I bought 04.5 off the lot without plow prep package and was wondering what that package entails. I'm installing a plow this fall and want to update if needed. Thanks, Rob

I was told if you put a plow on a truck without it they would not warranty it but dont know for sure

On a duramax the only thing plow prep adds is skidplates(if you dont already have em) and a factory button and wire for a blinky light IIRC. Tbars/cooling/hard parts are really all the same.


They6 cant void your waranty but they can give you lotsa griefe and deny some things. Bottom line is they have to prove what ever you did or didnt do casued the problem in court but if your waiting and trying to fight them it could turn into a real PITA. Any front end problems on a non plow preped truck like balljoints and the like will probably give you the most trouble. Your dealer and how cool they are makes the biggest difference.Edited by: ratlover

On a duramax the only thing plow prep adds is
skidplates(if you dont already have em) and a factory button and wire
for a blinky light IIRC. Tbars/cooling/hard parts are really all the
same.


They6 cant void your waranty but they can give you lotsa griefe and
deny some things. Bottom line is they have to prove what ever you did
or didnt do casued the problem in court but if your waiting and trying
to fight them it could turn into a real PITA. Any front end problems on
a non plow preped truck like balljoints and the like will probably give
you the most trouble. Your dealer and how cool they are makes the
biggest difference.



Actually they can if they want if they think the failure is plow
related (tranny, or front end problems becuase it put front axle over
gross rated weight with a D-max) It would not void warranty on
other thing unrelated to plow. "If" you had got the dealer to
sell you the plow wih it, you would have been covered regardless.



Also the ball joints are the same on preped and non prep'ed trucks but
the Tbars ar different usually and they also usually throw in HD
cooling and/or a aux tranny cooler and sometimes a bigger altenator
too. Your truck can kinda handle the plow frame wise but it
really does put more weight on front axle when plow is raised than it
was designed to handle. GM is not alone in this problem, Dodge quietly
in 04 ditched the Dana 60 in the front end of their trucks and went to
a much heaver and stronger AAM unit that is quite impressive to
look at. (I do not like Dodges either) It even makes Fords SD front
axle look small. Now, if they would just put that in a 3500 GM truck
with lockout hubs too...

Pretty much wat I said right?http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif


On a duramax all the hard parts are the same. There is no difference in tbars or any front end parts. A duramax comes with the heaviest available bars regardless. They cant void a warantee. Voiding implys if you install a plow and bring it in for a screwed up radio your warantte is voided. Denying part of your warantee can happen and they can deny anything for any reason they see fit but when the crap hits the fan the only thing they will be able to screw with you on is maybe front end parts like ball joints tie rods steering ect. This is because you "may" be over the front axel rating of your truck with a plow. The trans is the same as is all the cooling so if they try to say you nuked your trans becasue you were plowing a plow preped truck runs the exact same freaking set up....ask em to explain what the difference is. If you place a plow up front and with the right ballast you are still under the fawr then they will still have a hard time denying the covereage long term. They may imediatly deny it or anything else but if you stick to your guns and not back down they will most likely cave and if it goes court bound....but all that is a big PITA.


If you want to do things 100% right then go weigh your trucks front end and its rear end with it full of fuel and you in it and anything else you will be caring when plowing. Give that info along with your wheelbase and your weight ratings for the front axel and rear axel and a good plow dealer can either figure out what you can run with how much ballast or they can get the plow manufacture to figure it out. If you are under the FAWR you are golden and they will have a very hard time screwing with you long term and if you show you wont bend over early and you know what the facts are they will probebly not screw with you at first. Or depending how good you are with your dealer you could drive an s10 in with b blizzard 8611 up front and they would fix your broken frame on a warantee.


If you install a plow that is technicly too big worse case scenario is that you are eating cost of front end parts. Also though if you bring it in with plow mounts on there how are they going to know if you had a 8' western or a 9.5'western mvp up front?


Oh yeah......and timbrens up front rule. Except at the drag striphttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley7.gifEdited by: ratlover

adding to the above

predrilled hole with rubber grommet in the firewall for passing wires between the cab and under the hood

adding to the above



predrilled hole with rubber grommet in the firewall for passing wires between the cab and under the hood



Making a new hole is not a big problem though and you can alway make it where it suits your needs best too.



When I bought my last plow truck (a gasser) I got dealer to sell me
plow too (not installed though) and he even saved me a few hundred on
plow price too and there are no warranty questions either this way
regardless nor with the extended warranty either.

No longer do they have the predrilled hole, think last year for that was 02. They have the spot for it with a hole in the insulation but I had to pop a hole in my sheetmetalhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley6.gif I then sprayed both sideds with some of that rattle can bedliner stuff. Damn GM getting cheaphttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley7.gif Edited by: ratlover

I used a 1 inch hole saw and then a installed a grease rubber gromment
in the hole (the prevent rust on cut edges) a that left a 3/4
inch ID hole which I seal with RTV caulk after wires are in and it has
worked just fine.

According to the window sticker that came on mine, the snow plow prep includes the 145 amp alternator (instead of 105 amp), the control and wiring harness for a roof top beacon, and heavier front torsion bars. There may have been a couple of other minor items on there also, I don't recall. My theory on the torsion bars is that they just put the bars in from the next larger cab style, i.e. extended cab bars in a regular cab, and crew cab bars in an extended cab. This would explain why they don't offer the plow prep package in the crew cab trucks. If some one has the part number for crew cab torsion bars I could compare with the numbers on my extended cab to test my theory.

