Plows on Taco's

Who's running one...what brand and size...Thanks...jb

 

Is the Tacoma heavy duty enough for plowing? How well would it do plowing? Always used a farm tractor when I lived in New York.

 

For light plowing it'll do alright. I've seen some write ups where people have mounted plows on their Tacomas and it did ok. Obviously a more heavy duty truck or tractor is better suited for plowing, for a smaller driveway it'll get the job down.

 

Better off buying a used Silverado or F-150 with a plow package already installed. Would probably cost comparable to equipping your Tacoma with a plow considering the necessary suspension upgrades, etc.

And the frame on the Taco is (can I call it this?) somewhat weak. The truck is pretty fragile actually. Designed to be light weight. Not designed for "heavy duty" applications.

Hey, that's what the Tundra is supposed to be for, right.

 

Agreed, but if you already have the Tacoma, it'll handle a lightweight plow for small jobs. It's not ideal, but it'll work. Those shorter length composite plows would be a good choice for the Tacoma since they're much lighter than the steel ones.

 

The Tacoma would do just fine plowing snow, this truck is good for driveways, not big parking lots. A few of my friends use the tacoma and older model Toyota pick up's for plowing with no problem. What I have seen in my area are the Fisher Plows.

The only other truck that is good for driveways would be the Jeep. Small and has a good turning radius in tight driveways.

 

Agreed. You may be correct here Pugga, for light duty, a driveway for example.. I guess the Tacoma would do the job, assuming you required a one-vehicle solution.

If you look at the poly plows, they actually wieght more than a steel blade. The reason is because they have extra bracing in the back. I believe the plows that Sno-Way make are lighter but am not positive. One thing to remember about poly type blades is if you crack it, you can't weld it like you can with steel.

And either way the stock suspension can't handle it, you'll need stronger/stiffer springs up front at a minimum.

I still stand by my recommendation to buy a "plow vehicle" specifically for that purpose. If it doesn't go on city roads you wouldn't even need to license or insure it.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/129762-just-ordered-snow-plow.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/130937-does-anoyone-have-plow-their-tacoma.html

Here's some threads of people who have put plows on their Tacomas. That second link has links to about 8 other threads within the thread. This should give you some real world opinions.

 

Hey dhk I see your point, I think the Tacoma's a fine trucks to plow with. My one friend is a landscaper and he has the Ford 350 and 450 trucks but they are to big for a residential driveway, thats why he uses the Jeeps. they fit just fine in that application.

If you want to plow the street buy a used Mack dump truck.

 

Where I came up with it? It is a fact. Toyota used to have a fully boxed frame on their little pre-tacoma pickup truck with a 1 ton rating. Still used btw on their Hilux. And the 4Runner and Land Cruiser frames are fully boxed still. Even the T100 pickups had fully boxed frames. All these frames are designed and built in Japan.

Dana, and american company, is building their frames. A weaker and cheaper C-channel design. They use Dana C-channel frames on the Sequoia and Tundra as well. You'll notice there is no 1 ton option for the Tacoma trucks.

Now bear with me, to be more technically accurate let me elaborate slightly. The 2nd gen Tacoma has a fully boxed frame under the engine up until about the middle of the front seats - from there it's reinforced C-channel back until somewhere past the arches and then C-channel the rest of the way back to the bumper. For it's intended uses it's a great frame. After all fully boxed frames transfer more road and terrain imperfections to the cab, so Toyota went with the C-channel in the passenger area to create a quieter cabin and softer ride experience.

Now for some fun reading... Here is an interesting article comparing the Toyota Hilux to the Tacoma and covering the history/evolution of the two platforms.

Read this
"The frame of the older truck [refering the the pre-tacoma model] was far more durable than the new Tacoma. The older truck has a fully boxed, internally gussetted frame that is capable of up to a 1 ton load capacity with minor modifications, including different springs and full floating rear axles.
The Tacoma, and even the bigger Tundra, is only rated for 1/2 ton on all models and offers no 1 ton model. One reason is likely the weaker only partly boxed frame."


