the body like you said & get the frame ready!

its very doable. big problem you mostlikely will run into is wheelbase differences. mostlikely will not line up correctly. but keep in mind you do have difference bed choices in mazdas

obviously, this isnt a task for a noob. so considering you are really serious and not just dicking around, then just do it.



another route you can go is get you a complete ranger front clip and replace the mazda front clip. this allows for the ford motor to drop in easily and obviously the suspension. from there, you mount the tranny, cut up the tranny tunnel if necessary, and get a new driveshaft made. you can even go as far as installing ranger leaf springs, but leaf springs are leaf springs.

yeah, ive been thinking and talking with my parents. I think I will fix up my 2wd, while keeping an eye out for a 2600i 4x4, pick it up and drive it. If I do more trail driving and off-roading, then I will just swap the front axle for an early bronco or something. I can always swap in a bigger motor easily.
thanks for your feedback. I think if I had more room, I would swap it over onto a ranger frame, but i think it would be better to just keep the 2wd till I find a 4x4 mazda, and just torsion lift it till I can swap in a solid axle.

I go camping a lot and with the 2wd I find myself thinking, if only it could go on that trail, or it would be awesome if I could climb over that.
I used to have a 1989 mazda b2600i 4x4, but I was a idiot and sold it.

thanks again,
Mike

i made a post the other night about lifting my yota, here are a couple options for lifting a mazda that i put in the post



you can get fiberglass fenders, & a set of coil overs to lift it instead of jackin up the t-bars..... since yours is a 2wd & you want a ranger running gear since they are readly available, best bet would be to do a solid axle swap on the front of the mazda chassis so you don't have to adapt the mazda body to the ranger frame.....but the ranger front axles are weak...i'd get an older model yota front axle or a dana as gears are more readly available, do the solid axle swap put in a 4.3 or 3.8 out of a grand national run a matching tranny & get a beefier rear axle while your at it.... run a leaf spring setup front & rear, the allow for more flex & are cheaper & easier to build than a link type setup....

well, the plan as of now is to just keep my 2wd mazda for a daily and fix it up and make it look nice, finish my muscle car, then buy a ranger, lift it and leave the body alone this way, if I bash it on a tree, I wont feel bad for hurting a mazda, and I could just go get fiberglass fenders and bedsides from glassworks.
I will just probably sell my rabbit to fund the muscle car, and sell my standard cab mazda after its fixed to save up.
thanks for all the help

one thing I did want to ask was, the custom A arms from grant that swap the front end with a toyo spindle, could a coil over shock mount be put onto the bottom of the lower A arm, to make a pre-runner out of my 2wd? do like a 4-link/coilover setup out back. I know it take a long time to get those a arm, but could they be used for more then just bags?

Don't see why not - I have been watching for a couple of months for a cheap set of coilovers to try on the front and see how much travel I get. I also have aquired another set of lowers stock arms to cut up and see what I can make outta them fro lift.

well, let me know what you find out, cuase I have an 87 b2000 that is sitting in my yard cuase I cannot find a head anywhere, except for people thinking they have gold. I might just use it for parts for mine and sell the rest.

both the top & bottom would need the eye type mount as it will be hard to find a coilover setup that has the stud mount like our front shocks do......now you could do this, get a front strut setup from a tacoma...it is a coil over strut setup, you would need the strut, coil spring, & top plate, this would directly mount to the stock lower control arm, then you would just have to fab up a mount for the top control arm, minimal fab work & probably could be done cheaper than a set of coilovers.......just a thought