Ok so I recently purchased a 1999 Mazda B2500... Basically A Ranger With Different Body Lines... It has been wrecked previously in the front end and the front bumper is dented in... today I got a wild hair up my but and ordered a body kit for a 1998 ford explorer 2 door and I am going to make it fit my Mazda... I have never seen anyone try and do anything like this before and since i cant find any tail lights or headlights or anything nice to make this Mazda look good its time to break out the drawing board so let me begin by discussing the trucks condition and features... Like I said it is a 1999 and it has a 2.5l with a manual transmission has a few dents here and there but that will all be corrected soon enough. I took it in for inspection today and they told me the gears in the rear are worn and it needs a new rear... new headlight assembly's (old ones were glued in by previous owner), It needs tires, Alignment, front wheel bearings, 3rd brake light and a transmission mount.... I know this is quite a bit of stuff to fix for a truck at this age but what can I say... I bought it for 300 bucks. I want to get the body kit put on and all the body work straightened out and get it primed. My plans are to lower it in the future but dont want to do it until I see how low the body kit makes it. I want to remove the 2.5l and swap it to a 4.0 ohv with a 5 speed transmission. I am not fond of the sohc engine at all. I think the ohv with an exhaust system will be plenty power for what I intend to do with the truck. Im going with an 8.8 373l Rear Not sure yet which one explorer or ranger. I want to do an axle flip on the rear once the body kit is on if possible. I am thinking this will give me around 3 inch drop in the rear maybe more. I would like to keep drum brakes in the rear so I can paint the drums. The question i have is will my 2.5 driveshaft bolt up to the 8.8 rear, so i can get it through inspection? We get allot of snow here and a locking rear is a must for a small 2wd pickup... I dont want to buy a 7.5 rear just for inspection. the truck does nothing but spin now as it is in the rain because it has the stock 7.5 rear in it but its not a locking rear its just one wheel spinning... drives me bananas it pops and grinds when reversing. I heard the explorer rear was 3 inches wider which would be ideal but the wheels will stick out pass the fender wells I think and wont pass inspection. Feel free to give me any advise that you might find helpful and I look forward to showing off pictures of the truck as work progresses. Its going on my lift tomorrow to start removal of all the old body parts and for dent removal and rear removal.

Not My Exact Truck But Identical To What Im Starting With

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--1993 ford ranger ext cab 3.0 v6--

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1993 ford ranger 3.0 v6

You got a big project ahead of you

As for the rear end put in a locker don't weld it

Sent from my Samsung galaxy tablet

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Truck: 2000 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0 4x4 ext cab
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Mods: Brush guard|Front Hitch|Expo Roof Rack|Train Horn|Door/Dash/step/Hood Leds|2" lift|Rear Tow Points|On-Board Air System| 22" & 40" LED bar|and More!

Still cant figure out which rear I want to use in my pickup. I really want a posi rear... a locking rear wont give me the posi I'm looking for. But if anyone near Maryland has a 3.73L for a good price I might be interested in it... I got the rear out of the truck and got the front and rear bumpers off. My question still remains will the explorer rear bolt up to the Mazda or will welding be required and what years can I use? I found a 4.0 5 speed explorer sport for sale on craigslist for 600 with a blown head gasket that I've been interested in buying but the rear is not a locker I have been looking into this body kit and if i have to lower the rear of my truck I dont think the body kit will fit. that's why I have a concern with the explorer rear but if it bolts right up and will not affect my ride height that would be the way I would like to go. I also need 2 stock Mazda b2500 headlight assembly's if anyone has those for sale cheap.

