# Not touching ground



## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

I installed my 7.5 Fisher Sd on an 04 tj with air schocks. I also have a 3 in body lift with 33X10.5X15. When the plow is at full angle, it is off the ground about a half inch on one side. I didn't think the lift would cause an issue as it is body, not suspension. Also, would the 6'9" blade make any difference?

Thanks


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## JeepTJ (Nov 4, 2006)

Stock tires would be about 29" for a TJ. You have 33's. This alone would cause a "lift". The air shocks could also lift the Jeep up a bit. When the plow is down and straight ahead, is the plow frame parallel to the ground? It should be. If it is not parallel then the wear edge will wear on the outsides more than the middle.

Fran


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

JeepTJ;1333622 said:


> Stock tires would be about 29" for a TJ. You have 33's. This alone would cause a "lift". The air shocks could also lift the Jeep up a bit. When the plow is down and straight ahead, is the plow frame parallel to the ground? It should be. If it is not parallel then the wear edge will wear on the outsides more than the middle.
> 
> Fran


Yes, when straight ahead, and even on a medium angle it is fine. It is just on a hard angle. I figured that the tires and shocks could be causing the lift issue. I am going to let all the air out of the shocks and see if it sits right.


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## Hubjeep (Jan 9, 2002)

brad11ny;1333659 said:


> Yes, when straight ahead, and even on a medium angle it is fine. It is just on a hard angle. I figured that the tires and shocks could be causing the lift issue. I am going to let all the air out of the shocks and see if it sits right.


Going from a stock tire (about 29) to a 33 will lift your frame 2" regardless of what lift you have.

As JeepTJ said, the plow frame should be parallel to the ground, any slope will cause and edge to lift when angled.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

Hubjeep;1334389 said:


> Going from a stock tire (about 29) to a 33 will lift your frame 2" regardless of what lift you have.
> 
> As JeepTJ said, the plow frame should be parallel to the ground, any slope will cause and edge to lift when angled.


That is kind of annoying. I took all the air out of my air shocks, and it sat perfect. So now I guess I would have to make a decision, smaller tires and wheels for plowing, altering the A-frame(don't know how), or leave it the same and put no air in the shocks. The jeep drops about an 1.5 inches with no air in shocks.


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## Hubjeep (Jan 9, 2002)

brad11ny;1334395 said:


> That is kind of annoying. I took all the air out of my air shocks, and it sat perfect. So now I guess I would have to make a decision, smaller tires and wheels for plowing, altering the A-frame(don't know how), or leave it the same and put no air in the shocks. The jeep drops about an 1.5 inches with no air in shocks.


Dropping 1.5" probably puts you close to the suspension bump-stops, it's not too good to have them smacking the axle housing.

Do you have stock differential gearing (stock gearing should be 3.07:1)? If so, smaller tires would give you more torque while plowing.

I would not mess with the A-frame, especially on modern plows where everything comes off. I have seen people mod the vehicle side portion, lowering it to compensate for a plow.

A 6'9" blade would not make much of a difference, stick with your blade size.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

Hubjeep;1334420 said:


> Dropping 1.5" probably puts you close to the suspension bump-stops, it's not too good to have them smacking the axle housing.
> 
> Do you have stock differential gearing (stock gearing should be 3.07:1)? If so, smaller tires would give you more torque while plowing.
> 
> ...


Yeah stock gearing, I guess I could drop the plates by 1.5 inches or so, pain in the ass...lol


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

There are three holes in the A-frame, the middle is currently being used. If I were to use the top hole in essence lowering the A-frame, would that solve my issue? The should drop it by at least an inch.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

That could do it.Thumbs Up


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

basher;1334545 said:


> That could do it.Thumbs Up


Well, it helped a little. Ideally another inch or 2 would be Awesome! I was thinking about a bracket that would make a "4th" hole to give me 2 more inches.


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## whitelite (Feb 3, 2009)

brad11ny;1334697 said:


> Well, it helped a little. Ideally another inch or 2 would be Awesome! I was thinking about a bracket that would make a "4th" hole to give me 2 more inches.


That's what I did on my Dodge with a Fisher plow--Works great-had a welder make a real beefy bracket so I had an extra 2 holes to adjust to.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

whitelite;1344396 said:


> That's what I did on my Dodge with a Fisher plow--Works great-had a welder make a real beefy bracket so I had an extra 2 holes to adjust to.


Do you have a pic?


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

Is it one side that stays off the ground. Or depends on the direction angled the furthest edge stays up. Does simply lengthening the chain help ...or twisted chain?


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

I can tell you now those tires are going to suck for plowing. how much plowing you going to do?

you might be a lot better of getting some smaller SNOW tires.


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## JCByrd24 (Oct 19, 2005)

theplowmeister;1344508 said:


> I can tell you now those tires are going to suck for plowing. how much plowing you going to do?
> 
> you might be a lot better of getting some smaller SNOW tires.