Please note: I am not going to be baited into comparing the Tacoma frame to a Chevy. Seriously. That was not what I was getting at. My earlier post was attempting to point out that you could harm "wear out" your truck plowing stuff. Why would you want to screw up your awesome Tacoma, which will be a reliable and fun to drive truck for a very long time, instead get an old POS you could care less about, Chevy or Ford, and burn that up doing your plowing. Or, buy a standalone push plow or tractor plow. I didn't intend to bag negatively on the Tacoma truck frame. I like the Tacoma and am pleased with the balance they made between durabiulity, cost, and weight.

 

Don't listen to the haters.

Works Great, even in 14" of snow:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...snow-plow.html

 

This is a horrible argument... I have a truck because I like having the bed to transport stuff. I don't work it hard nor to I intend to for the reasons mountainwolfpup stated. Working a truck hard WILL cause parts to wear out faster, plain and simple. Plowing puts more strain on the front end of a truck and while the Tacoma may be built strong enough to handle it, it will still cause parts to wear out faster. Parts wear out over time with any vehicle and if you strain a part more frequently or have the part loaded, it will fail sooner. Not saying you can't plow with a Tacoma, but it's niave to think it won't have any adverse affects over time.

 

did ya check any of the snow plow forums?
http://www.letstalksnow.com/forums/index.php?
http://www.letstalksnow.com/forums/showthread.php?p=279987#post279987

 

I don't see this as an argument Pugga, it's just a discussion. I just want to point out like you said “Working a truck hard WILL cause parts to wear out faster, plain and simple” this applies to all trucks, things brake, wear out, nothing today is made to last a life time. When you put a plow on a truck I don’t care what model or make things will happen.

Pick up trucks are made to haul, pull and push. If it was not for that we all would be driving a car.

 

The box frame on my gen 1 rusted from the inside out to a point where you could push a putty knife thru it. The C frame is open so at least you can protect it your self since Toyota has seen fit to use shitty useless paint. That said I'm you are correct the box is stronger is the south but how much plowing can you do with a frame you can poke a hole in with a putty knife.

 

Hey dhk. You're starting to take this personally. Geez! It's just my opinion, I am certainly not an expert. There is no value in attacking my supposition. I've admittedly never had a plow on my Tacoma.

I have run plows and worked plowing parking lots in Flagstaff, AZ when I was attending college there. And my good buddy in Boston has a plow on his Dodge diesel dually truck and plows his driveway with it. And on and on... all I have is anecdotal evidence from my own experiences.

I stand by what I said.

But I'm just one opinion dhk. No need to get all stressed out over my thoughts. Hey, I've been wrong before and will be again for sure. I'm just trying to help and add to the discussion.

Sorry if I rattled your nerves.

 

So true. I am not saying the 2nd gen has an inferior frame per se to the 1st gen. The new frame is great. I off road and use the truck to recreate, as my daily driver, I tow 5,000lb loads regularly, I haul bricks and concrete and dirt and stuff. I use my truck and it holds up well. I love it.

That is exactly why I would never attach a plow to it.

I have a winch and have used that about 2 dozen times to pull out other trucks or self-rescue and it has had a negative impact on my front end that I need to deal with. That's the breaks.

I will say that my last truck was an 88 and that frame could take anything. It was a freaking tank.

 

I would agree with you ''That is exactly why I would never attach a plow to it." We have 3 trucks at work - a pick up, a utility and a rack - plowing beats the hell out of them and they are all bigger and heavier duty then a Tacoma. Transmissions and front ends get the worst of it. Price a trans for your truck and you will think twice. If I were to use a plow I would only use it for my own driveway and take small cuts.

 

Sorry, I guess my response sounded a little fired up... I agree that a truck is made to work but was trying to get the point across that plowing, heavy hauling, etc, although the Tacoma WILL do it, it does put more strain on various parts and causes them to wear out. DHK's response was making it sound like using a truck for plowing wasn't a big deal and you shouldn't even think twice about it. Personally, if a truck's got a plow, I wouldn't buy it used unless it'll be a dedicated plow truck. Plowing is tough on a lot of the truck's suspension and driveline components.

 

I can pull a 3 bottom but I have to keep her in low! Oh....never mind.