Get the Best Priced Mazda B2300 Parts

The Mazda B2300 was essentially a two-wheel drive version of the Ford Ranger pickup truck manufactured for Mazda's North American market from 1994 through 2010. Initially an in-house effort by Mazda, the B-Series ended up as a joint Ford/Mazda production to reduce costs. To its credit, Mazda's pickup never lost its compact identity, which made it as or more maneuverable than most of its competitors without sacrificing much of its pickup fun and functionality. The long-lived Mazda B-Series has remained a true compact pickup throughout its run.

Mazda forged a partnership with Ford Motor Company due to Mazda's financial difficulties in the 1960s. Their cooperation began in 1971 when the Mazda B-Series was developed as a variant of the Ford Courier for the North American market. In 1979, Ford purchased a 7-percent financial stake in Mazda and expanded its existing partnership with them resulting in multiple joint projects. During the 1980s, Ford gained another 20-percent financial stake, and in 2002 gained an extra 5-percent financial stake. Mazda began supplying manual transaxles to Ford in the spring of 1980 and also helped Ford develop the 1991 Ford Explorer.

The Mazda B-Series truck was sold in three versions: B2300, B3000 and B4000 The B2300 had a regular cab, two-wheel drive, antilock brakes, 15-inch wheels, a six-ft bed, and a three person front bench seat. It had rear-wheel drive with a front suspension composed of double-wishbones that feature coil springs and a stabilizer bar. The Mazda B2300 derives its power from a 143-hp 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine matched with a five-speed manual transmission. Other Mazda B2300 Parts that make this vehicle stand out are its power windows, power door locks, halogen fog lights and safety features like remote keyless entry, dual front air bags with passenger-side weight sensor and tire pressure monitoring system.

The B2300 was popular because of its nimbleness, engine choices, variety of trim configurations and the manual shift for its fuel economy, in the range of 23-30 mpg. But buyers routinely passed up compact trucks to purchase full-size pickups that were only slightly more expensive. As a result, the B2300 became an option only for those with minimal truck requirements, such as the small truck cab that heats up quickly in cold weather and the better driver view from higher truck seating. Toward the end, due to lack of upgrades, Mazda trucks remained frozen in time as their rivals continued to update. A small benefit, though, is the ready availability of Mazda B2300 OEM parts that were always the same for repair shops and hands-on owners.

Mazda B2300 truck parts are still available and easy to locate whether an owner is doing his own OEM parts replacement or relying on his local repair shop. Most can be found in both foreign auto parts shops as well as American parts stores if the buyer knows to check both Mazda B2300 parts catalogs and Ford Ranger parts catalogs and system diagrams. There may be a price differential and this may work to the buyer's advantage, but the parts are generally manufactured in the same plants and are the same high quality if they are specified as original equipment parts.