Which year?

[raylesk]

Looking at a 94 B4000 4x4 and a 98 B4000 4x4. Will be using it for a daily driver, a little snow plowing, beach in the summer and an occasional off road stint. Any suggestions on which year would be better for me suspension wise?
Thanks
Ray

 

[Daves89]

The 94 would be better for off road with the TTB suspension. The 98 would be better for DD with the IFS.

 

[koda6966]

I'd go with the 98. I think that's when Mazda redid their trucks, right?

For a D&D you might be better off getting the better looking one of the two.

How serious are you looking to offroad?

 

[raylesk]

Not a serious off-roader but love to play once in a while. I was thinking maybe I should go with the ttb for snow plowing, but I was checking out the ifs front suspension on my 96 Explorer sport and it looks pretty beefy also and the frame looks stronger than the older ones. Are the bearing/hubs stronger on the ttb than the ifs? The snow plow I use weighs about 500#. I have been using it on a 94 ttb explorer with no problems at all.

 

[4x4junkie]

Not sure if the TTB's bearings are stronger than the IFS' or not (they probably are), but they are at least serviceable/rebuildable. With proper setup & maintenance, they should easily outlast the cartridge bearings used on the later trucks. The PVH hubs used '98-'00 have their own set of problems as well (although can be swapped out with AVM manual hubs)

If you plan on doing any modifications such as a suspension lift, bigger tires, or adding a front locking differential, go with the '94. If it's staying stock, then I would simply go by whichever one is in better condition.

 

[raylesk]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to look at both trucks today.

 

[raylesk]

Looked at the 94 first and bought it. Got a good deal--128k miles nice condition except for cracked head or bad head gasket. Xcab, automatic, 4x4, with new tires and nice wheels for $500. Can't wait to get to work on it!

 

[fastpakr]

Great deal! If you can find a low mile 4.0 for a good price, I'd do that and have the truck back on the road in a lot less time for less money than opening up the original. I don't have anything against rebuilding engines, but when there's no shortage of motors floating around in the yards, it's almost always the better option. If you want you can always tear the original apart afterward to see if it's worth fixing.

 

[raylesk]

I'm with you on that--I can switch motors for less time and money than buying heads and parts and doing the work on them. Any suggestions on wether I should get a 94 motor or go with a newer one for the better heads?

 

[raylesk]

Picked up a motor for it today.
check it out--not bad for $500--No rust except for front bumper!
http://picasaweb.google.com/raylesk/1994B4000?feat=directlink