Plowing XJ

with winter just around the corner the thought of snow comes to mind. what I am getting
at is snow plowing, I did a lil searching but didnt come up with much. Living in Mi
plowing snow is big business, and with the short wheel base of the jeep i thought
it might be a good idea to look into. does anyone have or had a plow, any suggestions
witch to use? any problems or concerns with the unibody? reinforcement needed?
you get the idea. pics would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have the pic of the White '97+ plowing in front of the Whitehouse?

Other than the fact that it is underpowered, underweight, and does not have a nice solid frame to bolt the plow to I think it is a great idea.

I could see it for some lightweight removal....but you live in MI, you do not get "lightweight" snow there.

Sorry.


Rev

Rev Den said:

Other than the fact that it is underpowered, underweight, and does not have a nice solid frame to bolt the plow to I think it is a great idea.

I could see it for some lightweight removal....but you live in MI, you do not get "lightweight" snow there.

Sorry.


Rev

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My buddy has been using his for 2 years here in Michigan without any issues. He puts the bags of salt on the inside for some extra weight and some air shocks all around. Its a full size steel plow as well, made a heavy duty frame that uses about 8 bolts on each side of the unibody and seems to work pretty good. Driving down the road isn't too bad either, he added ZJ coils and the front end doesn't sag and rides fairly well.

Rev Den said:

Other than the fact that it is underpowered, underweight, and does not have a nice solid frame to bolt the plow to I think it is a great idea.

I could see it for some lightweight removal....but you live in MI, you do not get "lightweight" snow there.

Sorry.

Rev

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WOW good start on a plow truck!!! Yeah, for small stuff like a personal driveways it should be fine, but not for commercial parking lots etc where you need more power and a longer wheelbase would help. I know that in the Midwest there is a lot of wet/heavy snow so this would make it really hard on a XJ to push it around. However, with all the nifty winch bumpers out there that tie into like 8-12 places and strengthen to steering box area, why not hang a plow of of it, just don't expect miracles. I figure if you can winch and hang a heavy bumper and 8-9K winch off of your Jeep, why not a plow? With chains and/or airing down a bit and in 4 wheel you might just surprise yourself, but then again why not just get a beater pickup, Wagoneer, or some other solid framed vehicle with a long wheelbase and some ponies under the hood to give you the tools to do the job right and efficiently. I know the $ is good, but why wreck a XJ, wreck a Ford truck instead

You are much better getting a rusted, beater pickup. Snow Plow equipment is not cheap and you don't want to spend the $ on it and then find your XJ doesn't do a good job of moving the snow around. Get a pickup and go at it.

Troy

Blue XJ said:

My buddy has been using his for 2 years here in Michigan without any issues.

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Really? As a commercial plow as the originol poster suggested?

I stand by my statement. Commercial plowing is the domain of full size 3/4 ton and bigger trucks.

That is not an opinon...that is a fact.

Rev

It was a factory option for the XJ, want the part numbers..............

Lightweight removal for sure, and it was designed to have the blade fold back if it got to be to much.

There is a big Jeep dealership near me that advertises and specializes in installing plows on Jeeps. They even have kits for Wranglers and Unlimiteds. Ever seen a Commander with a snow plow?

With that said, dont use an XJ. It might work, and I'm sure it has for somebodys uncles brother somewhere. But it cant hardly take the abuse of a real plow truck.

Up here in Minnesota we get lots of wet heavy snow. And the trucks have to be built to take extreme abuse. My father used to do contract work for the Twin Cities building and installing equipment on plow trucks. These trucks are built like tanks, with one purpose in mind, To Plow Snow. And they do it well.

We now have a business that repairs private and small company plow trucks during the winter. We see tons and tons of F-350's, Chevy 3500's, Dodge HD's and every thing in between. Most of the serious guys will only keep the truck for one season. They will plow with it one winter, and then trade it in for a new virgin truck as soon as the snow melts. And even then, they make endless trips to our shop or the dealer for warrenty repair (balljoints, Hubs, T-cases, Trannys, Turbos) the list goes on and on.

And yes, the money is good. It has to be. If it wasent nobody would have any money to fix their trucks.

And with that, all I have to say is dont buy a Chevy (at least a late model). They have the best trannys in the HD lineup, but it dont do much good with a bent frame, and yes, snow will bend'em.

My 2 cents, just figured I would throw that out there. And i dont want to argue about what you or your brothers best friends uncles dog have done. This is my experiance. Take it as you will.


Brian

Correct, nothing on the large scale, mostly just driveways and maybe small parking lots. I use to work at discount and my boss paid a guy fifty bucks a pop.
"PICS, I NEED PICS"

Google is your friend.

Hope those help.

Brian

I had looked into this a while ago and I decided against it...these other guys are right the xj just isnt really built for plowing. My dad has a few trucks that he uses to plow with and none of them are less than a 2500hd and plowing really beats the trucks up pretty bad, so imagine what it would do to an xj. Basically, if you're serious about plowing you wont do it with your xj.

Blue XJ said:

My buddy has been using his for 2 years here in Michigan without any issues. He puts the bags of salt on the inside for some extra weight and some air shocks all around. Its a full size steel plow as well, made a heavy duty frame that uses about 8 bolts on each side of the unibody and seems to work pretty good. Driving down the road isn't too bad either, he added ZJ coils and the front end doesn't sag and rides fairly well.

