Newbie searching for guidance 96' B2300

[Superdannn20]

What's going on everyone. As the title states I'm new to the forum and to the Mazda pickup life and I am searching for guidance to head down the right path. I just bought a 96' B2300 5 SPD. I am planning on doing a few things to the truck to make it last and also make it "cool" and I could use some guidance.

1. Truck was owned by the same guy since 97' and he bought it off an older gentleman who only put 20k on it. The truck has had the engine rebuilt a few years back and other than that it's just had regular maintenance. The previous owner had the rebuild done professionally and had the receipt along with others.

2. The truck drove pretty good. There is some play in the steering wheel and the rotors are probably warped as there is some shake when I brake. There is a minor oil leak, some surface rust on the frame, and the odometer stopped working at 126K. Other than that the truck is pretty good.

I want to drop it a few inches, change the wheels, replace the headlights, suspension pieces, rotors, brakes, fix the A/C, timing belt, water pump and anything else that may be wrong with it.

My questions for everyone are:

A. What parts should I use when replacing everything?
B. What should I look out for when owning this truck?

Just looking for advice on what to look for and what to do. I am no mechanic by any means. I plan to use this truck as a way to learn how to wrench. A buddy of mine is going to help me along the way.

I appreciate your time and I am looking forward to your help.
Thanks

 

[MikeG]

If it's a 96 then it's a twin I-beam, and "play" in the steering usually isn't too bad if you can herd it down the road, between the stripes ....

I-Beam bushings are probably shot, as well as the radius arm bracket bushings.

Lowering it will involve custom lowered I-Beams, or bending your own.

On the plus side - you can't beat a twin i-beam to death. On the minus side, after trying to keep it aligned, you'll want to

Rear suspension is standard leaf springs, no big deal there.

Factory shocks are garbage, but the odds of them lasting anywhere near that long are next to zero, so you may be OK there.

Oh and you have grease-able tie rod ends, and the lower ball joint I think. Be sure to grease them! And see if there are zirk fitting on the driveshaft (ditto).

 

[Superdannn20]

If it's a 96 then it's a twin I-beam, and "play" in the steering usually isn't too bad if you can herd it down the road, between the stripes ....

I-Beam bushings are probably shot, as well as the radius arm bracket bushings.

Lowering it will involve custom lowered I-Beams, or bending your own.

On the plus side - you can't beat a twin i-beam to death. On the minus side, after trying to keep it aligned, you'll want to

Rear suspension is standard leaf springs, no big deal there.

Factory shocks are garbage, but the odds of them lasting anywhere near that long are next to zero, so you may be OK there.

Oh and you have grease-able tie rod ends, and the lower ball joint I think. Be sure to grease them! And see if there are zirk fitting on the driveshaft (ditto).

Regular lowering Springs won't work to drop the front a couple inches?

 

[MikeG]

Eh...... may have some alignment issues. Not sure if camber bushings can help with that. Could be wrong.....

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Regular lowering Springs won't work to drop the front a couple inches?

Over a certain amount of drop requires different beams. I think on lifts 3 inch is about the max you can "adjust away"....so i would *guess" 3 inches lower would be the max too.

 

[Superdannn20]

Over a certain amount of drop requires different beams. I think on lifts 3 inch is about the max you can "adjust away"....so i would *guess" 3 inches lower would be the max too.

2-3 inches is about as far as I want to go anyway. I don't want to slam and scrape on leaves. just something to look a little nicer.

 

[Infamousmazda]

Camber is the curse of the I beam front suspension..... When you start dropping it is almost better to do a big drop with the dream beams.....lowering springs are just gonna leave you wearing tires in the front. You can flip your axle in the back.....get trailer axle tabs at tractor supply for fifteen bucks. New u-bolts. Or if you feel confident reuse your old ones. Depends on your budget and what you are wanting to acomplish. Stance is everything.

 

[Superdannn20]

Camber is the curse of the I beam front suspension..... When you start dropping it is almost better to do a big drop with the dream beams.....lowering springs are just gonna leave you wearing tires in the front. You can flip your axle in the back.....get trailer axle tabs at tractor supply for fifteen bucks. New u-bolts. Or if you feel confident reuse your old ones. Depends on your budget and what you are wanting to acomplish. Stance is everything.

Forgive my ignorance, but if I replace the I-beams, do I have to put lowered springs in as well? And from the research I've been doing the past two days, I've been seeing everyone talk about using a flip kit for the rear. I'm not trying to spend a crazy amount of money, but I don't wanna cheap out either. I'm more concerned with making the car last and doing preventative work etc. before I drop it for cool points.

