1990 F250 Snow Plow Concerns

[R32R1]

So I've been spending the majority of the day searching and researching the topic of putting a plow on my truck. Since I can't find my answer, I figured I'd ask the forum before I go make this purchase tomorrow. (looking at a SnowEx)

I have a 1990 idi and I will be replacing my sagging stock front leafs with new ones and adding a leaf, as well as, all new shocks. If sagging is still bad, I'll add air.

My concern is the front axle. Most companies are saying the diesel is too heavy to add a plow without putting the front axle at risk for failure due to excessive weight. Is that a BS statement or should I really not be hanging a 750lb plow off the front of my truck? My use would be more on the personal side; I'm not planning on going commercial and having 60 accounts or anything.

Any help is appreciated!

Eric

 

[93blklightning]

I'd like to know the answer to this also. I have a buddy that has an older hydraulic plow from an old full size state dump truck.
He cut me a really good price on it, but I've been putting it off for fear of it weighing too much

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[MTKirk]

I have an old western uni-mount on the front of my truck, it weighs at least 800lbs with the mount I custom made. I have original sagging leafs, with no extra leafs. I run 600lbs of sand bag ballast behind the rear axle (helps tremendously with traction and keeping the front end up). I have airlift ride control bags up front, when the plow is on I fill them to 100 psi. With this setup I can still have positive camber when the plow is raised, raising & lowering the plow changes the front end height about an inch. The truck works great with this setup;

I would not recommend add a leafs, unless you take them off in the summer, the ride is horrible and the camber will be off. The airbags are THE answer to the TTB front end, I have the air lines separate and adjust the pressure of each bag individually (I use a bicycle pump, it's more than adequate as the volume is very low) . I can dial in perfect camber for each wheel regardless of the load situation. If I were to change anything I would probably get new leafs, but I would definitely not get a higher spring rate.

 

[jwalterus]

Vehicles I have put a plow on, fully stock, nothing less than 100k miles when it went on:
1995 suburban 1500 - 7'6" Boss Power-V XT, rt3 mount
1983? ramcharger - 7' meyer straight plow
1979 Chevy c20 - 8' western plow, 12" wings, full hydraulic pivot
1989 suburban 1500, 6.2 N/A - 8' western plow, 32" wings, full hydraulic pivot and wing control (was MY plow truck, I put this SOB vertical on the pile many times )
1990 F-150 - 7'6" Boss power-V, rt3 mount
1994 F-250 - 8'2" Boss Power-v DXT
1982 k5 blazer - 8'2" Boss power-V

every one of them has been running for the last 8+ years with no issues as commercial snow removal for my old boss, the ramcharger has been running for 12 years and it's the only one with anything done, it's jacked up running 35's

 

[R32R1]

I have an old western uni-mount on the front of my truck, it weighs at least 800lbs with the mount I custom made. I have original sagging leafs, with no extra leafs. I run 600lbs of sand bag ballast behind the rear axle (helps tremendously with traction and keeping the front end up). I have airlift ride control bags up front, when the plow is on I fill them to 100 psi. With this setup I can still have positive camber when the plow is raised, raising & lowering the plow changes the front end height about an inch. The truck works great with this setup;

I would not recommend add a leafs, unless you take them off in the summer, the ride is horrible and the camber will be off. The airbags are THE answer to the TTB front end, I have the air lines separate and adjust the pressure of each bag individually (I use a bicycle pump, it's more than adequate as the volume is very low) . I can dial in perfect camber for each wheel regardless of the load situation. If I were to change anything I would probably get new leafs, but I would definitely not get a higher spring rate.

I was thinking of doing this. I need new leafs regardless since I have about 1" gap between the leaf and the bump stop (putting new shocks on last night was painful just seeing how compressed they were). Do you have a pic of where you mounted them?

 

[jhenegh]

My TTB was worn out so I slid a Dana 60 with all the F350 suspension etc, no other modifications. I'm just running a Western 8' Ultramount. I ran between 400-700 lbs of ballast at the tailgate before I swapped to my current heavier steel flatbed. The ballast worked great.

 

[R32R1]

My TTB was worn out so I slid a Dana 60 with all the F350 suspension etc, no other modifications. I'm just running a Western 8' Ultramount. I ran between 400-700 lbs of ballast at the tailgate before I swapped to my current heavier steel flatbed. The ballast worked great.

Well that's the most ideal setup for these trucks, but I'm looking more at current day/ plans haha

Dana 60 is in the future, but for now I need a plow and I need it to not kill my truck

 

[jhenegh]

Ya supposedly you guys got some snow recently?? Thought I heard something about that Don't worry, you got your yearly quota, no more snow this year for you

 

[jwalterus]

IF you are that concerned about the weight of the plow on the front, look into a western suburbanite or other composite plow, those things are under 300 lbs IIRC, and they do work well, I have looked them over before, they have a hydraulic down ram instead of using the weight of the plow

 

[junk]

I run a Western Uni-mount on my 93 f250 with dana 50. It's all sagged out, but seems fine. I don't run any ballast other than a topper. The ass end gets lite with plow up, but I've never had issues pushing. With the plow up the front digs like no other.

I would have no concerns with it.

 

[OLDBULL8]

You can always get the springs re-arched. A good spring shop arches them and heat treats them.

 

[riotwarrior]

Well that's the most ideal setup for these trucks, but I'm looking more at current day/ plans haha

Dana 60 is in the future, but for now I need a plow and I need it to not kill my truck

If bj and tre and wheel bearings and shocks and brakes are in good shape you should be oknbased on what I read in your thread from others responding.

Put yer truck info in yer sig so we know what ya got.

 

[R32R1]

You can always get the springs re-arched. A good spring shop arches them and heat treats them.

I heard those failed quicker from the metal weakening...wasn't worth it.

 

[MTKirk]

I was thinking of doing this. I need new leafs regardless since I have about 1" gap between the leaf and the bump stop (putting new shocks on last night was painful just seeing how compressed they were). Do you have a pic of where you mounted them?

Here's some pics;

The airbag shown is on the drivers side, it mounts directly opposite of the RABS unit (the only tricky part of the install).

I put the air valves right below the headlights, if you look close you'll spot them where the "diesel" emblem used to be. Check out the custom plow mount made from 100% salvage steel.

The photo of the bed shows how I add my ballast; There's a wood frame bolted to the bed that keeps them from sliding forward, the tailgate keeps them from sliding back. The nuts under the bed are welded to the bed stiffeners, so it's easy to remove & reinstall. I also keep two chained up wheels and a high-lift jack, and a tow strap in the back (just in case), might get a winch eventually, but where I plow there's nothing really available to pull on.

As you can see we're all melted out here at the moment, global warming is really killing the local snow removal business. We never got a lot of snow , but in the past it didn't melt, just got blown around into big drifts. I got paid for plowing the same snow over & over again. Looks like you folks in the northeast are in for a banner business.

 

[R32R1]

Nice!!! I am ordering this kit from SD Truck Springs:

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