KMRS87
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2009
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Vehicle Year
- 1994
- Make / Model
- Mazda
- Engine Size
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Manual
Some history. i bought my mazda for 400 dollars with a bad frame/box but good cab/drivetrain/interior. needed a winter beater so it wound up getting 2 new fenders, clutch and a stepside ranger box and i repaired the frame. i had bought a 97 ranger for parts originally for the box(stepside) but found out it had a perfect frame so i put it aside with the intentions of swapping it out after the winter. in the meantime i realized my truck was useless as a 2wd even with a factory trac-lok. so the search was on to convert it to 4wd.
I knew from the start i wanted to go sas an started looking at my options. stumbled across a 78 bj40(fj) diesal toyota land cruiser. which gave me a set of matched(4.11) leafsprung axles. strong enough for a 1/4 ton truck imo. also as a bonus it has 4 pot front calipers an a pretty easy rear disc swap. altho i plan on running the factory twin pot front calipers on the rear( i had previous upgraded my single pot ones). also managed to dig up a divorced Np200 which is known for overheating at highway speeds in heavier rigs but again should hold up fine under a 1/4 ton truck.
This was my first mock up of the axle, knew i was doing a spring over anyway just needed to get it lined up.
This is what it looks like now. didnt take too many pictures but its still in mock up an i hope to keep updating it regularly. I hoping starting this thread will make me lol.
steering. note the steering has better angles but i'm using the factory ranger center link an drag link an factory toyota tie rods. i need to shorten them up to use the adjusters i had in mind.
few more random shots seeing as i took it out of the garage to clean up a bit as well as a comparsion of it with my dd which i plan on swaping the engine trans and all the sheetmetal over once the frame an driveline is finished.
I plan is to run a aftermarket plastic bronco rear tank since the transfer case interfers with the stock one. and the reason for wanting a divorced case was to only build my driveline once so i can swap something a little bigger in down the road without having to worry about sourcing a transfer case.
I knew from the start i wanted to go sas an started looking at my options. stumbled across a 78 bj40(fj) diesal toyota land cruiser. which gave me a set of matched(4.11) leafsprung axles. strong enough for a 1/4 ton truck imo. also as a bonus it has 4 pot front calipers an a pretty easy rear disc swap. altho i plan on running the factory twin pot front calipers on the rear( i had previous upgraded my single pot ones). also managed to dig up a divorced Np200 which is known for overheating at highway speeds in heavier rigs but again should hold up fine under a 1/4 ton truck.
This was my first mock up of the axle, knew i was doing a spring over anyway just needed to get it lined up.
This is what it looks like now. didnt take too many pictures but its still in mock up an i hope to keep updating it regularly. I hoping starting this thread will make me lol.
steering. note the steering has better angles but i'm using the factory ranger center link an drag link an factory toyota tie rods. i need to shorten them up to use the adjusters i had in mind.
few more random shots seeing as i took it out of the garage to clean up a bit as well as a comparsion of it with my dd which i plan on swaping the engine trans and all the sheetmetal over once the frame an driveline is finished.
I plan is to run a aftermarket plastic bronco rear tank since the transfer case interfers with the stock one. and the reason for wanting a divorced case was to only build my driveline once so i can swap something a little bigger in down the road without having to worry about sourcing a transfer case.