 

[Infamousmazda]

Forgive my ignorance, but if I replace the I-beams, do I have to put lowered springs in as well? And from the research I've been doing the past two days, I've been seeing everyone talk about using a flip kit for the rear. I'm not trying to spend a crazy amount of money, but I don't wanna cheap out either. I'm more concerned with making the car last and doing preventative work etc. before I drop it for cool points.

Springs are going to be a much cheaper route 2 to 3 inches drop at most. But the truck will camber some. Dream beams will replace your stock I beams but the geometry is right on those to keep your front wheels from cambering enough to wear tires on the inside. But that is a 5" drop in the front. All you are doing on the rear is unbolting your rear axle that came from the factory mounted under the leaf springs and you are sitting it on top of the leafsprings and bolting it back down. Now doin that will compress your rear shocks too much and they will not be able to bolt up. So you will need drop shocks in the back. Same in the front with the dream beams, those will require drop shocks. If you do with the lowering coils/springs in front you can keep your stock shocks but they will be compressed and have alot less travel. Ride a bit rougher

 

[Superdannn20]

Springs are going to be a much cheaper route 2 to 3 inches drop at most. But the truck will camber some. Dream beams will replace your stock I beams but the geometry is right on those to keep your front wheels from cambering enough to wear tires on the inside. But that is a 5" drop in the front. All you are doing on the rear is unbolting your rear axle that came from the factory mounted under the leaf springs and you are sitting it on top of the leafsprings and bolting it back down. Now doin that will compress your rear shocks too much and they will not be able to bolt up. So you will need drop shocks in the back. Same in the front with the dream beams, those will require drop shocks. If you do with the lowering coils/springs in front you can keep your stock shocks but they will be compressed and have alot less travel. Ride a bit rougher

Okay, that makes sense. What brands would you recommend? Not just to drop it but for like control arms, bushings etc.

 

[MikeG]

The i-beam pretty much is the control arm... take a look at it. The spindle is on the end of it, the i-beam controls side to side, and the radius arm front to back. Lowering the i-beam (or raising it, for that matter, as I did mine) will put the radius arms in a bit of a bind. So it will affect smooth suspension travel, at least a little. I needed ground clearance worse than I needed a velvet-smooth ride, so no big deal to me.

With a 2" inch lift it needed around 3 degree camber bushings.... mine has 2 degree due to the store being out of the 3 degree part, and me being impatient. It's "close" but not really on the camber. I just rotate the tires every oil change, and if they start to cup (well, "when") then I have a tire shop flip them on the rims, inside to out. For what I use the truck for, it doesn't matter.

I'd say if you really only want to go down 2" in the front to give it a try with lowered springs, and see if a shop can get it reasonably closely aligned with bushings. Find someone with gray hair to align it! Betcha half the guys at the local tire shop have never seen a twin i-beam Ford, let alone have any idea what to do with it.

Running a spring-under (like an Explorer) in the back will lower it a lot more, but the truck sat higher from the factory in the back, than the front, so that will likely level it out. That should be pretty cheap (as was raising my about that amount in the back).


Good luck.

 

[Superdannn20]

The i-beam pretty much is the control arm... take a look at it. The spindle is on the end of it, the i-beam controls side to side, and the radius arm front to back. Lowering the i-beam (or raising it, for that matter, as I did mine) will put the radius arms in a bit of a bind. So it will affect smooth suspension travel, at least a little. I needed ground clearance worse than I needed a velvet-smooth ride, so no big deal to me.

With a 2" inch lift it needed around 3 degree camber bushings.... mine has 2 degree due to the store being out of the 3 degree part, and me being impatient. It's "close" but not really on the camber. I just rotate the tires every oil change, and if they start to cup (well, "when") then I have a tire shop flip them on the rims, inside to out. For what I use the truck for, it doesn't matter.

I'd say if you really only want to go down 2" in the front to give it a try with lowered springs, and see if a shop can get it reasonably closely aligned with bushings. Find someone with gray hair to align it! Betcha half the guys at the local tire shop have never seen a twin i-beam Ford, let alone have any idea what to do with it.

Running a spring-under (like an Explorer) in the back will lower it a lot more, but the truck sat higher from the factory in the back, than the front, so that will likely level it out. That should be pretty cheap (as was raising my about that amount in the back).


Good luck.

Thank you for the advice!