2002 B3000 4x4 Build

[bryant94]

So here it is, picked up a 2002 Mazda B3000 4x4 last week. Its got the 8.8" rear end, manual, extended cab, and 4:10 gears. First thing was first, the stock wheels had to go. Got some black steel wheels with beadlocks from the guy who sold me the truck, mounted some 31x10.50R15 mickey thompson atz p3 tires on them. Also, got the truck bedlined and so far its cleaning up nice.

Going to be slowly chipping away at a overland/expedition rig on the weekends and build ideas are more than welcome!

 

[bryant94]

Forgot to mention the Mazda had newer Ranger seats in it when I picked it up so these are getting added to the build thread.

 

[bryant94]

Earlier this week I noticed some oil on the back of the rear brake drums, typical rear axle seal needed attention. So I ordered new seals and bearings. Started that project this morning and realized my rear brakes had absorbed a ton of oil and were useless. You couldn't touch the drum without getting oil on your hands.

Anyways, long day of truck repairs but she's brand new in the rear end and ready to go. Also got an alignment on friday so its as good as it gets.

Next is Chevy (Belltech) Shackles/Torsion Bar Crank and I need to paint the tailgate to match the rest of the truck!

 

[bryant94]

Yesterday I got around to doing the torsion bar twist, which is the picture.

Truck sits level now, waiting for payday and I'll be ordering the chevy shackles. The next big project however is tweaking the front bumper so the bull bar sits higher and ditching the front valance that held the fog lights. I'll post pictures when I do it so its clear.

 

[bryant94]

So here's the update. I'm ditching the idea of going for a overland/expedition rig. It's impractical for my life and my budget.

On to the rest, as it sits with the torsion bars cranked the chevy shackles would put the rear too high and it would look weird. So ill probably hold off on that one for now. I'm still not sure.

But I got paid and I ordered a new tow strap, a hi lift with a mount, paint for the rear end, some herculiner, and I'm looking for a roll bar on craigslist.

I'm going to bed line the floor of the cab next weekend. And paint the tailgate. And get some bolts to put together removable doors. And install the roll bar assuming I find one. All next weekend when parts come in. As things come in this week I'll post pics and get stuff going.

 

[bryant94]

So I got the cab floor bedlined. I used herculiner, it really is as easy as it sounds. Everyone said it was thick and I've never used herculiner so it kind of surprised me how thick it really is. I don't have pictures of the teardown because thats been covered so many times on this forum and its really simple.

Anyways, what you see is while its still wet. I'll post pics with the seats back in and stuff when its done drying.

I haven't decided how I'm going to cover that large bunch of wires following the trans tunnel but I'll probably just wrap it in electrical tape and leave it strapped down as is for the time being.

 

[bryant94]

All finished! Herculiner is still curing but its just about finished. Starting the prep to paint the tailgate tomorrow after work!

 

[RockRanger]

Clean truck. Why did you decide to get rid of the carpet?

 

[bryant94]

Clean truck. Why did you decide to get rid of the carpet?

Previous owner trashed it. It had tears and stains that were not coming out so I decided to give this a try.

I see you got the D44. Thats a route I'd like to go but its gonna be like 2 years at least haha

 

[bryant94]

So I got started painting the tailgate and its drying as I type this. I sanded with an orbital, by hand, wet sanded, primered, painted, and cleared. Probably going to end up color sanding the paint a bit more and respraying just to make it a little better.

Also, I got my hi-lift mounted on the bull bar with the hi-lift round bar mounts.

Got the new shifter bushing today too but I'll put that in tomorrow after work.

 

[luke]

That's a really clean Mazda you got there. I like the idea of Herculining the floor. How's the noise? Is it any louder driving on the freeway? I'd imagine it'd be colder in the winter too.

 

[bryant94]

That's a really clean Mazda you got there. I like the idea of Herculining the floor. How's the noise? Is it any louder driving on the freeway? I'd imagine it'd be colder in the winter too.

Noise is louder but if i have my music on low I can't hear the truck. It's really not much louder. If you had loud tires it might be kind of annoying but definitely not deafening. If you can clearly hear your exhaust with the windows down that would drown the excess noise from no carpet.

Kind of weird but driving with carpet but no interior parts except my seat was louder than herculiner and everything in.

 

[bryant94]

Last night my rpm's were a little rough and throttle was acting funky. So I cleaned the throttle body today and the IAC valve. Whole thing took me 20 mins and the throttle response was so different after.

Much faster throttle response! So if you have half an hour, do it. And it fixed my funky rpm issue. Pic is how dirty the throttle body was. Lots of caked on s***.

 

[bryant94]

Tonight I took a few mins and replaced the shifter bushing in the truck. There are good youtube videos if you had any questions on how to do this but its very straightforward. My pins and lower bushing didn't need replacing so I skipped that part and just replaced the upper bushing, wave washer, and seal.

My 2 cents - if you buy an aftermarket shifter rebuild kit, use your stock wave washer if you can. The aftermarket wave washer pushes too hard up the new seal and as a result the shifter will return to center very slowly rather than quickly like it should be stock.

Below is my old torn seal.

 

[Dprocks100]

Nice truck so far man! and +1 on the Intake cleaning. Makes a huge difference after if its really nasty inside.