Weight distribution on your trucks.

[bud16415]

Weight distribution on your trucks.

What I’m interested in finding out is what proportion of the total weight of your plow rigs is applied to the rear wheels and to the front wheels. As we all know traction is a key ingredient to towing and pushing snow and in some ways is even more important than horsepower even. Tires play a huge roll also but tires can’t drive without some weight pressing them down. It seems almost everyone here is using some form of limited slip or locker rear end. and from what I have been reading some ballast weight is being added to the bed. In some cases salting or sanding equipment. Or just sandbags etc. and of course there is a difference with the blade down or blade up as to the weight distribution.

I know in a post a while back Jerre said his one truck was close to 80 20.
I know Fred is planning to plow with a 2WD tow truck and is working out something to add some rear ballast.

What I’m interested in is first off what ballast weight if any do you add?
And where you think is the best place to locate the weight?
In front of rear axle applies some of it to front and behind will apply more force to the rear wheels while removing some from the front. And over the axle just adds weight to the rear.

The reason I’m interested in this is I’m planning to build a rear hitch mounted weight that will also act as a lower bumper and a mounting place for reverse and side plow lights etc.
Being as how it will be somewhat of an experiment I’m trying to get a starting weight.

Last winter on one of the iciest days of the year I got talked into picking up a load of drywall that required a 30 minute interstate drive. After struggling to keep the truck straight the whole way we loaded 50 sheets of half inch and the return trip felt like a summer drive. I don’t want to drive around all winter with 2000 lbs of ballast but I’m hoping a couple of hundred placed outward might make a difference with the plow on.


Bud

[BRL]

I don't think there is an easy universal answer for this. The plow manufacturers do offer suggested guidelines. Each of the trucks that I have owned or set up have been different due to the size of the trucks, the weight of the plows they had, different types of storms, etc. etc. If I was developing such a thing I would design it to be easily adjusted to add or remove weight as conditions or equipment warrant. Good luck.

[wyldman]

Most trucks are nose heavy.Add a plow,and it's even worse.

My truck,with a heavy diesel and auto trans,huge dual batteries,and a heavy plow,is REALLY nose heavy.It won't go anywhere in 2WD with the plow on.

Throw some weight in the back,and it gets much better.2WD is possible.Load it right down,and it's real good in 2WD,and unstoppable in 4WD.

I usually am right around 5000 on the front axle,and 3-4000 on the rear,when loaded.The only problem is sometimes I'm over my 8800 GVWR.

I usually have my fuel tanks,tools,300 lb ballast bumper,and as much weight in the bed as possible.Without this I would be useless.

To make a plow truck (or any truck for that matter) handle,you need to get the weight balanced.Most plow trucks are way to heavy in the front,and way to light in the rear.Shifting weight to the rear is very important for decent handling.

Keeping the nose up is the first thing.Using Timbrens,and good springs is the key.When the nose sags,it actually transfers weight to the front,or the opposite of what you want.Too stiff a rear spring,or too much rake will do the same thing.Running a softer rear spring,with a load booster like airbags works well.

Distributing weight is next.Moving stuff rearward,and keeping weight off the front really helps.Adding weight to the rear (ballast) also pulls weight off the front axle.Keeping fuel tanks full and adding extra tanks helps too.You can also build a bumper,or bumper add on to add weight,and offer extra protection.

I've seen (and driven) lots of trucks with a heavy plow,weak front suspension,a jacked up rear suspension,and no ballast.They are downright dangerous.They spin,and slide all over the place.Not to mention the beating the front ends take.

Braking is something you hear a lot of guys complaining about too.Any truck with rear ABS can be tough to stop if unbalanced,or nose heavy.The rear lock up too easy,and when the ABS kicks in to correct it,the pedal goes to the floor,and you can't stop.A lot of trucks also have height sensing proportioning valves,which will remove brake pressure when the rear end is unloaded.When you add a plow,you are unloading the rear end.The manufacturers also keep the rear brake bias real low,so the truck won't tend to come around under hard braking.Combine these together,and you have a truck that will not stop well with the plow on.When you properly load the rearend,and balance the truck,braking power is WAY better.The ABS will now work as intended too.

