Freezin's Commuter Mazda/Weekend Wheelin Machine

[legoms013]

Long time member @ TRS. But I figured it is time to broaden my horizons.

So here it is. My 1996 Mazda B4000 4x4. I bought it with 165k miles, and currently it has 220k and still runs great. I have only replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat, fan clutch, and fuel pump.

And of course the suspension is all new

Front axle:
Custom, 1-ton Superlift equal length tie rod steering system (using chevy draglink ends, and chevy TRE's, reamed out centerlink for chevy taper, and modded to take a RBV TRE so that the pitman arm connection is replaceable),

Knuckles reamed for 1 ton Chevy TRE's
Warn Jeep heavy duty D35 manual hubs,
James Duff TTB/EB Coil Buckets
Skyjacker Class II axle drop brackets
Skyjacker 8" coils,
Skyjacker long radius arms,
Dana 35 lockright
Spicer 5-760x ujoints
Center u-joint clearanced
Bilstein 5125's, 170/60 valved 11" travel Shocks
Superlift 4" drop pitman arm
Extended breather hose
Poly radius arm bushings
Skyjacker epoxy coated braided stainless steel brake lines with rubber extensions (from tech library)
Daystar shock bumpstops
Skyjacker bumpstops

Rear Axle:
Powertrax 8.8 No-slip,
Ruff Stuff Specialties diff cover,
Skyjacker 4" lift Springs on stock block
Beltech 6400's
Extended breather hose
Bilstein 14" travel 5125's
Daystar shock bumpstops

Other mods:
Smittybilt 8k winch, underhood solenoids, in-cab plug in
TJM T13 winch bumper
2x Hella 700 FF's with Silverstar H3 bulbs
Custom rock sliders
De-swaybarred
Cb radio, firestik
1-pc driveline
Clearanced middle crossmember for 1pc drive line (see pics)
Air horn
On board air
Optima Marine deep cycle battery
Flowmaster Delta flow 40 with no tail pipe
6 BFG KM2 33x10.5's
6 Procomp 15x7 3.75 BS 98 Series Black Steelies

In the Works Currently:
Beefing sliders,
Painting rear chrome bumper black,
Monsterlining bed, rocker panels
Building a explorer 8.8 (currently has 4.88 gears, Powertrax No-Slip, new brake hardware, perches and shock tabs on their way)

Eventually:
Chevy 63'' leaf springs
D35 regeared @ 4.88's
Cummins 4bt turbodiesel swap???
Custom rear bumper (high departure angle, and swing out tire carrier)
LED 48" light bar
Rock lights, backup lights
Safety backrack
Good bumpstops, maybe pro-comp 4" air bumps, maybe Radflo's
Clearanced TTB beams, plated and gusseted for strength

Few pics for good measure:

TTB's DO Flex:

For the most part, I will only update my build thread over @ TRS here:
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75235

But, I will frequent this thread as well, posting pictures and answering any questions or comments that might be left. Feel free to ask away! I have tons of pictures of most everything I've done to my truck, so if you need something specific, I will go take one or chances are I might have one already.

Enjoy!!!

 

[unclemeat]

Sweet!

 

[RangerX]

Nice! Thanks!

 

[RockRanger]

Nice build what part of cali are you in.

 

[Glen4X4]

Nice truck, looks great.

 

[legoms013]

Nice build what part of cali are you in.

I'm in the Sacramento region, 20 min west of Auburn up I80

 

[legoms013]

Here is my monthly update:

Progress on the 8.8 is slow, but I am getting there.

Just got new axle shafts, studs, rotors, calipers, pads and spring perches from RuffStuff.

Still waiting on my locker to show up in the mail (Powertrax No-Slip), and a free weekend to weld on the perches.

Yearly wash, clay bar, polish, & wax (its a mall crawler remember?):

 

[legoms013]

Update, got the perches and shock mounts burned on the new 8.8. As well as the Powertrax Locker in and all new brake calipers and rotors. Axle just needs the tubes welded and some paint. Even got the brakeline extension.

Did some wheeling up US-50 last weekend:

And ruptured my radiator (defective much ), nothing a lil JB weld couldn't fix:

 

[Scott B.]

Nice pictures...

I'd say that's what they call a "boonie fix"!

 

[legoms013]

I finally swapped in my expo 8.8 two weeks ago:

Disc brakes 4.88's and 33's are awesome! I lost a little height, so I ordered a 1.5" block and some 2 degree shims to help the pinion angle out.

Now about the front!

 

[legoms013]

Monthly update...

