Raptors + Snow Plow????

Just brought a 4 door 2011 Tuxedo Black Raptor home today... WOW, what a great vehicle! I never got so many stares before, more than when driving my Corvette or Porsche!

Anyway, When it snows here in the North Georgia Mountains... sometimes I have to park at the bottom of the neighborhood near the mailboxes... Its just a 5 minute walk down there, but it sure would be helpful if we could plow the roads in our small community.

There's only 6 houses in here, everyone owns 2-3 lots... total of 30 lots and only a couple lots still for sale... like I said, small community, but one of only a couple with paved roads and close to town.

I thought about buying a snow plow for my ATV... but now that I have the Raptor, I'd much rather buy a snow plow blade for it...

Do they make a snow plow blade for the F150 that can easily be installed and removed by a single person? (or at least my wife or next door neighbor helping me to attach/detach when needed)?

A Plow Blade for an ATV seems to run anywhere from $500-1000 bucks...

I wouldn't need a plow until late January as it typically doesn't snow here until mid February...

Does any plow made for a 2010-2011 F150 work on a "Raptor"... bumper frame mounting points the same? I didn't know if the front skid plate would be in the way and secondly if installing a plow would void any warranty on the shocks/alignment or something?

One more thing... the amount of snow? I'm talking all of 4-6" deep on average, 8-10" at most.

Thanks,
Mark

There is a video in here somewhere with a Raptor with a big plow... so it will work...
Found it..
http://www.streetfire.net/video/raptor-plow_2198744.htm

Mark Ducati said:

One more thing... the amount of snow? I'm talking all of 4-6" deep on average, 8-10" at most.

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You do NOT want to put a plow on your Raptor. Please don't!

I've lived at 8,300' on top of a Colorado foothill since 1985. My driveway is 0.7 miles long, and I'm on my third plow. We had 18" of wet, heavy spring snow Wednesday night.

Why not? Lot's of reasons:

First, you will be adding weight to the front end of the truck. Even with the Fisher Minute Mount, you still have to add a lot of heavy steel to the truck, that will stay on the truck when you don't have the plow attached. The SVT engineers did a LOT of work to get that suspension set up. Adding that weight will screw things up.

Second, trucks typically have stiffer front springs (and or Timbren doughnuts) to support the weight of a raised plow. The Raptor's front springs are actually softer than stock, thanks to the performance of the internal bypass shocks. In other words, the front end will drop a LOT when you raise the plow.

Third, plowing snow is like a series of small accidents. Every time the blade hits a groove or rock or catches on a small hole, it transmits a shock back through the frame. Plowing snow beats a truck to death. When people move up here, I advise them to look for a 10-20 year old 3/4-ton pickup with a heavy-duty front axle. That holds up, and the cost is low enough that you don't wince every time it hits a snag.

A snow plow on a Raptor is like trailer hitch on a Porsche 911 GT3. Do NOT do it.

chartguy said:

You do NOT want to put a plow on your Raptor. Please don't!

I've lived at 8,300' on top of a Colorado foothill since 1985. My driveway is 0.7 miles long, and I'm on my third plow. We had 18" of wet, heavy spring snow Wednesday night.

Why not? Lot's of reasons:

First, you will be adding weight to the front end of the truck. Even with the Fisher Minute Mount, you still have to add a lot of heavy steel to the truck, that will stay on the truck when you don't have the plow attached. The SVT engineers did a LOT of work to get that suspension set up. Adding that weight will screw things up.

Second, trucks typically have stiffer front springs (and or Timbren doughnuts) to support the weight of a raised plow. The Raptor's front springs are actually softer than stock, thanks to the performance of the internal bypass shocks. In other words, the front end will drop a LOT when you raise the plow.

Third, plowing snow is like a series of small accidents. Every time the blade hits a groove or rock or catches on a small hole, it transmits a shock back through the frame. Plowing snow beats a truck to death. When people move up here, I advise them to look for a 10-20 year old 3/4-ton pickup with a heavy-duty front axle. That holds up, and the cost is low enough that you don't wince every time it hits a snag.

A snow plow on a Raptor is like trailer hitch on a Porsche 911 GT3. Do NOT do it.

Click to expand...

X2 buy a used chevy for that.

chartguy said:

You do NOT want to put a plow on your Raptor. Please don't!

I've lived at 8,300' on top of a Colorado foothill since 1985. My driveway is 0.7 miles long, and I'm on my third plow. We had 18" of wet, heavy spring snow Wednesday night.

Why not? Lot's of reasons:

First, you will be adding weight to the front end of the truck. Even with the Fisher Minute Mount, you still have to add a lot of heavy steel to the truck, that will stay on the truck when you don't have the plow attached. The SVT engineers did a LOT of work to get that suspension set up. Adding that weight will screw things up.

Second, trucks typically have stiffer front springs (and or Timbren doughnuts) to support the weight of a raised plow. The Raptor's front springs are actually softer than stock, thanks to the performance of the internal bypass shocks. In other words, the front end will drop a LOT when you raise the plow.

Third, plowing snow is like a series of small accidents. Every time the blade hits a groove or rock or catches on a small hole, it transmits a shock back through the frame. Plowing snow beats a truck to death. When people move up here, I advise them to look for a 10-20 year old 3/4-ton pickup with a heavy-duty front axle. That holds up, and the cost is low enough that you don't wince every time it hits a snag.

A snow plow on a Raptor is like trailer hitch on a Porsche 911 GT3. Do NOT do it.

Click to expand...

Well, what you say has some truth to it. But, jumping that truck can cause the same damage as a mini accident. and the argument that the truck is made for jumping wont work since the truck is a on road truck made to be able go go off road. Its not a off road truck that can go on the road too.
Maybe his situation wont allow him to have 2 trucks around who knows.
If you just use the plow for small things there will be minimal damage to the truck. Of course its going to add some extra wear but, you can watch things and keep the wear to a minimum.
There are so many things that can be added to help our the Raptor do what he needs. (Poly plow for less weight, spring helpers...) I will show ya since I plan on adding a plow so I can also do what I need with my Raptor.

I wouldn't put a plow on new vehicle. I would search craigslist everyone i knows just buys old ford or chevy with plow on it for 1500 or less when they are no longer worth anything trash it get new one you buy the plow and destroy the truck for free.

Hockster said:

Well, what you say has some truth to it. But, jumping that truck can cause the same damage as a mini accident. and the argument that the truck is made for jumping wont work since the truck is a on road truck made to be able go go off road. Its not a off road truck that can go on the road too.

Click to expand...

Actually it was developed off road and made street legal.

Yeah i wouldnt put a plow on it, a truck like this it just seems like unneccisary wear to me personally. Get a decent used plow and an old beater truck, cuz from the sound of it your basically just gonna be doing your driveway and not plowing as a way of income. and the plow will probably really put a hurting on the resale value of your Raptor.

you mentioned the ATV plow, they do also make ATV mounted snowblowers, that might even be a better option overall, cheaper then a plow for the Raptor id assume, even if its the same, its still alot less wear on your truck.

JMHO tho

Put a plow on your 4Wheeler... Its a lot easier to get that un-stuck with your Raptor than the other way around.

I would not put a plow on the Raptor. Front end is to soft and would droop too low. One other thing people have not mentioned. You will need to find a plow wider then the truck. On this vehicle I don't even know if an 8ft. would be enough. I have an 8 footer on my Chevy and it is barely wide enough. The issue is to not make a mess when plowing by driving outside the plows path. At that length I doubt you wl find anything light duty. It's just the wrong tool for the job.

Mike
(sick of plowing)