Getting Ready for Snowplow Season
Originally published in the September 2013 edition of Tech Trends (e-newsletter and as an article within NTEA News), this article is also available to you below as an employee of an NTEA member company.
With summer’s end and the weather beginning to cool, upfitters are starting to prepare for snowplow season with their customers and dealers. Questions are coming in to NTEA’s Technical Services Department regarding snowplow applications and which vehicles can accommodate them.
What You Need to Know
- By adding a snowplow onto a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 lb. or less, multiple Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards may apply. It is therefore important for upfitters to know which trucks have been tested for snowplow compatibility.
- Only Ford, GM and Ram have factory snowplow preparation option codes for specific pickup trucks. Each company has conducted internal testing and reviews on specific models to make sure their trucks are durable and compatible with snowplow equipment.
- The old philosophy that all 4x4 trucks are snowplow-capable is simply not valid. Each chassis OEM has restrictions on which trucks are available for snowplow preparation, as well as maximum plow weights and ballast requirements.
- Additional resources may come from snowplow manufacturers that typically offer application guides to help determine the proper size plow for a given pickup application.
More information available from the NTEA:
Are you faced with technical or engineering challenges?
Contact the Technical and Engineering Hotline at 800-441-6832 for individual attention on varied topics such as Federal Excise Tax, truck certification and labeling, vehicle compliance and truck spec’ing. The Hotline is available Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM (EST). Members can contact the Association as frequently as needed.