Finally got the front regeared to match the rear's 4.88's.

While it was all apart I took the locker out. My reasoning was that the additional traction and ability to go places was not worth the hell it wrecked on my steering and u-joints. The locker was just too damn hellacious on the steering and it toasted my u-joints in one year's time (though it is not the sole culptrit).

Currently it is for sale (LockRite 2311) and so are the original 3.73 reverse cut ring and pinion (D35).

So I put it all back together, and have an open front diff (sad face).

I have determined that I will only be doing the following, in this order and then making a decision:

Synthetic winchline & offset hawse
Windshied
New rock sliders (4xinnovations sliders welded to my mounts). Gonna use their +06 double cab short bed sliders
New Driveline
Mount my new industrial duty ViAir compressor (ID 450c 100% duty cycle)
Then fix all the little nuances
And wheel it of course!

From there I'm either gonna sell it or SAS depending on my next vehicle.

Anyway, enough philosophy speak:

Mounted a new Albright Solenoid, and routed my 1 ga winch cables in new locations. I was having problems with the Smittybilt solenoid, which are complete trash: I went through 3 in 2 years.

And I added a steering damper (I hate the term steering stabilizer) to dampen what little bumpsteer I have left (not much really). Drives great for what it is.....but I still dream of going to a naarrowed HP D44 with and ARB and the simple steering setup that goes along with it........much easier to deal with than this TTB crap.

Notice the Rigid Industries 10" E-Series LED bar. That sucker is bright! I want a pair of their Dually D2's next.

 

[legoms013]

Took the bumper off to reinforce the mounts. Whenever I winch I have to re-align the bumper up with the body due to the cheese-whiz way it mounts.

Now all that is fixed, and it is much more solid now. And I welded some d-loop mounts on as well.

 

[LONO100]

awesome, keep the pics coming. you got one of my favorite ranger/B's ive ever seen. looks built strictly for functionality which i love. i used to have the same B, but it was a regular cab. it got beat to hell so sold it i did. ive been wanting to put together the same type of ranger you have, either that or a 1st gen sport. something i can beat to hell and not worry about. keep the camera snapping, you might just convince me to take the plunge.

 

[legoms013]

awesome, keep the pics coming. you got one of my favorite ranger/B's ive ever seen. looks built strictly for functionality which i love. i used to have the same B, but it was a regular cab. it got beat to hell so sold it i did. ive been wanting to put together the same type of ranger you have, either that or a 1st gen sport. something i can beat to hell and not worry about. keep the camera snapping, you might just convince me to take the plunge.

Thanks for the compliments. They are one of the things that contribute to further modifications of the project

I like the truck too, aside from a few quirks, it drives pretty good and does what I want offroad. I picked the b-series cuz I like the Ranger platform, but wanted a little more "character".

I am trying to sell a D35 Lock-Rite and my stock D35 gears....once they sell the I can get a jump start on the following:

1) Sythetic which line, hawse, and safety thimble
2) 4xinnovations Tacoma sliders, which I will weld to my already existing mounts I custom fabbed
3) a pair of Rigid Duallys for the front

And later:

4) Misc maintenance and finishing touchs: windshield, driveline, tranny ect.

I wish I had more time to go wheel it, but school eats up all my time :thumbdwn: Not to mention money is tight.

My ultimate goal is a HP narrowed Dana 44, with highsteer and a locker with James Duff's bronco longarms and 37's. Then I can run the Rubicon/Fordyce and both my dad and I can take our "rigs" camping for a good ol time

For now, TTB suffices.

 

[LONO100]

so you are planning on putting some tacoma rock sliders on your rig? i found rock sliders that are made for tacomas on trail-gear.com. they run 78" long, and i emailed them to ask them for further measurements so i can figure out whether i could mod them a bit so that they would fit my 03 sport trac.

 

[legoms013]

Yeah I plan to.

I talked to Adam over at 4xinnovations, cuz I like their style of sliders. I need some that are about 80-82 inches long, and he informed me that their sliders for a 95-11 Tacoma double cab short bed would be about perfect as they are 80 inches long. I will then weld them to my existing mounts.

 

[legoms013]

Whats missing (hint, its not the steering damper)?

 

[racer_x_one]

Whats missing (hint, its not the steering damper)?

Swaybar?

 

[legoms013]

Nope, that's been gone for years

Compare the pic to one from last weekend

 

[racer_x_one]

Nope, that's been gone for years

Compare the pic to one from last weekend

I dont know what there called , but the links you had on the new d-loops you welded on?