Need more horsepower

[Dmk1]

I have a Mazda 2001 Mazda Mazda b2500. I love the truck. But I need it to have more power. What can I do short of putting a bigger engine in it? Will the 3.0 liter from the b300 fit? Also it's a 5 speed.

 

[Dirtman]

Nothing that will be cheap, short of turbo charging it not much will make any significant gains unless you completely tear down and rebuild the engine.

A 3.0 will fit but its a worthless swap since the the 3.0 only makes about 25 more HP than the 2.5 and the amount of work required to do the swap is the same amount of work it would take to just put a 5.0 v8 in it.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I have a Mazda 2001 Mazda Mazda b2500. I love the truck. But I need it to have more power. What can I do short of putting a bigger engine in it? Will the 3.0 liter from the b300 fit? Also it's a 5 speed.

Regear it.

 

[Dirtman]

The 4 cylinder trucks of that era usually already came with 4.10s.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

The 4 cylinder trucks of that era usually already came with 4.10s.

Cant you get a 4.56 for a 7.5?

 

[Dirtman]

Cant you get a 4.56 for a 7.5?

Kinda... They are available but you need to grind some of the ring gear teeth to get the cross pin in.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Kinda... They are available but you need to grind some of the ring gear teeth to get the cross pin in.

Ah gotcha.

Sell it and buy a 1st gen 2.9 lol

 

[2drxploder]

Jet chip from summit ($250) no significant gain, ditch the mechanical fan and go with electric fan, a cold air/ short ram intake. None of these are big gains but all 3 helped me be ok with my 99 2.5 for a lil while

 

[Alan_nc]

Come on guys.....lets be honest:
Trade it for an F150 with a good sized V8

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Come on guys.....lets be honest:
Trade it for an F150 with a good sized V8

92-96 with a 351 gets my vote.

 

[Roert42]

92-96 with a 351 gets my vote.

the 300 is clearly the better choice.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

the 300 is clearly the better choice.

Eh. Toss up between a 300 or 351. Given the choice i think i might lean 300 too. Id definatly pick a 300 over a 302.

 

[sgtsandman]

Other than doing a regear of the axle, there isn't much that can be done with the original engine.

Here's a chart to refer to as far as tire size and what gears will work and at what level: https://www.therangerstation.com/how-to_pages/gear_ratio_tire_size_chart.shtml

You could do an engine swap but keep in mind that you will probably will need a transmission that will bolt up to whatever engine you chose to swap to. Manual transmissions tend to be very specific to what engine they will hook up to since the bell housing is one piece with the transmission case.

 

[Rick W]

Come on guys.....lets be honest:
Trade it for an F150 with a good sized V8

if you really love the Ranger, get a f-250 and throw it in the back! See my signature photo, my 87 Ranger pushed my F250 all the way from Greenville to Atlanta!

 

[Curious Hound]

Jet chip from summit ($250) no significant gain, ditch the mechanical fan and go with electric fan, a cold air/ short ram intake. None of these are big gains but all 3 helped me be ok with my 99 2.5 for a lil while

It came from the factory with a cold air intake. Electric fan is the best idea in this list. But it's not a miracle drug.