Your 4D55 will also bolt up to the bellhousing on 87-93 Mazda B2600's. I've done this swap to my 89 and it was very easy!
Here is a link to the build. Mazda 4D56 swap

What is the gear ratio in the Low of the Mazda Transfercase as well as the gear ratios in the Mazda 5 speed?

Thank you very much for the information on the B2600 Mazda. That opens yet another line of inquiry.

Here's some sad news. Today I went to look at an '89 Mighty Max, extended cab, 5 speed, 2.6L toasted engine. Asking price: $350. The only downside (or so I thought!) was that it was not 4wd.

So I collected my money, rented a tow dolly, and drove about oh.. I dunno.. 80 miles. To my dismay and horror the truck was a "low rider has-been". As I was absorbing the fact that it had no DOOR HANDLES the guy said "the guy I bought it from wrecked it three times...". I was there for about 59 additional seconds. The truck was enveloped in bad vibes.

So, back to the drawing board.

Best and thanks to all.

V

Hey Jeff:

After you pointed me to the Mazda B2600i I did some nationwide craigslist searches. While this is not scientific, my subjective impression is that there are far more Mazda 4x4 pickups out there - especially with the coveted extended cab - than Mitsubishis.

And by the way, is that what the "i" means in B2600i??

Anyway, thanks for the brand new line of inquiry. I have now come to understand that the simplest Mitsubishi retrofit is into trucks that came with a 2.6l engine and 5 speed standard transmission. Yes? Is this the same basis for the cross compatibility to the Mazda B2600s? In other words, do the Mazdas and Mitsubishis use the same 2.6L engine and transmission?

Finally, I seem to recall having read here that the 2.6L engines were failure prone. Did I misunderstand this? Now that I'm retired and not making that big money anymore for me to afford to do a conversion to a 4D55T engine I'm gonna have to find a truck with a dead engine. As much as I'd like to have something pristine I have other family commitments and can't afford $3200 for a toy.

Thanks to each one of you for educating me about all this.

Vernon

I'm not exactly sure of the numbers but I do know that they are geared perfectly for my 31" tires on and offroad.

Ok, here is the scoop.

87-88's are called the B2600 and came with the Mitsubishi 2.6 engine. The 4D55/4D56 engine will bolt right up to the bellhousing and motormounts of this truck.

89-93's are called B2600i and came with the Mazda 2.6 EFI engine. The "i" stands for the fuel injection. Now the transmission is the same as the 87-88 but the bellhousing is different. So you if you go with this year of truck, you will need to get the bellhousing from a 87-88. The other difference is the motor mounts. You need to make an adapter to go from the 4D55/4D56 angled mount to the 89-93's flat mount. This was very easy to make with some pieces of L-angle welded together. It took me all of 30 minutes to make these. I also had to reroute the clutch line from the passenger side to the drives side which was again very easy with the lines from a 87-88 truck.

Yes, the 2.6l Mitsubishi gas motor uses the same block as the 4D55/4D56 so they are easily bolted into place.
I've never had a truck with that gas motor but as I understand it, they can be a pain. The 4D55/4D56 is actually a very reliable motor and are still used in new vehicles to this day.

I travel all over the backwoods country roads, if I see something, I will take a pic and let you know.