# Plow Mounting with Aftermarket Bumper



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

Hello,

I posted this in the Boss Snowplow area but thought I should copy it here as it is both Boss and GM specific.

I run a small side business building aftermarket bumpers mainly for 3/4 and 1 ton GM vehicles. I have had several requests by customers asking for me to make my bumper mounts/ bumper to work with a Boss snowplow. I have found diagrams showing the plow mount undercarriage and my bumper mounting system works with the plow undercarriage. I am hoping somebody could post up some pictures of a plow mounted on a 03-07 GM 3/4 or 1 ton truck. I would like to get a better idea of where the pins are in respect to the frame/ bumper.
Also if somebody could help me out with some measurements it would be very appreciated. Basically I need to know where the mounting holes are relative to the frame of the vehicle. A couple measurements straight out from the tow hook hole and straight up would be what I am looking for.

Thanks for any help. Here are a couple pics of some of the bumpers I have made:


----------



## ceptorman (Nov 30, 2011)

Very niceThumbs Up


----------



## peteo1 (Jul 4, 2011)

That's some nice fabrication! I really like the look of the white one, very clean.


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

Go to the Boss site and you can look at mounting kits and the installation instructions.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

ceptorman;1562599 said:


> Very niceThumbs Up


Thanks



peteo1;1562657 said:


> That's some nice fabrication! I really like the look of the white one, very clean.


Thanks, I agree the white on white is probably the cleanest looking one I have made so far.



basher;1562659 said:


> Go to the Boss site and you can look at mounting kits and the installation instructions.


I checked them out just before I posted this yesterday. I was able to veiw the undercarriage schematics and determine it will bolt up with the mouning system I use for the bumper. My issue is determing where exactly the pivot point it relative to the bottom edge of the bumper. I have seen some guys cut into the tow hook area of the bottom of the plastic bumper piece. The bottom edge of the bumpers I build is a little higher then this, but depending on what height the plow is adjusted for I think there may still be some interferance issues.


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

The side flanges could be the issue they differ from part number to part number while the height of the cross tube stay the same in relation to the ground it changes in it's distance from the truck frame from model to model i.e. chevy 99-02, 03-07, and 1500 and 2500 differ as well.


----------



## 1olddogtwo (Aug 6, 2007)

let me know if u want a ford truck as a guina pig....


----------



## WilliamOak (Feb 11, 2008)

^^You'd need an armor plated bumper.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

1olddogtwo;1562866 said:


> let me know if u want a ford truck as a guina pig....


I hope to be interested very soon. Working on rounding out the GM product line now. Ford is next in lint.

Here is an idea of what I am looking for for measurements. This would be specifically on either a Chevy or GMC 2500HD/3500HD from 03-10. It would also be helpful to know the measurement across the plow mounts.










Thanks for any and all help.


----------



## White Gardens (Oct 29, 2008)

Bascially, the only thing I can really tell you is that there is really no up and down play with the measurements.

The mounting height recommendation keeps A-frame of the plow at the proper level to allow the plow edge to sit flat to the ground in all any position the plow is in.

The recommended height is generally the happy medium that allows for a new cutting edge down to a worn out cutting edge.

Another thing to think about is the clearance of the head-gear to your bumpers, along with the A-frame not hitting the bumper in the lifted position.

You would also need to make sure your brackets are supported well and transferring the force of the plow into the frame of the truck correctly. Your bumpers look beefy and I'm sure you thought of this, but just something I wanted to bring up.


.........


----------



## blazer2plower (Nov 19, 2011)

First of all I like the first one nice slider. And do you make them for smaller Chevy's like a 2000 blazerZR2


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

Push beam height is fixed, X and Y differ with model changes as I mentioned earlier.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

White Gardens;1563452 said:


> Bascially, the only thing I can really tell you is that there is really no up and down play with the measurements.
> 
> The mounting height recommendation keeps A-frame of the plow at the proper level to allow the plow edge to sit flat to the ground in all any position the plow is in.
> 
> ...