Got in contact with a guy up in Penn, He has an R6 axle out of a ranger so I know it will bolt right up. Hes selling me the rear for 100 dollars which is so awesome. I highly appreciate that. Also found some wheels for my truck that are 17x9's ill post a picture of them. I forgot to take pictures of the truck for the start process... I realized earlier I just want to change the drivers-side front fender instead of fixing it so if anyone has a spare fender for a b2500 hit me up. Ordered new headlights tonight for my truck as well found both of them on rockauto.com for 64 dollars and they are suppose to be clear an nice and new looking which I'm happy with. cant wait for body kit to get in. Some one purchased the explorer before i could so hit me up if you have a 4.0 ohv with a 5 speed transmission. I need everything from the mounts up. Do i have to change my steering rack for this upgrade?

Ok so I finally got the wheels... I got a really good deal on a set of 17x9 Svt Cobra Wheels... I have to admit they look kinda small now but when I lower the truck I think they will look better but heres a picture of one of them on the truck

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What was required to put the explorer rear in your truck?

All I needed to do was buy new spring pads and take the shock perches off the old one and weld them onto the Expo axle. Really easy all in all. Could prolly do it in a few hours if I wanted to do it again.

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Oh ok... I decided against the explorer rear and just went with an 8.8 ranger rear. After inspection the body kit will go on and then the lowering process will begin. After the body is situated then the engine and trans will come out it will go into paint the the new engine and transmission will go in... Here is a couple ideas of the paint scheme I am planing on doing Im leaning more towards the bottom one.

or

Today I went to mount the front tires on the truck and learned I needed spacers... they bolted to the rear just fine but the front wheel's hub meets the center of the wheel about an eighth of an inch before the wheel sits flush now I have to go get wheel spacers but im also going to get extended studs because of the spacers im going to do 1/4 inch spacers in the front but the back I am going to do 1/2 inch. Lots of work to do but its all starting to come together.
This is a picture of the truck on the alignment lift... makes things allot easier when you have a lift to work on stuff the picture is right before I pulled the front bumper off... I am making a step by step that I plan on posting in the end after each section of the work is completed... I already have had the new rear sand blasted, new seals installed, new brake cylinders, new brake shoes, new drums, new brake lines... (just waiting on the emergency brake cable to come in then I will have a full on description of how all the stuff was done. I also got a chrome diff cover that tops it all off... I painted the new drums orange and the calipers as well more pics to come soon and sorry its taking so long to post them... my wife is nagging me to spend more time with her XD. As I have said before, any thoughts or suggestions are highly appreciated as well as advice.

OEM Dorman Part Number 610-345 what would be a longer dorman stud part number? I only need maybe .5 inch longer

Just found out today that Goodyear wants to sponsor my truck (I work for them and run 275 40 ZR 17 Eagle F1's On The Rear and 245 40 ZR 17's On The Front) as well as Extreme Dimensions. I sent in an application and they said why use an explorer body kit... How about something fresh and one of a kind... I sent in my paint scheme plan the same as above and they said that they were going to email me a few proposals. I told them I would like to keep close body lines to the ones I have pictured above... Crossing my fingers hope things go smooth. They said that my truck will not be able to be published until I have their approval once modifications are complete. I believe we are going to start working on a contract proposal here soon. Anyways Just Thought I Would Give An Update!

Got a phone call today telling me that I would be receiving a contract in the mail to look over and for me to get back in touch after review so we shall see how this works out. I got my inspection certificate and am bout to flip my rear shackle mounts and cut the front coils 1.5 coils shorter to get a little lower. I got my front spacers 1/4 inch and my rears 1/2 inch and got longer studs... I will be installing the studs as well as the spacers tomorrow and update a few pictures of the truck before and during the lowering process. It's my understanding that I cant show pictures of truck with body mods until after the truck is painted and debuted but until the modifications to body are started I can show what I have done up until that point.

Ok its been a few days since I've posted here haven't had much time to work on the truck with the christmas holiday and all... I just have a quick question about this lowering kit I am looking into for a 4/5 drop. its made for a ford ranger but I want to know if it will work for my truck it is a djm kit and the product code is KS3098-4-5. Its over 700 and I dont want to spend money and waste my time on something that will not work for my truck but I am just going to lower the truck with this and that will leave me enough room for my body kit still.