Anyone Plow with their truck?

I bought my 04" 2.7L 4x4 last spring and it came with a plow. I used it for the first time two days ago. Did just fine.

This is my first time plowing, though, and I can really feel that it's tough on the vehicle... do any of you guys plow with your trucks? And are their any specific parts that I'm going to wear out or abuse by doing this? I understand that all plowing beats up all trucks, but I'm looking for Tacoma specifics.

I only do two small driveways, btw. I'm definitely not doing it for a living.

 

I'm thinking about getting one for my truck and wondering the same thing...it would be just to do my own driveway.

 

Plow will be hard on your whole front end as well as your tranny. As we know from the recent recall the frames on our Tacomas aren't that tough so keep an eye for cracking at key stress points. I used to plow with a full size Jimmy, straight front axle type and it took a beating every winter, that 350 ran like a deer though.

 

Pretty much nailed it, front and and transmission. Don't go fast into snow banks, that puts a lot of stress on everything. Be smart about what you're trying to push. The Tacoma is a small truck, it will plow but it's not a tractor. Pushing banks back to make room for more snow can be very hard on the truck so be careful when you have to do that.

 

I was wondering about plowing too. There's a few threads from guys who commercially plow with their Tacomas on plowsite.com forums. For light duty usage I think it would do just fine.

 

I see a handful of 1 & 2 GENs around where I live.
There is a 1993 Toyota old generation 4x4 pickup I see every time driving to my Mom's in S. Vermont.
Funny I have watched that truck since new now rusty but still plowing...also I think TW member VTDave plowed w/ a 2005 for close to six years.
you could do an advance search on his name or maybe he will post here...he was member number 5 I believe!

 

I plowed the last two winters with a Tacoma. Our trucks can't handle a "real" plow, and I have a Fisher Homesteader that is designed for small trucks and SUVs. It's a lightweight fiberglass plow but has performed well as compared to the F150 mounted steel plows I used for twenty+ years. I now only plow two residential driveways and would not plow commercially with the setup on my Tacoma.

I can't speak for other manufacturers, but with Fisher, the mounting hardware and brackets for connection of the plow gear frame to the truck mounted frame plates are of such light-weight material that the connections will surely fail before the truck's frame is damaged in the event of a hard impact. The Fisher plows also trip (flip forward) pretty easily as they are only held with large "elastomeric trip springs," AKA big-ass-rubberbands. This again is intended to help prevent you from damaging the vehicle when hitting hidden objects such as curbs or uneven pavement.

I have had no issues plowing with the Tacoma for two seasons. I know from experience that plowing, and just as much so, traveling around with a plow hanging off the front of a vehicle, will cause additional wear to ball joints, tie-rod ends and any front suspension part that carries weight. It's just something you have to watch and be ready to replace if needed.

I counter-weight the plow with about 120 lbs. of sand loaded behind the rear axle. This levels the truck and helps "relax" the front suspension. Counter-weighting doesn't raise the front end or decompress the suspension, it simply restores the normal geometry of the truck and helps steering, braking and traction.

I more often than not, plow in 2-wheel drive unless the snow is very heavy or deep. I don't hesitate to use 4WD if needed, but I know that I'm plowing the snow in front and the truck is most often traveling on clear ground or hard packed snow. With good tires, traction is often not an issue.

I push "deep early and high late." I'm not worried about a little lawn damage and it's cheaper to repair a lawn than the truck or plow. As Pugga said, pushing banks is tough on equipment. With a steel plow, I wouldn't hesitate to cut banks back. With the Tacoma, I don't do it. You have to push the snow back early in the season and push it up on top of the compressed banks late in the season.

One thing to watch is the salt and sand that is thrown into the front suspension by the air currents caused by the plow. Traveling the roads, the plow will have air spilling over the top and bottom, and the bottom flow will raise road debris which then flows into and under the engine compartment. I usually hose the undercarriage and lower engine compartment anytime there is a thaw. I also travel with the plow angled as that seems to break up the air flow coming directly off the plow.

Mud flaps: If you have mud flaps and you are backing in heavy or wet show, or backing through deep plow ridges, you will probably lose mud flaps or the push rivets that hold them on. I like having mud flaps on the truck, so I carry a box of push rivets in the glove box. I've probably had to replace a half-dozen in two years, and all those were on the rear flaps.

I have dry storage for my plows and I usually take it off within a day of using it. It only takes five minutes to reattach and the extra effort is worth not having to travel dry roads with the plow attached. I probably wouldn't take it off as quickly if I had to store it outside, because trying to attach a plow when there is just a few inches of snow on the ground is a pain in the ass.

Hopes this helps.

 

Wow thanks a lot, that was the response I was looking for. My dilema now is, when I'm plowing the (2) driveways I do, should I just unhook after, and re-hook when I'm going back to do them, as to avoid driving around the rest of the day w/ the plow on? It's such a pain in the ass to hook/un-hook, but I can feel that driving around town w/ the plow on is so hard on the truck.

 

I don't know what type of plow you're looking into but my dad connects and disconnects his plow each morning for his driveway. His is a Fischer and has a pretty slick disconnect system, 2 pins and 2 plugs is all it takes to remove the frame, lights and plow and the subframe stays attached to the truck's frame full time.. He made a roller frame mounted on a furniture dolly to wheel the plow in place, hook up, plug in, then go.