!996 Mazda b2300 driveshaft swap

[jkeile]

Looking to do a driveshaft swap on my 1996 Mazda b2300 extended cab. I have done a lot of reading different on forums and see conflicting information. This article says you have to have the driveshaft donor truck match as in 2wd and Manual shift trans has to come from a 2wd manual shift 1998 and up to fit and auto has to come from an auto donor as well as 4x4 has to come from a 4wd truck to fit a 4wd truck. Article link (1-Piece Driveshafts And Why You Want One - The Ranger Station). This article says it doesn't matter what the donor shaft comes from as long as its from a 1998 and up trans and drive don't matter for swap, but at bottom or article an update shows has pictures of a manual and auto shafts that are different spline count and lengths? Article link (One-Piece Rear Driveshaft Swap ('90-'97 4WD Supercab) - The Ranger Station). So I'm not sure what I'm looking for at this point. Trying to hit the JY this weekend, they have several 2000 to 2002 extend cab rangers that are all auto 2wd and 4wd. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, 2wd and 4x4 will likely definitely matter because the 4x4 shaft would likely be shorter. Not sure offhand if there’s a difference between auto and manual trans shafts. I know that I did a one piece on my 92 (extended cab, auto, 4x4) and used a shaft out of a 2000 Ranger (extended cab, auto, 4x4) and it was a perfect fit. I didn’t have to remove the crossmember, just the bearing and the bracket the bearing is bolted to that was bolted in turn to the crossmember.

 

[jkeile]

Makes sense to me I'm going to look for a 2wd driveshaft and give it a shot, would be nice to not have to remove the crossmember.
I appreciate the info.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Makes sense to me I'm going to look for a 2wd driveshaft and give it a shot, would be nice to not have to remove the crossmember.
I appreciate the info.

You could take an overall length measurement of yours and check junkyard ones. I did that with my F-150. Just measured by hooking on the one U-joint ear to the other, it was the easiest way to do it by myself and I knew as long as the ears ended up in the same spot, the length would be right. If it’s a slip joint into the transmission on the 2wd and if for whatever reason the new one doesn’t go in the trans, you can just swap the splined end from yours over at the U-joint as long as the main shaft is long enough