What Am I Thinking?!

hockeypro1411 · November 7, 2009

What do you guys think about me putting a plow on my truck? I've plowed in the past, so I like to think I know what I'm doing when it comes to driving. Besides the obvious bigger blind spots, general abuse to the truck that plowing brings, ect... what am I looking at? I can weld and have access to steel, so fabbing come drop brackets for the mount wouldn't be a huge issue. Does anybody have pictures of how exactly their Western (specifically Unimount) mounts to their GM truck? I'm just curious as to how this is going to look. I've only even installed mounts on Fords. Thanks guys!

Kodiak450 · November 7, 2009

I would think in theroy if the chain was longer on the blade, that it would allow a lifted truck to have a set up on it, but thats just my opinion. I never seen a lifted truck with a plow before, but have heard that it would not work well if a truck is lifted. As far as the Western mounts, along with every other brand, they mount dead center and use the part of the frame the plastic sheild uses. Thus also allowing you to still use the plastic sheild which serves a purpose in keeping salt, water, and dirt outta engine compartment. I think if there are any issues with installing a plow on a lifted truck, it would have to do with the chain on the plow and the cylinder ram. But like I said, never had a seen a lifted truck with a plow set up before.

Now that I think of it, you would not be able to hook the uni-mount plow onto the reciever with it lifted. I think anything over 2" would not allow the mount to connect to the frame. Fabbing a mount lower so that the plow mount could connect would seem like it would be a huge compromise. That mount is held on with 8 bolts I think.

hockeypro1411 · November 7, 2009

I would think in theroy if the chain was longer on the blade, that it would allow a lifted truck to have a set up on it, but thats just my opinion. I never seen a lifted truck with a plow before, but have heard that it would not work well if a truck is lifted. As far as the Western mounts, along with every other brand, they mount dead center and use the part of the frame the plastic sheild uses. Thus also allowing you to still use the plastic sheild which serves a purpose in keeping salt, water, and dirt outta engine compartment. I think if there are any issues with installing a plow on a lifted truck, it would have to do with the chain on the plow and the cylinder ram. But like I said, never had a seen a lifted truck with a plow set up before.

Now that I think of it, you would not be able to hook the uni-mount plow onto the reciever with it lifted. I think anything over 2" would not allow the mount to connect to the frame. Fabbing a mount lower so that the plow mount could connect would seem like it would be a huge compromise. That mount is held on with 8 bolts I think.

That would be the point of dropping basically the entire truckside setup. I would drop it enough so that it was as close the height of a stock truck as I could without compromising too much structural integrity.

Kodiak450 · November 8, 2009

What do you have on the truck, a 6" lift? Looks like you also got a body lift going on there too. I'm also thinking it would really need to be really close to stock height so that you have enough down pressure on the blade too! Western uni mounts also have some give in the terrain you park the blade on. For instance, if you decide to want to take the assembly off on uneven terrain, it will be able to do so and has different height adjustments. The other thing is, if say it would work with a lift on a truck, you could always park the blade on higher terrain like on top of a raised hard packed area (like if you dug out a section of a side of a hill so that it meets your trucks height). Just have to keep in mind when hooking up, you need area in front of plow so when you drive into it you got room for the blade to move forward. You could also check with Western itself and tell them about your lifted truck and if it would work.

Like I said, I never seen a lifted truck in my life that had a plow on it. If you got an older generation plow where you do not drive into the assembly, all you would have to do is hook chain up to plow lift and lift the blade, then put it into the mount under the chasis. Thats how I used to do it with the older style plows. I personally would never go back to the older stlye cause the newer style is much easier to put on and take off without hurting your back. Also even though your truck can handle a 8.0 ft, I still recommend getting a set of timbrens, unless if you put on more heavy duty springs up front. The timbrens will allow you to drive at a normal speed over dips in the road without causeing the blade to scrap on the pavement. Also helps save the front end componets.

hockeypro1411 · November 8, 2009

Yea it's a 6" lift on 315/75/16 (just about 35"). I had already figured Timbrens into the budget when this crazy ass idea came to mind. They're cheap insurance. I have the plow prep package so I have a the trans. cooler and all that good stuff already in there. Haha I have a feeling this is going to turn into a huge ordeal. Lol

Kodiak450 · November 9, 2009

Yea it's a 6" lift on 315/75/16 (just about 35"). I had already figured Timbrens into the budget when this crazy ass idea came to mind. They're cheap insurance. I have the plow prep package so I have a the trans. cooler and all that good stuff already in there. Haha I have a feeling this is going to turn into a huge ordeal. Lol

Did you do a gear swap after the lift and adding 35's? I had a friend who put larger tires on his truck and had a 6" lift and he complained about how sluggish if felt on the highway and how his speedo was off. He finally did the rear with 4:80's or something and was happy with the results. Back in the 90's, one of my buddies had an old GMC that had an 8" lift and 40" tires. He drove that thing over everything. He loved driving over shopping carts and road blocks, he also managed to get his lcense suspended over a dozen times too! Also had a trans am which he always tried to hit deer that were on the side of the road. We warned him many times about what would happent to his TA if he hit a deer, but for some reason he didn't care. I'll never forget the time we were in his truck and he decided to drive into a pond. Matter of fact, he had a plow mount on that truck that was lifted now that i think of it, but no plow. Reason i remeber that is because the truck got stuck in the middle of the pond in 4' of water cause the plow mount got hung up on roots from an old stump. He had to swim to shore, and luckily there was someone else back there 4 wheeling and he had a winch on his truck. That guy wanted $60 to pull him out.

hockeypro1411 · November 10, 2009

No, these are the stock gears. I occasionally drive on the highway, so I don't think I could justify going from 4.10's to even 4.88's. Once I get some shitbox to drive on a daily basis, I'll probably put some 5.13's in there so that it's ready for the twin turbo set-up and 52's. Lol But for now that's in the "maybe someday" pile. And yea, the tires mess with the speedo. When the speedo says 35, your doing about 39, and anything up to 45, you're actually going 5 mph faster than the speedo says. Anything over 55 on the speedo and youre going 8-10 mph faster than it says. This is what I'm using to try to justify a Blackbear tune to myself! Lol

Kodiak450 · November 10, 2009

You should do a nice rollbar on that truck with off road lights. I think roll bars with lights mounted on them always complimented a lift.

hockeypro1411 · November 11, 2009

I looked into it, but I had a hard time finding something I liked. I just might have to break out the welder this winter and make one that I'll like.

Kodiak450 · November 11, 2009

I always admired the newer style roll bars that came out in the late 90's. They had 2-3 bars to them vs just one bar. Also I believe the bars that came off the rear of the roll bar mounted on the wheel wells instead of the bed, not takeing away bed space. I don't know if you could still get these bars anymore, or if they are even sold new. But they would look real good on your truck.