50\50 would be the perfect weight balance,but near impossible on most trucks.So the goal is to get the weight distribution as close to 50\50 as possible.This is hard,but with the right suspension mods,and the proper ballast,you can at least get it close.The handling benefits are huge.The truck will plow like a tank,and stop well too.

Bud - If your going to make a ballast bumper,I would shoot for 500 lbs or so.It's hard to get it that heavy,as it takes a lot of steel to do so.Mine is around 300 lbs,and full of concrete.It also has uprights on either side for both tail light protection,and to make it easy to see either side.I used those flourescent plastic hockey balls on top to make them easy to see.

I have a pic somewhere,I'll have to dig one up.

[bud16415]

Chris

Thanks for the info. I weighed the material up the other day and I believe I’m coming in around 300 lbs. I plan on using a length of 12 inch high C channel along with a bunch of steel for mounting etc. I also leave my fiberglass cap on year round that weighs in at 200 I would guess. I know I wish I didn’t have it on for plowing also but the truck gets used to much even during the winter requiring covered storage. Being as how I have a standard cab and a 8 foot box I think the distance from my bumper to the rear axle is longer than the extended cabs and that should be a good thing as it moves the weight farther back. I think I will also take BRL’s suggestion and add some tapped holes so if I want I can bolt on additional weight. I think if I get much over 300 I wont be able to put it on and off myself so doing it in stages might be a good idea. My plan is to plug it in to my Reese hitch for location and then have (2) ¾ inch bolts secure it from both sides. Sure don’t want it falling off. Because my hitch will be covered now I think I will mount a ¾ clevis in the center for the normal tow strap stuff that comes up every winter.
Being as my plow is considerably lighter that what you guys push I might be not to bad for starters. I also have the normal couple hundred pounds of junk in the back at any given time.
The idea of having the box empty and still having some weight really appeals to me.
The other plus if you want to call it that is I want it to hang lower than the standard bumper that will stay on the truck and be more of a match up with most car bumpers. I saw a show on tv a while back showing low speed impacts between cars and trucks and how the cars dive under the bumper. In most cases at 10MPH the cars were seeing like 3000 in damages and the trucks/suv’s like a 1000. but when they lowered the bumper height the damage really lessened.
I like the tail light protection idea you mentioned and if you find a link to your pictures let me know. I’ll see about getting some of this in progress if I ever find time to work on it.
Thanks
Bud

Anyone else with one would welcome your input as well.

[wyldman]

These are some pics of my normal bumper.It's just for protection,and has a quick attach salter mount as well.It will give you an idea of the tail light protection.

[wyldman]

Mounts for salter.

[wyldman]

Close up of the ends.

[wyldman]

Found one of the ballast bumper,not on the truck though.It mounts to the trailer hitch receiver,and two bolts to the bumper to stabilize it.

You can see the uprights to protect the bedsides,with the orange hockey balls on top.There are also a few dock bumpers mounted to the backside to help when hitting things. ;)

[Pickering Snow]

Bud

Ballest the biggy for me the erie special didnt take much to get balanced of course leaving erie was horr has Chris said nose heavy is no good heading home even in 4x4 was bad the blizzard made the front so heavy the truck rear walked all the way to ohio , i loaded bagged salt sunday brought back a skid of 80s 2400lbs a little to much rear wieght:D i loaded have to another truck and that made the erie truck about 1200 in the rear just about right.

The wrecker has been not much of a challange i took it down to the scales and weighed the stinger and rear axle the stinger weighes around 1600lbs and hangs right on the center rear.
Vulcan threw in a hitch adapter for the lower boom. i made a copy of that hitch with 1/4inch plate steel welded a steel rod in place of the trailer hitch ball and bought some steel weights from a guy who had tons of them for working out {barbell weights** i can add had much has i want to the rear i have had has much has 500lbs on i need to get a plow on to verify iam in good traction mode i have tryed to break the rear duels loose on wet pavement and it just wont do it so i think ill be ok

[bud16415]

Fred
I remember Jerre asking you at the install if you wanted it to ride up front or in the bed on the way back and I remember you saying we’ll hang it on the front. I thought that’s gona be a fun drive back. But the next day when I saw that wet snow coming down I thought “crap” I always wondered about that trip and now I know. The setup in the wrecker sounds nice and you will get your work out loading them up each time. Get us a picture when you get it loaded one of these days. I have a friend that races stockcars on our dirt track in Erie and he did that same set up to load the rear wheels he would change weights per track condition and stager on the tires etc.