I have my mounting system designed around the plow mounting system. The plow recomended mounting system would be used to mount the plow. I do not plan on altering this at all or making any type of brackets that would connect the plow to the truck. Looking at pictures I think the mounting point of the plows A-frame to the head board will be under the front edge of my bumper and I am hoping there will be no clearance issues with the bumper and the A-frame when it is lifted. It is something I may determine I need to take a closer look at after I figure out where the A-fram pivot point is at.
I want the truck owner to be able to place the plow in the correct location. This is why I am trying to get measurements off of the trucks frame and determine the complete range of motion of the push beam. I want to be able to mount the push beam all the way up with clearance to the bottom edge of the bumper.



blazer2plower;1563469 said:


> First of all I like the first one nice slider. And do you make them for smaller Chevy's like a 2000 blazerZR2


Thanks, I like that one too as it is actually my truck. Thumbs Up
At this time I onlly have bumpers for designed for 2500 and 3500HD GM trucks.



basher;1563506 said:


> Push beam height is fixed, X and Y differ with model changes as I mentioned earlier.


Yep, that is why I am asking for these dimensions on an 03-10 2500HD or 3500HD GM truck (03-07 will probably also be differant from 07.5-10 also). Y will also vary depending on the stance of the truck. My truck is leveled out so Y will not be as high relative to the frame compared to a truck where the front end is not leveled and sits lower. This is why I am asking how mush Y could be adjusted up and down by mounting the push beam in a differant locatioin.


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

BearClaw;1563537 said:


> This is why I am asking how mush Y could be adjusted up and down by mounting the push beam in a different location.


Depends entirely on the truck, push beam height from the ground is fixed and can not be adjusted outside of the specified parameters so the higher the truck sits the greater the Y distance is. A truck with a leveling kit would have a greater Y measurement than a factory height truck. The torsion bars trucks will change with T-bar adjustment, trucks that carry spreaders normal should have a greater Y measurement as the push beam height should be set to allow for the lift in the front end created by the loaded spreader.


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

A frame pivot point is moot. It's the lift frame that will be the issue.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

basher;1563892 said:


> Depends entirely on the truck, push beam height from the ground is fixed and can not be adjusted outside of the specified parameters so the higher the truck sits the greater the Y distance is. A truck with a leveling kit would have a greater Y measurement than a factory height truck. The torsion bars trucks will change with T-bar adjustment, trucks that carry spreaders normal should have a greater Y measurement as the push beam height should be set to allow for the lift in the front end created by the loaded spreader.


Yes, I understand the push beam height is fixed from the ground. This is why I am asking to get a Y measurement. Then look at where the push bar is mounted. Say the push bar can be moved up three holes and the holes are on 1" centers. Then Y could be 3" higher. This Y value + the amount it could be moved up is the value I am really looking for as this will be the case where there is the least amount of clearance to the bottom edge of the bumper.

I am not sure what you mean by lift frame? I am assuming this would be the frame between the mounting points of the vehicle to the actual plow.


----------



## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

You need to go look at a plow and how it works. 

Stop talking and listen.

Re-read my post. the push beam height is fixed, Y changes with each vehicle.


----------



## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

basher;1563897 said:


> A frame pivot point is moot. It's the lift frame that will be the issue.


Ditto. A-frame location has no bearing on bumper placement. It's the lift frame that causes clearance issues on custom built units since it is the component at and below the bumper.



BearClaw;1563933 said:


> Yes, I understand the push beam height is fixed from the ground. This is why I am asking to get a Y measurement. Then look at where the push bar is mounted. Say the push bar can be moved up three holes and the holes are on 1" centers. Then Y could be 3" higher. This Y value + the amount it could be moved up is the value I am really looking for as this will be the case where there is the least amount of clearance to the bottom edge of the bumper.


