different way to lift a mazda

Yeah, I'd take the the 4.3 over the Ford engines any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The Mazda engine is the JE available in the MPV. It's not the Ford engine (KLD) available in Probes, 626s, etc. The JE was also availabe in DOHC in the 929.

the cool thing about the 4.3l I can use a 4wd tranny out of the s10 or blazer and have low gears too. just in case I get stuck or want to climb up hills. I could have 2 high and 2 low.

yeah the 4.3's are nice, you can get gobbs of power out of them for cheap the 4wd tranny would be nice, but if its only gonna be a pre-runner i'd try to stay as light as i could, don't know if the extra added weight of the 4wd tranny would be worth the lower gearing....you could use an 8.8 out of a ford, it would hold up to the v6 power & be a little lighter, gearing is easily found & you can get pretty strong axle shafts aftermarket as well.. when you get a chance post up the drawing, i'm sorta lost on the belly cage thing.....

Don't know what you're planning on for a front axle, but that's where I get stuck. I want to use the B2600 IFS, but the Chevy front driveshafts come out on the wrong side. I'm thinking Toyota R series trans bolted to the 4.3 via an adapter.

The ford engines have an advantage there, as you can use all stock drivetrain parts.

well, I wasnt planning on running a front axle, but do the ford engines that you mentioned bolt into the b-series? if they do I might just convert to 4wd with a solid axle. What side does the transfer case drop on, I wonder what axle would be best to use. The engine I am mostly wanting is the 2.9l ford v6 and the 4wd tranny. I would just swap in a solid axle with leafsprings, but I want to know if I have to use a toyo axle, chevy axle, or early bronco. It would be three times better to have a 4wd, then a pre-runner.

If I stayed wiht a pre-runner, I would still use the 4wd tranny and transfer, but no front exle just to have the lower gears.

but dang, if the ford 2.9l and tranny would go into my truck with little modification, I could drive it as a 2wd till I tracked down the front axle and leaf springs and all the steering. I am still fighting with myself in my head what to do.

I have 2 mazda trucks, 86 B2000 xcab and a 87 B2000 standard cab longbed. My 86 gets 28 mpg, do I really want to sacrifice that for a 4wd or lifted pre-runner. then I have the 87 which I am planning on selling, but I could sell my vw rabbit and keep the longbed to modify and just static lower the 86, make it a nice looking truck. the 87 already has 4wd fenders on it, and it is has some body damage on it.

I will still draw out the belly cage for you guys, if I dont build it maybe one of you guys would want to use my ideas for your own trucks. If I do end up building a 4wd, it will have a belly cage too, just not one that would support the suspension, just one to protect the oil pan, tranny, tranfercase and floor.

Ill get something up for you guys to see soon.
thanks for you help,
Mike

I have a 4runner as well as my 2 mazda's it is great riding high - BUT lifts for it are pretty pricey, not much power, ot much travel. PLUS who has a Mazda prerunner - get it.

I am thinking a coilover out of a newer tacoma or tundra, custom upper mount, custom mount to the lower controll arm. add a bit of "holy hell now what" and see what happens. This is why I am looking for a parts truck to cut and weld on.

say your gonna strike up a little "holy hell now what"....lmao!!!!!!!

now that i've picked myself up outa the floor...

i'm having my new struts / coil springs / spacers put on the front of my tacoma monday....if you want i'll sell ya a set of 70k struts & coils off of my truck...they are still in good shape ride wise & all, just figured since i was gonna have to pull all that apart why not put new stuff in while i'm there... you would need to get the top plate that holds the coil onto the strut, it will bolt to the bottom control arm, you would just have to fab up an upper mount & maybe trim the upper control arm some....pm me if your interested & maybe we can work something out..

well, I have finnally decided what to do. I am going to pick up a solid axle conversion kit from "Marlin Crawler" swap in a toyota axles, cut out the fenders, put fender flares from a ford explorer(mazda navajo), v8 swap, toyo v6 tranny and x-case.

I have 2 rabbits to sell, my other mazda to sell and some misc stuff. after selling the stuff, I shoudl have about 6k, so I should have a good backing for my project. any left over money will go into bagging my classic then I will pick up another mazda ext cab to bag for a daily.

I am still not sure if I want to bag the one i have now or lift it. its a constan battle, so when I have the funds I will have to decide,

but anyway, the belly cage idea, I should have drawn before I got busy, cuase now I cant remember how I was going to do it. after I get all moved I will sit down again, and draw it out or sumtin.

just wanted to update you guys alittle as to what I am thinking. If I SAS it, I am looking at around 8-12" of lift, depending on how the toyo springs react to mazda frame and will be running 35" tires.
-Mike