We have a scale house at work and I’m going to get my truck on it first chance I get total weight and then front weight and then back weight. So I will have something to compare to after I add ballast bumper.

I’m surprised I haven’t seen to much on here about weighting down the rear ends before.

Good talking with you again
Bud

[bud16415]

Looks like maybe this weekend I’ll have a chance to do some more on the project. And I had a question on lighting. I see in Chris’s pictures he has added some rear facing backup lights below the bumper. I defiantly need more and better lighting than stock with that cap on. Do you guys have any recommendations on lighting and lighting placement? Are those just some kind of aftermarket driving lights or something made to throw a wider pattern? My first thoughts were to make them part of the Ballast bumper but now I’m thinking they would be nice year round also. I also thought if I mount them high on the cap shining at more of a downward angle they may be less distracting and also double as task lighting when working on stuff using the tailgate as a workbench. (For some reason I find myself doing that a fair amount.) Not that I plan on driving around with them on.
I have been looking at the auto parts stores tractor, supply store, wall mart etc. and see everything from sealed beam biggies to good size halogen and then the small fish eye jobs. I also as long as I’m stringing wire thought about a couple left and right mounted but angled forward. I think I have seen a few pictures of guys doing that. What I don’t want though is to look in my side mirrors and get blinded so I’m thinking they also should be high mounted. And switched separately.
The other small detail is after doing this I’m not sure I want my truck looking too much like the lunar lander. I could cut holes into the fiberglass cap if anyone knows of any flush mounted lights that throw the light at an angle.
Any thought on all of this?

Bud

[wyldman]

Bud

You need something bright,and with a wide trapezoidial pattern.Long narrow beam spots,or short floods don't work very well.The light needs to get off to each side,otherwise you'll just be lighting up the area behind the truck,which you can't see anyways.

Mounting them up higher on the cap will focus more light on the ground,which is better for seeing right behind you.I actually find mounting them on the side of the cap to be best.

The lights under my bumper are made by Peterson manufacturing,and are a trapezoidial pattern.100 Watts each.They are what you usually see mounted up on top of the cab of a lot of tractors\loaders.Very bright wide pattern.

Here is a pic of my lights.The ones under the bumpers light up behind the truck.The side mounted lights are a cheap rubber tractor lamp housing with a good 160 watt halogen sealed beam installed.Again a tractor flood pattern.With all the lights on,it's like daylight behind me.

Skip the flush mount and fish eye lamps.Very poor light output.The light output is directly dependant on reflector and lens quality.Size is important too.Price (usually) will help you determine quality.I'd rather have 1 good light,than 4 cheap ones.

Depending on what you want,I would start with one of two under the bumper.Keep it simple,and see how you like it first.Leave them loosely mounted,so they fold under if you hit or back into something ( snowbanks ;) )

Here is the first pic,you can see the lights.The pic doesn't do justice as to how much light is thrown out by these things.

[wyldman]

Here is a shot showing how much they light up behind the truck.

[Pickering Snow]

Gee Chris those pics really got me day dreaming this morning :D
wont be long and will be plowing!!

I run a set up the same has Chris on all my trucks either he looks down from the great north on me or i look up to him one of the two :greenange just kidding his set up and mine work the best:D

[bud16415]

Well I have to go with the experts on the lighting then. I have been looking on the Peterson web page some good information on lights and different applications. And the trapezoidal pattern looks good to me also. I haven’t found the 100 watters around yet only 55’s but I’m stopping at a tractor supply today so we’ll see what they have in stock.

Fred I’m not sure who’s looking down on who with you two guys but always good information from both of you. Thanks

As the crow flies Chris is pretty close to Erie and defiantly looking down this way. but it’s a long drive around this darn lake. Maybe this winter after the big freeze and all the traction I’m going to have and the search lights mounted so the coast guard can see me I’ll shot across the ice for a visit. Its only 30 miles to Canada.