There is a great deal of range adjustment in the pushbar on the GMT800 and 900 trucks, 6" to be exact. It's enough that the highest configuration places it well into the valance panel, especially on the 900's. This is why they're cut majorly or removed completely. So to avoid any possible interference with your custom built bumper it would need to be at the very least 4" higher than the OEM valance to cover all possible scenarios. That will likely put you above the frame rails, exposing them. Not really a good look.


----------



## REAPER (Nov 23, 2004)

For R&D purposes most companies would go and buy the mount itself and work in a real world element rather than trying to go by pictures and what others have on different trucks.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

B&B;1564005 said:


> Ditto. A-frame location has no bearing on bumper placement. It's the lift frame that causes clearance issues on custom built units since it is the component at and below the bumper.
> 
> There is a great deal of range adjustment in the pushbar on the GMT800 and 900 trucks, 6" to be exact. It's enough that the highest configuration places it well into the valance panel, especially on the 900's. This is why they're cut majorly or removed completely. So to avoid any possible interference with your custom built bumper it would need to be at the very least 4" higher than the OEM valance to cover all possible scenarios. That will likely put you above the frame rails, exposing them. Not really a good look.


This is the type of answer I am looking for. The reason I am looking for the location of the A-Frame Pivot is because it should be an easy datum to measure to and it gives me a good idea of where the pushbar could be located relative to the frame. To determine the Y-value I am looking for the pushbar and undercarriage would not even need to be mounted to the vehicle. Here are a couple more rough sketches to try and explain what I am looking for.










The far left sketch depicts what I would assume a normal setup would be. The right sketch depicts my worse case scenario. The truck is low to the ground forcing the pushbar up into the bumper. The Y-value here tells me how far up it would be possible to place the pushbar. I assume most pushbars would not be set this "high". High is on quotations because I realize it should actually always be at the same height. Because the trucks frame is lower to the ground in this situation the pushbar is "higher" relative to the frame of the vehicle. It should be easy to determine the maximum value of Y based on a normally set up bumper. Measure the vertical distance between the tow hook hole and the A-Frame Pivot. Then determine how mush higher the A-Frame pivot could be raised by counting the number of holes it could be moved up and measuring the center-to-center between the holes.



REAPER;1564009 said:


> For R&D purposes most companies would go and buy the mount itself and work in a real world element rather than trying to go by pictures and what others have on different trucks.


I like to look at pictures and ask questions before I buy something which may be impossible or extremely difficult to make work. A few hours of research and asking questions to determine feasibility could avoid me spending $500 on something I can not use and make money off of. Hopefully I will find out it is possible and then I will go and purchase a mount.


----------



## REAPER (Nov 23, 2004)

BearClaw;1564076 said:


> I like to look at pictures and ask questions before I buy something which may be impossible or extremely difficult to make work. A few hours of research and asking questions to determine feasibility could avoid me spending $500 on something I can not use and make money off of. Hopefully I will find out it is possible and then I will go and purchase a mount.


That is all fine and dandy. If the pictures you are looking at resemble that actual mount.

Those drawings/sketch's look like they were made to suit someones view of what is instead of the actual real life picture.

For one the "hook" on the mount in the drawing is off compared to what is. Almost every BOSS mount I have seen have the lower "hooks" on the mount even with the lower part of the square tube that mounts to the truck. 
In those diagrams above you have the "hooks" for the mount way above where they actually are.









Anything is possible. I have seen after market bumpers on trucks with a plow mounted so someone has made it work before.


----------



## BearClaw (Jan 9, 2013)

I just put those sketches together real quick to help visualize it. I didn't try to make any of it to scale. I cared very little about the hook so I didn't put much effort into placing it accurately.


----------



## REAPER (Nov 23, 2004)

BearClaw;1564148 said:


> I just put those sketches together real quick to help visualize it. *I didn't try to make any of it to scale*. I cared very little about the hook so I didn't put much effort into placing it accurately.


But you are asking for specifications based on those sketch's?
Makes perfect sense to me...


----------

