Scotty I think the main reason a lot of plows aren't recommended for duallys is because you need about a 9 foot blade to keep from tracking over into unplowed snow. A Blizzard 810 on a truck like yours would be killer

I am not trying to pick a bone with you, Kennedy, but I don't think the frame theory holds much water. little regular cab short box half ton Rams are all over the place as little manuverable plow rigs. They are running 7 1/2 foot blades like cake, and those are half ton frames. You get a real 3/4 ton frame in there and you aren't going to bend it with a properly designed plow mount. You can't just have the plow haning off the front 4 inches of the frame, you need to spread the weight out and run push bars back.

 

Either way you go, if you are getting diesel and and extended cab, you are limited to what plows you can use. I would suggest going to Western's website and use their quick select, or whatever it is called, to see the different recomendations on the plow setup. You can also try others. Take a peek at www.plowsite.com to get a feel of different setups. A lot of the plow mfgs don't recommend a plow or only a light 7.5' on the diesels!

 

I simply reported what the man told me of the encountered problems with the Dodge Ram frames. With the trouble I've had with my wandering truck due to a flexing steering box mount and front frame section, adding the DSS steering stabilizer and 03 trac-bar made a difference in the frame stiffness. I had the same blade on a Chev 2500 and had no problems with the frame but instead the IFS hanging together. Plowsite.com has also discussed these issues and appears to have a pattern here, like I said the man will sell you his plow but is recommending against it. Why would a potential customer be turned away unless he is worried about posssible back lash from it. 1/2 tons also are not packing 685lb blades and 1100lbs engines all on 24" of frame and 2 coil spring towers, generally I put the welder in the back to counter balance the load (2700lbs) with the leverage of a raised blade. A small box sander will also work but it is easy to over load the entire truck- 7700lb truck+ 685lb blade + 600lb sander + 3/4 yard sand (1600-2000lb) = 10585lb on a 3/4 ton. Don't forget the misc. impacts from curbs, edges and parking blocks. I have looked at other manufacturers mounts and don't see any one better than the rest but I do see better frame designs (C channel) which allows to bolt to a thicker web material. Coincidentally larger trucks have still not not gone to a hydro-formed box frame design for various reasons including strength and versatility for multi-use applications. Just look at all the discussion around putting in a simple 5th hitch in a Dodge box vs a channel frame. (1994-2002 vs 2003-2005).
P.S. it is not picking a bone but generating good technical discussion with facts and experience. PK

 

I enjoy these types of discussions because it is the best way to learn. I have procomp to hooks on the front of my truck, they bolt right on the front part of the frame, they touch the plastic on the bumper just enough to make a mark. I took them off when we mounted the plow last year and after 6 events (each one the truck plows for about 14 hrs) we took the mount off and put the hooks back on and they were right where they were the fall before. My plow weighs in at a little over 1,000 lbs and I take a lot of equipment in the toolbox with me and have 1000 lbs of ballast. You bet it beats the tar out of these trucks when you run them like that, but so far in my experience all the wear has been in the track bar and tie rod ends, also the sway bar links are acting goofy on me. From my viewpoint we have enough cross bracing on the front of these trucks and also the plow mount acts like another crossmember.

I also heard from Dodge that the hydroformed rails were supposed to be stiffer than a regular frame? As far as semis not running boxed frames is because they need to flex or they will crack so a heavy C channel fits the bill just fine. This is at least what a prof at Wyotech said, I have no first hand exprerience though. If you have a link to that thread on plowsite, I'd be interested in reading it. And also, you should head over to www.letstalksnow.com, its made by the founder of plowsite and the members are a lot more classy and knoledgable on this site. Besides we could use another Cummins guy over there