F-150 Lightning Snow Plow!

[CyberBill]

I've just released a video showing my installation of a snow plow with full hydraulic controls (up, down, left, right) to my F-150 Lightning. I had to fabricate a custom mount, and as far as I know, this is the first in the world!

This install replaces the tow hooks, which are rated to handle the full weight of the truck. I used 3"x3" square tube with 1/4" wall thickness and welded the plow's quick attach mount bar to it. I also had to remove the active air dam from behind the front bumper. Electrical install was very simple - just connecting to the 12v battery through a resettable 100A fuse. I've done tests and confirmed that the 12V electrical system in the Lightning is plenty strong enough to handle the plow.

I'm happy to answer any questions here, or on the video!

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[Ecstatic]

Looks great! I’ll be interested in hearing how well the Lightning plows with its low center of gravity and high torque. Keep us updated. Looks like you had to shorten the width of the mounting bar. Any concern about the welds holding with all the force that will be placed on it?

 

[CyberBill]

Looks great! I’ll be interested in hearing how well the Lightning plows with its low center of gravity and high torque. Keep us updated. Looks like you had to shorten the width of the mounting bar. Any concern about the welds holding with all the force that will be placed on it?

I ended up taking about 3 1/2" off of the 'depth' of the mounting bar, so that it doesn't stick out as far. You wouldn't have to do that, and DK2 could definitely make a bolt-on bracket using the same tow hook points without having to cut down the "universal mounting bracket" (as they call it).

Initially I built the bracket using only one half of the final result (a single piece of 1/4" angle), and it did slightly bend when I was jumping on the plow, so I doubled it up and added additional welds. Now I really don't have any concerns, but I'll certainly check after the first real-world test!!

 

[Aminorjourney]

This is EPIC. I love the video too - Can we share this on TEN next weekend? It would be a great "And Finally".

Also, you should commercialize this, or perhaps talk to someone like TorkLift Central. They have fab capabilities to make something like this on scale (maybe they'd agree to pay you a royalty!?)

Nikki.

 

[CyberBill]

Absolutely Nikki, feel free to include it on TEN!

My wife says I already have too many projects to start another business. But I'd be delighted if someone would see what I've done and commercialize it - especially one of the plow manufacturers.

Love the show, btw, I've been a Patron for years!

 

[GarageMahal]

Awesome work! Looking forward to seeing the followups.

I just watched your addendum video as well which told me that that you did need to leave the active air dam shutter uninstalled. I guess my biggest question is did you need trim or modify any part of the truck? Was there anything else that you needed to leave uninstalled?

Thanks very much! This gives me hope for fabricating a front mounted receiver hitch or winch mount using the same technique.

Very well done!
jta

 

[CyberBill]

Awesome work! Looking forward to seeing the followups.

I just watched you addendum video as well which told me that that you did need to leave the active air dam shutter uninstalled. I guess my biggest question is did you need trim or modify any part of the truck? Was there anything else that you needed to leave uninstalled?

Thanks very much! This gives me hope for fabricating a front mounted receiver hitch or winch mount using the same technique.

Very well done!
jta

Thank you!

I don't think I NEEDED to keep the air dam removed, but if you're going to be plowing snow I don't think it's a good idea to leave it attached. But you definitely can put it back it in place if you're going to add a front hitch, for example (assuming you are building forward of the bumper, not behind it). The air dam pretty much pushes right up against the rear of the stock tow hook, so it definitely has to come off (temporarily) to remove them.

The only permanent change I made to the truck was a tiny hole in the firewall grommet to run the hand paddle control. Everything else was bolt on/off.

 

[WhipSticks]

I love it! I was waiting for something like this. Im not sure I'll be brave enough to use one this winter, but maybe by year two of ownership, I will take the dive. Plowing can be hard on a truck.

 

[Marcelo Zanetti]

I've just released a video showing my installation of a snow plow with full hydraulic controls (up, down, left, right) to my F-150 Lightning. I had to fabricate a custom mount, and as far as I know, this is the first in the world!

This install replaces the tow hooks, which are rated to handle the full weight of the truck. I used 3"x3" square tube with 1/4" wall thickness and welded the plow's quick attach mount bar to it. I also had to remove the active air dam from behind the front bumper. Electrical install was very simple - just connecting to the 12v battery through a resettable 100A fuse. I've done tests and confirmed that the 12V electrical system in the Lightning is plenty strong enough to handle the plow.

I'm happy to answer any questions here, or on the video!

Wow! Fantastic job. Looking forward to the follow ups.
congratulations.