OK maybe not.

Bud

[Pelican]

Bud, take a look at the #4466 tractor bulb. It's a plain PAR36 4" round that will fit a variety of mounts including a flush rubber grommet. I don't know if it's halogen or not, but it throws a lot more light and has a different lens pattern than the standard 4" bulb.

I have to special order them, they aren't a regular stock item at the parts store. They run about $12 a piece.

As for weight, I place a 1000 lb slab of concrete directly over the rear axle on my F-350 SRW with Blizzard 810. With weight and plow I'm grossing right around 10,000 lbs.

On my 550 I load about 2 yards of material for plowing which puts me around 15,000 gross weight. Both trucks work well for me loaded this way.

[Pickering Snow]

Bud

Hees a pic of the service truck with its light set up the pic didnt do the lights any justice.\

Also since this isa projects forum also my stainless bumper cover is on know i used my dads old metal brakes to make it this summer looks alot better than the steel tread plate. added readings new stainless latches to the tool box doors also.

[bud16415]

Update or “pimp my plowtruck”

I watched the weather this morning and today looked like the only good day for the next few so I took off at noon to catch up on these projects. The ballast bumper is all cut snagged up and ready for weld. About 350 pounds. I took advice from both Wyldman and Pelican on the lights. I mounted two of the rectangular halogen trapezoidal lights to the upper hatch back on the cap high. And two of the round lights to each side high just behind the door also mounted to the cap. As long as I’m at it I’m redoing the inside the cap lighting and the high brake light also. I have it about half wired and ran out of daylight and ambition. Will take some pictures when I can get a day and night shot working.

Interesting side note. When I was figuring out what to fuse all these new lights with I discovered that with my new lift system it takes more amps to run my plow lights than it does to run my plow. Bet not to many people can make that claim.

Bud

[Chuck Smith]

Originally posted by wyldman
These are some pics of my normal bumper.It's just for protection,and has a quick attach salter mount as well.It will give you an idea of the tail light protection.

I turned the lights on for you ;)

~Chuck

[Chuck Smith]

Chris, I had those same sideboards on my GMC. With the way people drive in snow covered lots, I decided to cut a hole on the passenger side, and cover it with expanded wire mesh, so I could see farther than the mirror on that side. It really helped a lot. Not that you are on the "green" side of things, but the mesh still kept in leaves, grass, etc.

Here's a small pic of it. I had the piece laying around, or I would have made it the same length, only 12" tall instead of 6".

Even with the 6" I could see the idiots flying across the lots towards me.

~Chuck

[wyldman]

That's a cool idea Chuck.

I never turn around and look out though.I just use the side mirrors.

The side boards were just something I threw together out of scrap stuff lying around the shop.I needed more capacity when I moved,and with those I could pile boxes right to the top,and they wouldn't move around.They have been so handy,I never bothered to remove them.

[Chuck Smith]

Chris, the mirrors are fine, but you can't see a car coming across a lot about to T bone you while you are backing up. The first winter I had the sideboards on, I took them off. Wait, that makes no sense. I took them off for the first winter.... After that, I left them on, and the extra weight was great to have. With them, four 80# bags of salt was plenty of ballast.

~Chuck

[chtucker]

Chris, do those chains give you a jingle at impending metal crunching time??

[wyldman]

Howard - I can't hear the chains over the motor. :D

I always have them on there,as you never know what you'll need to hook up to or have to pull.I use them to pull the shopping cart stalls out of the way,as it's faster to do that then plow around them.

They are also there to help people judge where the rear of the truck is.With my bigger summer tires,the truck site quite high,and the flush bumper is tucked up to the body.Most people tend to focus on the rear end housing,and end up rear ending me as they are following to close.It's happened quite a few times.Since I keep the chains on there,it hasn't happened yet.

[WoofsPlow]

I need to redo my backup lights - right now I have a pair of flood lights wired to the backup lights, I also have 55watt back-up bulbs. Need brighter and constant light so I will hard wire with a switch.

[bud16415]

Chris

I reviewed my material list for my project and have everything found now except two orange hockey balls. (Any suggestions on what size and color balls are required to be a snowplower?) and as long as I’m asking how did you affix them to the pipes.

