To Plow or not to plow?

[CrimeFighter]

I was just looking for some input on putting a snow plow on your truck. How much of the rumor is true, does it really wreck your front end ?? How hard is it on your truck ?





Tom

 

[Bertram65]

Really depends how you use it, I had a 7. 5' Fisher minute mount RD plow on a '97 GMC half ton that was not rated for a plow and never had a problem. I was always pretty carefull, did not try to push back large frozen banks, always came to a full stop before shifting from forward to reverse, ect. . I did it for fun, just a couple driveways, I was pretty amazed what it could push without really trying. I sold the plow when I got the Dodge, just too much hassle. If you are going to use it to make money you probably have to be harder on the truck to the jobs done quickly or if you are plowing large lots it takes a good amount of momentum to keep the pile going which can be hard on the truck. I got the plow package on my Dodge, if I wanted to plow with it I would not worry about hurting it, it's 10X tougher than the GMC I had.

 

[cmills]

I agree, I think it all has to do with how hard you push it, I've used a plow on mine for 3 years now with no problems except for the track bar, I push a lot of snow but I don't abuse it. On the other hand my dad has had one on his truck for 4 years and he has put ball joints, a tie rod end, and 2 track bars on his, but he has other people drive his sometimes and as you know MOST people just don't care about other peoples stuff. These are tough trucks, take care of them and they will last.

 

[Rosco]

There is no question whether or not plowing causes additional wear on your truck. But like others have stated, how much and how soon the wear will occur depends on how much plowing you do and your driving style. As it stands now, the ball joints seem pretty weak on the 3rd gen truck so expect to replace those fairly early. The rest of the wear will most likely occur a few years down the road. Unfortunetly, the latter wear is usualy more costly items like transmissions, transfer cases, and so on.



I plowed with my '01 2500 gasser then my '03 diesel and hands down these Cummins will outplow a gasser. With the low end torque of the Cummins stacking snow is a piece of cake.



If you have more plowing questions check out www.plowsite.com and do some reading. I used to belong there when I was plowing and the members are very knowledgable