Snow Plow On Duramax Crew Cab?

fpbear · June 1, 2007

Can I put a snow plow on the new style 2500HD Crew Cab with the Duramax Engine? From everything I've read the Duramax/Allision combination makes the nose too heavy to install a heavy-duty plow. What about the lighter weight snow plows? Or should I just forget about the nice Duramax engine and I'm stuck with a gas engine?

sonjaab · June 2, 2007

FP.........Indeed GM does not offer VYU plow prep. on diesel x-cab

and crew equipped trucks. There would be no problem installing

certain sizes snow plows on your crew.......................

But yet again on a truck under warranty and no VYU plow prep.

option you may have warranty denied issues if you have problems.

Now you may hear people chime in with the Magnuson-Moss act

response and they can't deny warranty service unless they prove

that the snowplow caused the issue routine.

But that does NO good when your truck is broke and the dealer won't

fix it under warranty!

I have been there and done that ! Some dealers don't care and some

do.

Check out http://www.letstalksnow.com/forums and ask opinions

over there from the plow guys. Quite a few have plow equipped

diesel rigs and don't worry about it..................geo

fpbear · June 2, 2007

sonjaab, thanks for the info and the link. In that case, I am wondering if there is a "light weight" plow that can be safely hooked up to the 2500HD Duramax Crew Cab without going over the front end specs. i.e. something just to clear the driveway sometimes, not a heavy duty commercial style unit. I'll also ask on the snow forum...

whmayhew · June 2, 2007

Buy your new pickup from a dealer that installs plows, then you will not have a problem. I've had two new Avalanches with plows installed at the dealer and have had no problems. Good luck with your new rig.

Green_Monster · June 2, 2007

I think it is so dumb that GM doesn't beef up the front end of the diesel HD's to be able to handle the weight of the snow plow, and still stand by the warranty. There is no better engine to plow with than a diesel. Not to say a 5.3/6.0/8.1 can't do the job, because they can. My uncle is looking into a new HD Diesel, then he found out that he can't get the plow prep with it, and is looking at a Ford or Dodge. He says Ford and Dodge offer plow prep packages on their diesels.

Here are a couple of links to some lightweight plows on the market. You may already have considered these, but here they are anyway. I was looking into getting a Blizzard Plow for my 1500 CC, just to push a little snow when I need to. They only weight about 400 lbs. My uncle's current Boss plow I think weighs about 800-900, but I may be mistaken.

Blizzard Plows

Plastic clear plow

sonjaab · June 3, 2007

Green..................Blizzard plows are one of the heaviest units out there!

A new 8.6 ft. power plow weighs in at a whopping 1470 lbs. not including

the mounting carton (push bar).

On the other hand a regular 7.6 lightweight straight blade (homeowner

special) weighs in at 550 lbs. not incl. mounting carton.

The reason for the NO plow rule (on a diesel x or crew cab or a 1500 crew or

x-cab gasser BUt ok with a regular cab) is that with passengers you will exceed

FAWR aka front axle weight rating !

Reasoning being GM assumes you will plow with 6 passengers plus the plow

and will exceed the FAWR. Strange but true !

Green_Monster · June 3, 2007

Green..................Blizzard plows are one of the heaviest units out there!
A new 8.6 ft. power plow weighs in at a whopping 1470 lbs. not including

the mounting carton (push bar).

On the other hand a regular 7.6 lightweight straight blade (homeowner

special) weighs in at 550 lbs. not incl. mounting carton.

The reason for the NO plow rule (on a diesel x or crew cab or a 1500 crew or

x-cab gasser BUt ok with a regular cab) is that with passengers you will exceed

FAWR aka front axle weight rating !

Reasoning being GM assumes you will plow with 6 passengers plus the plow

and will exceed the FAWR. Strange but true !

sonjaab...Yeah, I know that GM must assume all possible weight will be on the truck at all times. I was refering to the lighter (smaller straight blades you mentioned) SUV plows from Blizzard. They would be able to help clear a small driveway if needed. They only weigh around 400 lbs +mount lbs.

PLOW WEIGHT not including mounting hardware: 370 LB for model 720LT/ 355 LB for model 680LT

fpbear....you could also look into a rear-mount pull plow, if you are just looking for an easy way to clear a driveway. In any event, I personally would wait out getting a plow unless absolutely necessary until warranty is up. Dealer won't hesitate to void with a plow application on a truck that shouldn't have one.