My ballast bumper will clear the ground by 14 inches. That should give fair warning to cars I’m hoping.

I will have a big flat surface back there to advertise on if anyone wants to offer up a 10 inch high by 7 foot long “LETSTALKSNOW.COM” bumper sticker.

Now I just know the wife would really like that one…..

Bud
:eek:

[wyldman]

Bud - I just used the regular hard plastic ones,and cut an X shaped slit in the bottom.It just slides on.

[John DiMartino]

For ballast my trucks like at least 900lbs. The empty spreaders are 450 lbs or so,and I usually put a 1/3 yard in if its just for ballast thats about 1000lbs or so, they push real good like that,but still in 4wd. if the snow is real wet or heavy I load the spreaders 3/4 the way up (about 1500 lbs)and with that much i rarley need 4wd. On the lights, i use 4 lights mounted on my spreaders there only 55 watts each,but even those tax the charging systems. Whenever your adding lights,esp a few 100+ watt lights (there 8 amps each) be sure you have the power to run them AND your plow,running lights,front lights,heater,radio,wipers,phone,engine,beacon,str obes,etc...it adds up real quickly. Id consdier 140 amp alt anddual batterys to be the very minimum .What Wyldman didnt say was he has enough electric power under the hood of that Dodge to jump start the Qeen Mary:D .His alternator/battery set up isnt even close to anything us guys usually run on our trucks,I think he can run a few more things without it even breaking a sweat.

[bud16415]

Thanks John

I have the heavy duty alternator and just a single battery but as large as I can go. The lights I added are (2) 55 watt halogen to the back and (2) 35 watt sealed beam 4 inch on the sides. I’m hooking them up with separate switches so I can run ether or both for the reasons you said. With my new lift system I only draw 2 or 3 amps to raise my plow now. :D

As for ballast with 350 on the bumper and the fiberglass cap adding another 250 I hope that gives me some noticeable improvement. I’m opting for keeping the box free for hauling if I can.

Bud

[bud16415]

Well I got one of the projects done and the other about half way. the lights are all mounted and wired pretty much just have to hook up switches and that stuff and I will try and get a night picture with and without when I do. The weight bumper is done and mounted and I see another string talking about this also but I’ll post the pictures here along with Chris’s pictures. I can already feel the difference just 300 pounds made and have another 200 in bars to add to the inside still as removable but didn’t add it yet was going to wait and see. The upright poles along with protecting the lights work really nice to mark that outside corner at night. Well here are a few pictures.

Bud

[bud16415]

mounting post

[bud16415]

posts in place

[bud16415]

bumper mounted

[bud16415]

bolts

[bud16415]

close up of hook point

[wifeplows]

nice, and clean, i like that. and i just might steal the idea. thanks,and good luck.
let me know after snow how much it helped.
could not tell from before pic. how much rear droped after install.
dave

[bud16415]

Thanks Dave

The truck is a 2500 and it came with trailer package and when I count springs in the back I get the same number and size as the 3500 so its pretty stiff. I didn’t measure the drop but last time I did measure drop I had 50 sheets of half inch drywall in it and it came down like a inch and a half is all so I doubt the bumper brought it down maybe a 1/8 of a inch or something like that. I’m not completely done with it yet I still have a couple hundred pounds of removable weight bars to mount. And in place of the hockey balls I caped the pipe tops with a thin profile amber marker lights last night I’ll see about getting a night picture it looks pretty nice I thought and really shows where your back corners are at but not so bright to be distracting in the side mirrors.
The draw back I found is I have been drawing a lot of attention. Seems every place I park someone is waiting for me to come out with 20 questions. Everyone is surprised when I tell them it’s for weight.
For sure I will post as snow flies as to what I think about bumper and lights. I also just put my second set of BFG All Terrain T/A ko’s 235-85-16 E on so fresh rubber and rear weight …and light…………..LQQK OUT…….

