# How bad is plowing on your truck



## wright48 (Dec 7, 2009)

new to this industry got a chevy 2500hd wondering what kind of damage i can expect


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## Chrisxl64 (Dec 10, 2008)

Ahhhh the fabled myth of plowing will kill your new truck in a year......True AND False

Proper plowing will not kill the turck,,yes it does put a considerable amount of work on the truck,,but thats what these trucks were made for,,,,,,beating the ever loving piss outta the truck in a foolish way,,,,will indeed kill it. But controlled,,smart, professional plowing won't "Damage" anything,,,,though stuff does go wrong,,,but the plwoing itself doesn't damage the truck,,,it will cause some items to wear out slightly faster though.


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## exmark1 (Nov 30, 2005)

Plowing won't severly hurt your truck unless you drive it like an idiot, or put a really big plow on too small of a truck!


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

It'll defentially make it wear out faster... but who gives a crap, when your making 25K a season with a 25-40K truck I think thats called return on your investment... A truck should be good for a solid 5 years..


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Plowing isn't hard on your truck, the person driving it is. I still think pulling a big landscape trailer around for 7 months is harder on a truck then plowing.


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## JDiepstra (Sep 15, 2008)

I'm not worried about beating my truck up at all. Now if I let some moron drive it who didn't give a rip... I'd be worried.


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

just don't use your brakes hit the pile at full speed . than on the way back don't stop til somthing stops you. LOL 

plowing is fine I have two Chevy 2500 s they both have over a 100 k


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## IHI (Nov 22, 2003)

Overall i dont think it's any harder on the truck vs the other thigs trucks are asked to do to provide income. Plowing does increase wear on front end parts, does wear brakes out faster, does wear out the column shifter if an auto from repeative R to D direction changes, increased rusting possibilty since your out working all day driving around in and possibly spreading the salt.

Just dont hit the piles full speed, dont change gear direction until the vehicle is fully stopped, those two ensure longer lasting truck. I also do alot of plowing in 4LO (varibles dictate this, i dont do EVERY lot this way) but it increases line pressure to help prevent transmission slippage and clutchs wearing out.


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## welded wrenches (Oct 19, 2004)

*fwd front wheel drive*

hmmm maybe run that truck in front wheel drive only low range ???? not being funny. front wheel drive only.yepr odd answer ty


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## BelleTerra (Dec 2, 2009)

Wear and tear on my truck has always been a huge factor in considering putting a plow on my truck. I know that its sooo hard on the vehicle, and towing is terrible too, which we do ALOT of towing in the summer,poor thing. If only I had taken the advice from my father and bought a desiel...... 

Ive got a Dodge Ram 1500 with the Big Horn Tow Package. What size blade would be ideal for my truck? Im thinking that I may as well explore the option and utilize the vehicle, afterall it is just a tool. 

Thanks


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## IHI (Nov 22, 2003)

welded wrenches;892665 said:


> hmmm maybe run that truck in front wheel drive only low range ???? not being funny. front wheel drive only.yepr odd answer ty


If you have locking hubs, you can run it in 2LO if you want. Like i said, varibles dictate weather or not i run in lo range or not. speed wise, im a slow guy, and 15yrs without a dent or mechanical failure i will continue to be the slow guy since down time costs too much vs the young bucks and employee's that beat the dog snot out of trucks "because i dont have to pay to fix it":realmad:

But on deep/heavy pushes it only makes sense. Think of how a transmission works internally and it makes so much since you'll wonder why you never gave it much thought before. It's comparible to towing a heavy trailer and having say 2.73 gears in the rear diff. It's going to put alot of strain and cause the convertor to slip to overcome the work being performed and lack of gearing to get it done effeicently. So the convertor slips, slip builds up heat just like it does in my bracket car, heat kills trannies.

So i opt to gear reduce whenever circumstances say it's a smarter thing to do....and you can still build up plenty of speed if 4LO if you want to, but i've never plowed over 15mph in a parking lot so like i said, i'm not worried about breaking records getting one side to the other...i dont work by the hour so i have no pressure get as many accounts done as possible.


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

BelleTerra;892692 said:


> Ive got a Dodge Ram 1500 with the Big Horn Tow Package. What size blade would be ideal for my truck? Im thinking that I may as well explore the option and utilize the vehicle, afterall it is just a tool.
> 
> Thanks


7.5 is fine . It has to be wider than your wheels when at a angle . than you can add wings later .


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## IHI (Nov 22, 2003)

Since when all the concern about GVWR and putting plows in 1/2T trucks?? Jeez, i think back 12-15yrs ago there were a slug of guys mounting 7.5's on 1/2T and not thinking about it. I ran my old 95 F150 with a wetern 7.5 for 8yrs and it's what allowed me to buy bigger trucks and better equipment. i just had to upgrade the front suspension (ultimately added air bags to front coils to keep front end level and reduce angle on steering components to reduce wear) BUT i also budgeted in annual front end rebuilds to all my bids as an operating cost. And true to form, every spring i'd drop $600-1200 on new front end components...but since it was budgeted in, i did'nt care. It's nice now with the 3/4 and 1T patforms as i can go 3-5yrs between front end attention, but i still budget in maintenance costs every year, so if i dont use it, it's gravey. If i need to replace something, the money is there.


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