They list all the things it inlcudes but sometimes you get those things as a part of other packages. .Maybe I am wrong, wouldnt be the first time but.....The 4800# front end is what comes on all duramax equiped trucks. Weather it be a reg cab, cc, ext cab, 2500HD or a 3500. 4800#'s is the highest you can get.

Yep 4800 is the highest there is and it comes on a HD gasser truck too
and even my "old" 2000 K3500 OBS has it too. The problem lies in that
when a diesel and Ally are installed and a large plow is attached, the
load on the front axle exceeds is ratings. With a gasser, you have more
breathing room.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm putting on a boss 8'2" Vee blade. Looks like it won't matter much if I had the prep or not. I put one on 02 Ford 350 and also had to drill out fire wall, so no big deal.


Rob

Without trying to start a flame war, you might look at a Fisher or
Western Vee as the trip edge design (they have had it many years now)
is really sweet on a any plow but especailly a Vee.

JMO but I really prefer the western or fisher V's. You ran a boss v before? I like everything about the Boss except how they triphttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley18.gif


Seems to depend alot on what and how you plow though..... some have good luck with em but for how and what I plow a boss v can really be a violent MF. Ran a 10' one on a 550 and I decided not again and bought a fisher for my 2500HD. If it works for you thoughhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley20.gif

You type to fast snomanhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley9.gif


OMG we are in agreeementhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley3.gif

JMO but I really prefer the western or fisher V's.
You ran a boss v before? I like everything about the Boss except how
they triphttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley18.gif


Seems to depend alot on what and how you plow though..... some have
good luck with em but for how and what I plow a boss v can really be a
violent MF. Ran a 10' one on a 550 and I decided not again and
bought a fisher for my 2500HD. If it works for you thoughhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley20.gif



There is a Boss dealer up the road from here and I have seen a few in
action and their Vee plows are well built but the trip action really
sucks in my book and I would never own one because of it.

Isn't anyone willing to crawl under their trucks to get the numbers off the front bars? I also have the plow prep package and I am curious if it really is a marketing pitch.

Hey smokn, I'll crawl under there tomorrow and let you know what my non-plow prep numbers are. Rob

Here is what I got off the tag on my drivers side bar: 15528965. Edited by: SmoknDmax

Smokn, that's the same number I have (15528965), and I do not have the plow prep. Interesting. Rob

The true test would be to compare trucks with the same cab style with and without the snow plow prep package. Anyone with an extended cab without the prep package want to check their bars?

I have the plow Package on my 03 chassis cab with a mason dump on it i had the dealer put the plow on it one less thing to deal with when you get it. Plus 0 % on the plow and the $900.00 upfit credit. If any thing goes wrong they cant deny warranty they put plow on the truck


I don't know if i buy a truck that had a plow sitting on dealer lot you don't know what yahoo at the dealership used it to plow there own lot.


on my truck snow plow prep added wiring for beacon light and skid plates Edited by: Turfmower

They list all the things it inlcudes but sometimes you get those things as a part of other packages. .Maybe I am wrong, wouldnt be the first time but.....The 4800# front end is what comes on all duramax equiped trucks. Weather it be a reg cab, cc, ext cab, 2500HD or a 3500. 4800#'s is the highest you can get.





I think my 03 2500HD ext cab/sb Sierra with the Duramax/Allison has 4680lb front end not the 4800lb one. The torsion bar code was GLEdited by: bigdog

http://dieselplace.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17222&P (http://dieselplace.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17222&PN=2) N=2 is a bit of reading on the bars and there is a link with the different options


I have the GL's and a 4800# capacity front end. Look at the sticker on your iiner door driver side. It will list FAWR along with all the other weight ratings.


I believe the only options avalible on a 2500HD are 4600 and 4800....or so I thought?

Ok I just looked at the sticker again (I know the t-bars are GL since I just did an oil change a few weeks ago). The sticker says


GVWR 9200lb


GAWR FRT 4670lb


GAWR RR 6084.


I wonder why it is not 4800lbs when the t-bars are the same.

The front axle on a crew cab is not rated to handle a plow due to the extra weight from the larger cab (consalt dealer if you don't believe me). You might want to research it a little more before you buy a plow

When I was getting my tailgate cables replaced I asked the dealer about a plow (they sell plows) for mine and it's affect on the warranty and they said there was no problem with it, eventho mine does not have the snow plow prep package. I have not added one yet but may at some point as the one on the ATV does not work as well as hoped.Edited by: bigdog

The front axle on a crew cab is not rated to handle a plow due to the extra weight from the larger cab (consalt dealer if you don't believe me). You might want to research it a little more before you buy a plow


If that bad there is a crew cab duelly with the bed replaced with a mason dump and a 8 foot western on the front.

If you put weight in the truck bed, to the rear of the axle, It takes some weight from the front axle and plow.

Anyone run into any problems plowing with a GMC? I have heard that the front end doesn't hold up and a lot of people are bottoming out on the plow frames. Anyone else hear anything like this?

I have a 9.5' fisher v plow(heavy SOB) on my reg cab and with 1k or so of balast and timbrens up front my truck handles the plow like a dream. Less than 1.5 of drop with the blade raised. No porposing and it rides, handles great. Plows snow like a freaking animal. 265 dunlop radial rover rt tires btw.