# Anyone plowing with a jeep tj



## ripcurl2785 (Nov 30, 2005)

Hi i have a 97 tj with a 4inch lift 33inch tires 4.0L and 4.55 gears. How well would my jeep plow? What plow would you recomend. What else should i do to my jeep to make it a better plow truck


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## itsgottobegreen (Mar 31, 2004)

A trip to Erie, PA to see Jerre Herre and a Blizzard 680LT. Since its lifted, it will need custom mounts. And Jerre is the blizzard install GOD.

www.jerres.com

A lot of people on here have driven 8 hours or more one way just to get Jerre to mount their plow.


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## bluejeep (Dec 1, 2005)

I am with a YJ


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## jav1 (Dec 11, 2005)

I plowed for years with a 1997 tj. I had 30"x10" tires and they were just OK when new and got progressively worst over time. The TJ's tight turning radius is great. Your setup will likely work OK but not great. The tire size will impact gearing - if its a standard, 4 wheel high will be tough on the clutch. 4 wheel low is fine going forward in 2nd but reverse is painfully slow.

Hope this helps.

BTW- I had a Fisher 6.5' speedcast 4 way which worked well enough. The only thing I can think of to make the Jeep a better plow vehicle is to lower it and get some tall narrow snow tires and add some weight to it (not easy- these things aren't that big inside)


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## jonzer12 (Sep 19, 2006)

jav1 said:


> I plowed for years with a 1997 tj. I had 30"x10" tires and they were just OK when new and got progressively worst over time. The TJ's tight turning radius is great. Your setup will likely work OK but not great. The tire size will impact gearing - if its a standard, 4 wheel high will be tough on the clutch. 4 wheel low is fine going forward in 2nd but reverse is painfully slow.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> BTW- I had a Fisher 6.5' speedcast 4 way which worked well enough. The only thing I can think of to make the Jeep a better plow vehicle is to lower it and get some tall narrow snow tires and add some weight to it (not easy- these things aren't that big inside)


Actually 4.55's with 33's is lower gearing than stock, you have more torque reaching the rear wheels. You jeep will plow fine with a ligh duty plow. There are many people plowing with manual transmission jeeps. Just takes some practice with the clutch.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

i see few people in my area have them they have them set with a 2 meter meyers blade or a 7 ft blade


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## addicted (Dec 13, 2005)

The only problem you'll have is the mounts. 

Most people don't realize that a 4.0 wrangler has a better power to weight ratio than most pickups


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## garyand snow (Oct 12, 2006)

I have plowed for five years with a 1947 Willys CJ3. I enjoyed doing my drive, had a lot of fun but this year will use my Dodge Ram.


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## jonzer12 (Sep 19, 2006)

addicted said:


> The only problem you'll have is the mounts.
> 
> Most people don't realize that a 4.0 wrangler has a better power to weight ratio than most pickups


I am a huge fan of Jeeps and the 4.0 but while your statement about the power to weight ratio may have been correct in the 1990's it is quite incorrect now. It's hard to buy a half ton now a days with less than 300hp. My ford pickup is stock and has dyno'd over 300 lb/ft to the rear wheels. Not to mention a TJ or Yy is not like a unibody XJ, they are pretty heavy for their size.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

ripcurl2785 said:


> Hi i have a 97 tj with a 4inch lift 33inch tires 4.0L and 4.55 gears. How well would my jeep plow? What plow would you recomend. What else should i do to my jeep to make it a better plow truck


Look in to rubicon mounts. Snoway offers a mount designed for the higher riding rubicon, should work better then the standard tj mount.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

31 k for a rubi i would buy a chevy 3500


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## Donny O. (Feb 11, 2005)

my tj has a 2.5" lift and 33's. if it were any higher i would need to modify the mounts i think. so you might have to do like it'sgottobegreen said you might have to do so. mine is also a manual and i have the stock 373 gears with the 33's and it works just fine. depending on the driveway I have used 4 hi and 4 lo. I slip the clutch as little as posible to be easy on it....so tight spots call for 4 lo but straights call for 4 hi. it will push plenty of snow as well and the shortwheel base and tight turning sure is nice!! i've never added any weight to it either!!

I bet if you had another set of tires that were 31x10.5 or smaller that you could use jsut for plowing you might not have to modify your mounts.....you would be the same height as me then. 1.5" more lift - 1.5" shorter tire = same


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## addicted (Dec 13, 2005)

jonzer12 said:


> I am a huge fan of Jeeps and the 4.0 but while your statement about the power to weight ratio may have been correct in the 1990's it is quite incorrect now. It's hard to buy a half ton now a days with less than 300hp. My ford pickup is stock and has dyno'd over 300 lb/ft to the rear wheels. Not to mention a TJ or Yy is not like a unibody XJ, they are pretty heavy for their size.


Do the math. A TJ is about 3500 lbs with 190hp.
a p/u is about 6000 lbs with 300 hp.

It's not a huge margin, but it's a margin. I'm talking basic trucks and engines here. wesport


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## addicted (Dec 13, 2005)

basher said:


> Look in to rubicon mounts. Snoway offers a mount designed for the higher riding rubicon, should work better then the standard tj mount.


They make special mounts for the rubi now? Picture please!


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## T-Trim (Nov 8, 2005)

If your in the businees to use your truck more then just snow plowing look at using a Pickup.


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## jonzer12 (Sep 19, 2006)

PLOWMAN45 said:


> 31 k for a rubi i would buy a chevy 3500


Yes but a rubi with crawl right over your chevy, and it will fit down a snowmachine trail.
Go test drive one, 4lo with both lockers lit and you will be sold.


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## tvpierce (Aug 7, 2003)

A vehicle's power-to-weight ratio has no bearing on what kind of plow vehicle it will be. Mass/Traction and weight are EVERYTHING, power means NOTHING. The power to weight ratio of a 1 ton dump truck is laughable... but it will be unstoppable as a plow vehicle.

jp


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## Bad Luck (Sep 30, 2004)

ripcurl2785 said:


> Hi i have a 97 tj with a 4inch lift 33inch tires 4.0L and 4.55 gears. How well would my jeep plow? What plow would you recomend. What else should i do to my jeep to make it a better plow truck


A lot of opinions on here huh? You TJ will plow just fine. You can go with a 6.5 or 7 ft light duty and the thing will push snow like a champ, espeically if you have smaller parking lots or residentials. A lot of guys around here are running a set of the Firestone airbags in front to help keep things leveled out. TJ's are a sold platform, and if your using it for dual purpose, there's hands down not a mroe fun 4x4 to drive. TJ's, CJs's, and YJ's are an extremely common plow vehicle around here.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

*plowing with a jeep (I do)*

I have been plowing with Jeeps for 20 years, I have plowed over 12,000 driveways. I currently have a 00 TJ with a 7 1/2 fisher HD plow You will need to add some weight to the rear (I have 500 lb) and possibly some help for the front springs. I added air shocks. The best thing you can do is get some true snow tires IE Blizzak's they are fantastic. for summer I have 33" tires with 4.56 gears also, for plowing I have 30" blizzak. The gearing is perfect!! 
:yow!: As far as power goes, it is torque that pushes snow! The jeep develops about 160/ftlb at 1,200 rpm. How much HP you get at 3000 rpm only tells you how much you can brake on the truck.

the-plowmeister


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## toby4492 (Dec 28, 2005)

Visit the Sno-Way thread and do a search on Jeeps. We have many customers running plows on TJ's.


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