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Yeah, but they don't get the Lake Effect slop we get over here. Buy an older FSJ, full-sized bronco or a F250 - F450 w/ 4WD. Doesn't have to be pretty, just reliable.

Rev Den said:

Really? As a commercial plow as the originol poster suggested?

I stand by my statement. Commercial plowing is the domain of full size 3/4 ton and bigger trucks.

That is not an opinon...that is a fact.

Rev

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He does about 10 store parking lots when it snows. Pushes the snow just fine.

Yep, up here in Northern MI there are a LOT of XJs & TJs w/ plows. Personally, TJs are about the best plow vehicle Ive ever used, light, manuverable, and torquey.

I would recommend a Curtis Plow, they are the best I have ever used.

And the comments about the XJ being too weak are BS, Dont knock it till youve tried it. The only thing I would recomment is getting some higher spring rate springs for the front of the XJ, because the plow will drop the front end of the jeep a couple inches.

I say go for it, the reason people use old trucks to plow with is because they are cheap, not because they are ideal.

I'm a little further north than most on here, and I can only remember seeing one XJ with a plow in all my 27 years. As stated most trucks up here that plow (for money not just their own and neighbours driveways) are F250-450, and the equivilant in Chev and Dodge. I am sure XJ's can move snow well, and as stated people know people that do it. Anyone I know looking to buy a used truck tho always asks one question "have this truck ever had a plow on it?" cause even full framed and reinforced HD trucks will get some tweekage when that plow hits 3' of snow angled to the right or left. Unless you have a smaller plow, hit it straight on everytime, have reinforced your framerails or its your beater XJ I wouldn't even think of it.
But for those that do it, just goes to show one more job the XJ can do... kinda like WD40... so many uses.

Im setting up my YJ to plow this winter. I dont know if your XJ is lifted. If it is, that will be a problem for plowing unless you do some modifications to the plow frame. Your XJ has plenty of power to plow with. Its a little light but that can be fixed with sand bags. You will have to address the suspension by adding airbags or stiffer springs to support the weight of the plow. Dont get a plow over 7' wide. It takes alot of traction to push wet, deep snow and the wider the blade, the more snow you push. You can do light commercial with your Jeep, small lots, driveways, drivethroughs, even small subdivisions. As long as you keep the limitations in mind, the XJ should be fine. Definately get a tranny cooler if you dont have one. Several companies (all the major players, Western, Boss, Myers, Fisher, Blizzard) make good plows with frames to fit an XJ. Snoway is probably the best right now. They have hydraulic down pressure so they can make their blade lighter and still do a good job removing snow. Go here for more info,http://www.plowsite.com/ there is a forum specifically for Jeeps.
Be warned, plowing is hard on ANY vehicle, doesnt matter is its a 1 ton or an XJ. Its hard on frontend parts, steering and suspension, transmissions, frames, tires, etc. Expect to do more maintenance on your Jeep and be replacing worn parts more often.
Finally, dont listen to the people that say an XJ cant do it without falling apart. The people that are telling you this are the same people that feel its ok to twist it up through a boulder field on 33" or 35" tires or winch through a mud hole. While the setup of a plow vehicle and an offroad vehicle are different, the stresses placed on the vehicle are similar. As mentioned, dont expect to go blasting through snow drifts with it and dont hit them going 20mph and it should be fine.

Ray H said:

I As mentioned, dont expect to go blasting through snow drifts with it and dont hit them going 20mph and it should be fine.

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this right here is the key. in fact this is a good hint for ALL plow vehicles 3/4 and 1 ton included.

you have a low range for a reason. with good winter tires and some weight low range will allow you to move snow that would otherwise require to do something stupid.

cumorglas said:

this right here is the key. in fact this is a good hint for ALL plow vehicles 3/4 and 1 ton included.

you have a low range for a reason. with good winter tires and some weight low range will allow you to move snow that would otherwise require to do something stupid.

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Very true. I had an F350 PowerStroke with a 9'2" V plow that I plowed with a couple years ago. I didnt use low range much with it but it had a granny 1st gear that worked well for most situations. It did a great job of removing large amounts of snow but was horrible in tight places. I sold it and am getting back in the game this year with my YJ. It should be great for driveways and small lots. I cant wait to see.

Friend of mine had a 94 or 95XJ, 3" rancho lift, full spring packs, done right. He put a personal plow on it from Sams club, plowed pretty good, even my gravel driveway, pushed both the snow and the gravel across the street LOL...
His major issue was overheating, with the plow raised [electrically] it pretty well blocked the air flow to the radiator and it would overheat after about 5 min of 50mph driving between jobs. Otherwise it worked fine, he did replace the XJ with a ford ranger and got the adapter frame to reuse the plow. That one has no overheating problems but then the grill is above the raised plow about 5 inches.

You could plow a driveway with an XJ, and they do an okay job on sidewalks, but it isn't a plow truck. When you are pushing snow you want to be rolling right along and moving the snow somewhere it ain't. You are throwing and pushing it, and you need to get up a head of steam to do it. A big, stout truck with a load of salt, sand or snow is the best, an XJ is too light and lightly put together to do the job for more than just to show that you sure as hell CAN plow with your jeep. The stresses you'll put on the jeep are nothing like you'll put on it wheeling, you are trying to push big, heavy loads of snow, not just move your truck through manky terrain.

Hell, it's your truck, you can do whatever you want with it! Have a good time!