Bud

[bud16415]

Well a while back I had promised some pictures of the lights at night and the finished ballast bumper in action. It was pitch black out last night and I took the pictures hand held with no flash to try and catch what the light really seems to look like. The exposure times were kind of long so excuse the shakiness in the pictures. I never realized how hard it is to take pictures at night of snow. I think they will give a good idea of what approximately 200 watts rear facing will do though. I do leave them (all 4) on while plowing most of the time but have them switched so I can turn on the two sides or the two on the hatch separately. The sides aid the most in plowing. The back two throw enough light to keep the hatch window free of snow, (something I didn’t think about) and also throw enough light I can look out the rear window now. That was something that was always hard to do with the cap on before. The other nice plus for the rear 2 is the make great work lights. The two side mounts will swivel 180 and add front facing side lights if I ever need them.
The ballast bumper has been working out good. The weight is noticeable with traction and haven’t had any handling problems. Having the bed free of sandbags is nice and tailgate works as normal. Also easy to spot truck when I forget what row I parked in. I put full width mud flaps attached to bumper and hung them 2 inches off the ground. (no back spray) and I capped the light protector poles with 2 inch PVC pipe caps that I mounted 2.5 round marker lights to facing up. I ran the wires thru the pipes and tied them in to the truck lights thru the trailer flat 4 trailer plug. The one picture shows what I see looking in the side mirrors. The lights being the farthest point back and to the side show me my corner when backing up to a garage door perfect. Watching the door and the light I can get within an inch if I wanted every time. So one of the reasons I put them on was to protect the truck but what I’m finding is they work almost better at avoiding hitting something. I didn’t get any pictures of the switch panel or the wiring maybe over the weekend when I have some light and time.
Bud

[bud16415]

front light

[bud16415]

back light

[bud16415]

back bumper

[bud16415]

pole lights

[wyldman]

Bud - sweet job !

Based on my personal experiences,I would change a few things on your bumper.

1 - the side poles should be removeable.It makes it easier for tailight access,and they can easily be replaced if damaged.I use my bumper quite often,as a guide (when it hits something,I stop :D),and it gets pretty beat up.Would be nice to be able to bolt on some new ones.

2 - Add a 2" receiver tube to the bumper,so you can still use the hitch.My new bumper sits higher,and you can still use the hitch,but when I had my other receiver mounted one,I was always longing to have a 2" receiver.

3 - The stabilizing bars should be more rigid,and not use long bolts.I did something similar with my first design,and the bolts eventually bent (from backing into stuff),and then they seized up so bad I couldn't get them off.I would weld on bars that bolt right to the bumper with short bolts (no exposed threads),and they fit into the hitch crossbar with 2" tube.See my Arctic backplow install thread for a similar setup.

4 - Add a formed skid plate to the bottom of the bumper.You bumper sits a lot lower than mine,and if you back into a frozen piles,you may get hung up.

5 - I still prefer the orange hockey balls on the marker poles,as there are no lights or wiring to worry about,and they glow nicely with the light from the rear tail\brake lights.Another option would be a few wraps of reflective DOT tape,as that stuff just glows with any little bit of light.This would not only help you backing up,but would make it more visible from all sides too.I'm a stickler for simplicity,and reliability,so that's just my opinion.

Not trying to pick on your design,just trying to add to it. ;) Excellent job on both the bumper and lights.How does the charging system like it ?

[bud16415]

Hey Chris

Thanks for the compliment and the input.

Removable posts is not a bad idea I did consider it at the time and might make it part of a future improved model. I was considering for a while filling the pipes with lead also and might have been why I made them fixed. On the other hand they are made from 2 inch heavy wall pipe and fit into 3 inch pipe I used for the round ends to the bumper. I’ll probably snap the hitch off the truck before they bend. As for the tail gate it folds down between the poles and so far I haven’t had any trouble loading. It is nice being able to tie a load off to the poles that is sticking out the back.

The 2 inch receiver is a great idea and the friend I had weld it tried to talk me into just that when we were putting it together. I could still of had my clevis, just had it mounted to a 2 inch plug-in. At the time of building I didn’t think I would leave it on year round or I would have done that. And I should have.

The reason I did the stabilizer bars that way was I wanted to be able to pre-stress the bumper. The bumper is a piece of 12 inch ship C channel and the bolts are ¾ inch grade 5 plated for agricultural use. I filled the tapped tubes with grease and put a heavy grease coat on the bolts, when I tighten the bolts I actually curve the bumper about ¾ of an inch and the whole unit hitch and bumper become very stiff. The idea behind the way it works is this. The bolts are always in tension and cant bend because they are free to move forward if I hit something what keeps that from happening is the one on the other side is tensioned when that happens. Think of the receiver as being the center pin on a see-saw and transmitting the force to the other side.