I don't disagree that snow tires would be great for plowing, but none of the plowing I've done has been with dedicated snows. Don't get me wrong I believe in snows and I run snows on both my wife and my daily drivers, AWD Audi and Subaru. BUT, I totally disagree with the statement that that SIZE will suck for plowing. My experience is not with a Jeep, but probably the most similar vehicle out there, my '92 Explorer with 4" lift and 33x10.5 BFG ATs. I never justified dedicated snows for occasional plow and dump duty, but with 4wd low in a driveway even with a foot of snow, the 33x10.5s did not suck. In my opinion, driving at 50 mph down a town maintained road warrants snows more than plowing a driveway.

In response to the initial post, I agree that getting a fab shop to add on another mounting hole on the a-frame sounds like the necessary solution for a lifted Jeep.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

Don't listen to Plowmeister, he only uses jeeps to do about a hundred drives for years, what does he know  you're just doing your own drive those tires will be fine. It's not like time and efficiency are factors. On the other hand if you had a set of good plow tires on the truck, smaller for better torque and to help the tread get to the pavement you wouldn't have to weaken your plow mount.

Did you do your rears when you lifted it and added the big tires?


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

I found the torque was not the issue but the speed with the bigger tire your going ~ 12 or 15% faster in first gear.. so you will be in low range much slower especially backing up. 

You did not say how much plowing your going to do? if its just your drive do nothing, your plow will last for years plowing 1 driveway.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

I am plowing 5-10 drives, not much. I am running 33x10.5 15 bfg km2.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

Ill say again those tires will suck they are very similar to BFG Mud tire. they are much worse in snow than BFG AT tires. Its the number of tire edges that contact the snow that give you traction, thats why siping work so well. you have BIG blocks of rubber hitting the ground. Not at all the same as an AT tire.

JCByrd24 its not JUST the SIZE of tire but the tread design also. your Explorer out weighed the jeep by like 1,000 Lb and had AT tires. I tried plowing with my 33 X12.5 Mud tires, they SUCK, and I have 4.56 gears too.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

I agree, but it's not a big deal, if i hate them, I will just by a used set of rims and but some snow tires on for the winter.


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## whitelite (Feb 3, 2009)

brad11ny;1344468 said:


> Do you have a pic?


Not right now, let me see what I can come up with.


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## whitelite (Feb 3, 2009)

brad11ny;1344468 said:


> Do you have a pic?


Took some quick snaps. Hope this helps.


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## brad11ny (Nov 4, 2010)

whitelite;1344944 said:


> Took some quick snaps. Hope this helps.


Thanks again!


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

that should work. you will need to lengthen the lift chain. Remember with the plow frame being lower it is giving a larger down twisting to the jeep frame, so dont over do the ramming into piles.


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## gtmustang00 (Feb 23, 2010)

Not that my opinion matters, and this isn't on a jeep but a f350. But i plowed with toyo open country all terrains and they sucked so bad it wasn't funny. I put my summer tires on, mickey thompsom 35 12.50's and they are the best tire ive used in the snow. Nice big lugs.


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## JCByrd24 (Oct 19, 2005)

theplowmeister;1344786 said:


> JCByrd24 its not JUST the SIZE of tire but the tread design also. your Explorer out weighed the jeep by like 1,000 Lb and had AT tires. I tried plowing with my 33 X12.5 Mud tires, they SUCK, and I have 4.56 gears too.


Right, I did not comment on the type of tire other than to agree that snows are the best... my point was that the size itself was not going to make it horrible for plowing, and I guess I should have clarified, I'm talking the width hear, not the height. 10.5 is a nice narrow but tall tire, and if he's got a decent tire in that size it should push snow for a few drives. I can't really comment against mud vs AT, but I'm guessing most of the suckiness you saw was due to the wide tire on a light vehicle and not the tread pattern.

I'd say he should be using low range either way, I do this simply to keep my engine reving/alternator charging and save wear on tranny/clutch.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

gtmustang00;1345017 said:


> Not that my opinion matters, and this isn't on a jeep but a f350. But i plowed with toyo open country all terrains and they sucked so bad it wasn't funny. I put my summer tires on, mickey thompsom 35 12.50's and they are the best tire ive used in the snow. Nice big lugs.


Have you ever used a true snow tire?


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## 32vld (Feb 4, 2011)

Haven't been on a jeep forum in a while. Two things I remember is that tire design effects traction so some tires work better then others at snow, some mud, some people used their jeeps as daily drivers so settled for a compromise because they wanted stability on wet highways. Or didn't care if they got stuck in mud during a weekend off roading trip, but placed importance never getting stuck in snow during the winter.

However another aspect to a tires performance was not so much it's tread but it's width.
Surface caster's wanted a wide tire so not to sink in the sand.

Mud and snow drivers wanted different treads but shared a desire for narrow tires. Being a narrow tire will sink down through the mud to reach hard dirt or sink down through to reach pavement and in either case then would get better traction.

Tire height, 35" is not going to get better traction then a 30". 35" will cause the plow to be operated at a higher angle then the plow was designed to be used.

Whenever things are changed enough problems can arise.


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## gtmustang00 (Feb 23, 2010)

theplowmeister;1346099 said:


> Have you ever used a true snow tire?


No i have not, but with these current tires, i don't have a need to get a true snow tire. I was going to if the wide tires sucked but they are awesome.


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