 

[GarageMahal]

A couple more questions for you, @CyberBill. How difficult is it to remove the mount? I understand that is only four bolts but are they easy to access?

Any chance you can add a picture of the front of the truck with the mount on and the plow off? Trying to gauge the wife acceptance factor

Thanks!
jta

 

[ryun]

Dang was hoping you lived on the east coast because you know that with all that work you did it'll mean 0" of snow this year. Looks great!

 

[CyberBill]

A couple more questions for you, @CyberBill. How difficult is it to remove the mount? I understand that is only four bolts but are they easy to access?

Any chance you can add a picture of the front of the truck with the mount on and the plow off? Trying to gauge the wife acceptance factor

Thanks!
jta

There are 6 total screws (7mm socket) to take off the air dam, very easy to access, then it slides off. Putting it back on is also very easy, because it has alignment pins on each side.

Removing each tow hook is 2 bolts (15mm socket/wrench) - the front one is easy because you can push the rubber surround piece out of the way and get a socket on it. The back one requires an open wrench (ratchet wrench won't fit), but you only need to take it off a few threads in order to slide the tow hook & rubber surround off, then you can use a socket.

Putting the mount on and removing it is a breeze. Since I put large holes in the bottom of the mount I have clear access to both bolts with a socket (rear is a little tight, because of the lower fascia). I put it on and took it off a half dozen times for the build, takes about 5 minutes. The only tricky thing here is that the "backing plate" piece inside the frame rail moves around, and is hard to line up sometimes.

Then by far the most annoying part is putting the stock tow hooks back into place. haha Really it's just the rubber piece that gets in the way, and it's difficult to slide it in from the back and to get the rubber seated where it's supposed to go. But still it's only two bolts. The rear one has to be tightened with an open wrench.

Here's a pic as it sits now, with the mount on, but plow off. If you wanted to hide the cables, there are plenty of places to hide it behind the bumper.

 

[Henry Ford]

Well done! Are there nuisance messages because the truck thinks it's about to run into something? From the air dam delete?

There has to be a market for this. A Pro with the big battery (or maybe even the little battery) seems like it would pay for itself for a seasonal landscaping/plowing business. You could probably even eliminate some gas tools because they could be charged between stops.

Admittedly, I don't understand the viability of electric mowers or trimmers at the professional level and don't really have a concept of how far a landscaping truck pulling a large trailer travels in a day. Maybe it wouldn't work as a professional plow truck because of down time charging? I don't know. Thinking out loud. It seems like any business would be eager to minimize energy costs.

 

[GarageMahal]

Putting the mount on and removing it is a breeze. Since I put large holes in the bottom of the mount I have clear access to both bolts with a socket (rear is a little tight, because of the lower fascia). I put it on and took it off a half dozen times for the build, takes about 5 minutes. The only tricky thing here is that the "backing plate" piece inside the frame rail moves around, and is hard to line up sometimes.

I am pondering a modification to your design and am interested in your thoughts. My idea is to leave the 3" square tubes attached all the time but add holes for a pin and use them as 2.5 inch receiver mounts. I'm wondering if you think there is enough room to get a pin in and out with the length of tube you used, I think it is a really good length from the picture.

This would lead to endless options for mounting all sorts of things to the front. For example we could mount a bar straight across and weld the plow mount under that. It should be easy enough to attach the tow hooks to a receiver mount to use when nothing else is attached (I've seen this done IE F150s). So many options...

Wish I had the tools (and time) to do what you are doing, it looks great!

 

[CyberBill]

Well done! Are there nuisance messages because the truck thinks it's about to run into something? From the air dam delete?

There has to be a market for this. A Pro with the big battery (or maybe even the little battery) seems like it would pay for itself for a seasonal landscaping/plowing business. You could probably even eliminate some gas tools because they could be charged between stops.

Admittedly, I don't understand the viability of electric mowers or trimmers at the professional level and don't really have a concept of how far a landscaping truck pulling a large trailer travels in a day. Maybe it wouldn't work as a professional plow truck because of down time charging? I don't know. Thinking out loud. It seems like any business would be eager to minimize energy costs.

Nope, no error codes. The active air dam electronics (two linear servos of some sort?) are still in place, all that is removed is the plastic "shutter" piece. The little motors still move up and down behind the bumper, they just aren't connected to anything.

I agree with you 100% that this setup would be perfect for a local landscaping company who plows in the winter! Even in a standard range Pro like mine, the range is enough for a full days of work - maybe do a DCFC over lunch. Then use the onboard 120V ports to charge up all your tools. Seems ideal to me!! Hell, I used my onboard power to run a concrete mixer for a few hours and it was WAY better than having a loud generator running the whole time.

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