mazdamandan
+1y
Sorry about the spare, I got one too, lol
It sounds like ya want a practical truck.
B series trucks are not practical, painters would use them for work if they could haul 2 passengers and more than a few gallons of paint lol. Not to mention a ladder. And headache racks on these are just fugly.
Seriously, I think these trucks have a hard enough time turning 14" wheels with 75 series tires at stock height.
Lift = drag, believe it or not these trucks are nowhere near as efficient as the new modern 4 cyl.
And a 2200 is not 4wd, but a 2600 can be.
Off road in a 2wd B pulling a trailer?
That I would love to see, lol
If I were in yer shoes.
Leave it stock, drive it, all 70 hp 2.2 liters 2198cc however ya wanna say it.
If ya want a little more hp and johnny law and his smog meter are not around, take off all the egr junk, do some headwork, larger injectors, exhaust , and a cold air intake, if it is the ultra rare b2200 with fuel injection. There is a bit of info on a few different Mazda tuning forums.
Just saying, a quad has more HP these days and is off road capable, with a real lack of weight in the back these trucks dont really even have very good traction at the back either.
I would not build one of these to be a pre runner unless it had a 302 in it.
There is an engine that bolts in is modern and vastly superior, its called an FE3, Mazda makes it , you can find one in aKIA sportage 1995-2003. strong motor waaay more power potential and yes it bolt directly in.
Otherwise most of us do the weber conversion scrap all egr crap and do a straight pipe exhaust with pacesetter header about a $600 total upgrade you will still probably be under 100 hp with that.
As for lifting, I believe AIM used to sell lift spindles, a body lift is not too bad on these cuz the frame is high in the body not like Rangers or s10 s where the frame is already hanging way down there.
Crank on the torsions too, they can also be re-indexed, that may help. I have yet to see a torsion on one of these fail put under major stress lifted or lowered.
In the rear new longer shackles, leaf springs , if there is low mileage on it they may still be alright, these leaf springs tend to be overbuilt for the capabilities of thr rig, lol.
Add angled blocks if ya want to go over 3" in lift blocks
As for towing a cheap helper airspring (airbag) out back will level offthe ride.
FYI Ithought the towing capacity of these trucks was only 1500 lbs, I hope yer pontoon is inflatable.
I love these trucks more than anyone and I gotta tell ya it doesnt seem like the right fit for you, if ya got a real good deal maybe you could trade someone out there for something more adept to your needs.
Dont want to come accross as negative nelly here , just repaying honesty for honesty.