The bottom edge of the bumper is flat and about 4 inches of flat the whole way across. The thought behind making it lower was to keep the center of gravity of the mass I was adding lower on the truck for handling reasons and also to make the bumper a better match height for both cars and trucks. By being lower and around axle height or below it has the effect of putting pressure down on the rear wheels rather than lifting them up when hitting a pile. When trying to park by backing in to a parking place that has a snow ridge behind it I have hammered a couple pretty good to get the plow out of the roadway. And it seems to shear a nice square step into the bank so far.

It was so late in the year when I took the yellow spray bomb to it the metal was like close to freezing and I expected the paint job not to hold up along with I knew I would be changing something in the design. I always do. But when I get a good paint job on it the reflective tape is a good idea. But I was also thinking of a cut decal “Letstalksnow.com” across the back out of a reflective material.
As for the hockey balls. I’m the worlds greatest believer in (KISS) “keep it simple stupid” and I had thought about them but couldn’t find any big enough for the 2 inch pipe. Plus I didn’t want my ballast bumper to look like all the rest of them in North America. As my kid put it “now you have Bling dad” whatever that means……

The charging system is holding its own so far. But I don’t run all night like you guys do. With all the lights and the electric lift on the blade I’m still staying in the plus side of 13 volts. I see about .5 to .75 drop in the volt meter when I light em up……

Bud
:)

[dillyolboy]

Bud, Your bumper looks sweet and is highly visible with that yellow paint. I find the idea of the "see-saw" bumper very interesting and look forward to hearing how that works out. Is there a reason you stuck yours behind the existing bumper instead of using it to replace the stock bumper like Chris did? I am also wondering how all those lights work when it is snowing out. Doesn't the snow reflect real bad in a similar manner to when you use you high beams instead of low beams while driving in the snow?

[bud16415]

Dillyoboy

Thanks for the compliment and welcome to LTS.
I went with yellow as you mentioned for visibility and the 12 inch high surface spreads out any impact gives me a wider range of protection and also a lot of yellow for the guy behind to see. The main function of the bumper was to add weight to the rear wheels and to do it in a way that the least amount of weight would contribute the most to loading the rear wheels and at the same time lightening the front end. The reason I didn’t totally replace the back stock bumper is I always planned to take it off in the spring. It does take away from what I can load in the truck and cant help mileage hauling it around. So for me it’s my best plan. One of the reasons I didn’t take the time to build a hitch receiver into the bumper is I never tow anything in the winter but I wanted the big clevis more for getting me out than pulling others out but it works well both ways.

As for the see-saw effect, bolts really are only made to work in one direction and that tension. We sometime use them in shear and also compression. Compression with long bolts would not be good as they would buckle like Chris said. So when you first look at my pictures you might think the bolts are pushing out on the ends of the bumper for support but what they are really doing is pulling back. The center 2 inch post locates the bumper right to left and up and down and also has blocks that pull in against the trucks hitch face. The beam is really stiff and that’s why when you hit on one corner the bumper acts like a spring and a lever both and pulls on the other side. I don’t plan on doing any high speed testing of this buy the way.

As for the lights. I don’t know if you mean the front ones or the back ones. The front plow lights sit a little higher than normal plow lights and I have them aimed down slightly. I leave the truck lights on also because about half the light goes over the plow with it up and the other half reflects off the plow and to the sides and I don’t mind that extra light. one time this winter it was snowing so hard I dropped the blade 4 inches and shut off the plow lights and just ran on the trucks because of the snow effect you mentioned. As for the back facing lights. More is better IMO it’s really great looking back and seeing where you are going. Before them I was always rolling a window down and looking backwards to see what I was going to hit. With the added light and the marker lights showing the corners I just use the mirrors. The rear and side lights are trapezoidal light patterns and I have them angled down pretty good the side ones are angled out some also. At night looking thru the tinted side windows of the cap is not to bad.

Bud