Small Snow Plow on a Maverick - can I, Should I ?

[Jman79]

... that sounds like a blower job.

I read your post and that last bit just keeps repeating in my head ... is it ok to talk about the cost of such things in these forums?

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[bykerhd]

Waxoyl worked well for me when I lived in New England.
There are other products which are probably as good ?
Whoever does the coatings needs to get in to ALL the nooks and crannies under there.
I would NOT recommend the less expensive motor oil applications.

 

[dalola]

Do you have a snow blower or power shovel? Even this snow sport hitch plow is 1300. Seprately, Not sure if the Mav can use the $500 "nordic plow" auto plow. Seems like you could get a snow blower for a similar price. I did get small power shovel (Toro plug-in) this year but that sounds like a blower job.

https://www.sharptruck.com/access-c...sYD1Yc_0ocz-JgJgfBMLqFWNZSo4Z8fRoC3roQAvD_BwE

That's an interesting concept.....tho it seems pricey for what it is, and a big miss that it has no angle adjustment.

If I had a nice flat concrete or paved driveway, and money to burn, I would throw this on my Mav and try it. But I don't have either, and do have a Kubota tractor with a FEL, so I'm out.

 

[Rmacdoug]

If you're in Stroudsburg did you order from Ray Price? Grew up in Eburg and my dad bought a few vehicles there. Get a good blower and you'll be better off or hope for more rain storms like today's lol.

yea, ordered it from Ray Price....of course they said it'll arrive in 8-12 weeks....when they KNEW it was MONTHS...sigh. First time I've ever brought a Ford....couldn't see the "mislead" when it happened.

 

[notgoosemaverick33]

In the owners manual, it says YOUR VEHICLE IS NOT SET UP FOR PLOW OPERATION, so I would recommend not doing it. It will put a lot of stress on the transmission and drivetrain system, plus it will block the sensors in the front and could cause random braking because the computer thinks the plow is a vehicle.

What I would like to know is, what about using a rear hitch mounted push blade like they make for small vehicles to push snow in reverse. I had one on my Ford Focus (I know that sounds weird), but it was great for pushing snow out of the way.

 

[AHarris67]

In a word, NO.

 

[JohnCondren1933]

Well, my 2024 Maverick AWD (ordered in Sept 2023, not being build until Feb 2024) did not come in time for the 10 inches of snow on my driveway.....but it does beg the question...can this size truck take a small snow plow? I live in the Poconos and it looks like this winter will have actual snow....

I would be the 1st to say that a Maverick can tow 100% above its rating, with proper planning, below highway speeds, very gradual acceleration & deceleration slow enough to utilize hybred regenerative braking, inducing an electrical load that bogs down the hybrid drive motor-generator slowing wheelspeed before mechanical brakes even come into play.

I think Maverick hybrid punches way above its weight in towing if you are methodical, watch temperatures on an OBD2 monitor & stop for 10 minute cooldowns if temps are rising.

People will disagree with me, but from the type of person who pushes limits, my opinion on attaching any snowplow to Maverick and trying to snowplow it is a 100% no small print no maybes, NO!!!! 100% playing Russian Roulette you will total the Maverick, not damage but TOTAL!!

The reason has everything to do with Maverick being a unibody vs every other truck body-on-frame.

A body on frame is heavy so gets much worse gas mileage, also doesnt take corners at highway speeds as well as Maverick even expensive trucks want to lean when taking sharp turns & will rollover quicker than a Maverick because Maverick is built on a unibody.

A truck frame is heavy guage steel plate, formed into a box shape. It is overbuilt for any load the truck may haul, the limiting hauling or pushing factor is usually the engine & transmission, a heavy enough load will destroy the engine & transmission before it does anything to the plate metal frame.

Absolutely NOT the case with unibody vehicles, unibody like Maverick uses less steel & its cheaper & quicker to form into body pieces that are welded into strong shapes that can handle heavy loads & forces -- only in the directions they are engineered to.

Very much the case with Maverick it was engineered with the least amount of metal & bracing necessary to haul & tow the rated loads on finished & semifinished roads.

Maverick also needs to meet 2025 crash safety standards ie have very sensitive crumple zones which absorb enough impact to prevent occupant whiplash from a bed load slamming into the back of the cab.

Pulling a small snowplough with back hitch? Possibly wont destroy the Maverick.
Pushing a small snowplough with the back hitch? Near 100% chance the 1st time it hits a patch of ice you will bend the stamped sheetmetal the Maverick is made of & total the truck.

Could you engineer a safe way to mount a snowplough on a Maverick that wouldn't total the Mav if your plough hits an icepatch going downhill?
Yeah but it would involve engineering & welding up a steel frame connecting to the snowplow that would bolt onto every major unibody feature with 40 to 50 bolts & pinned locators to evenly spread any loads.

There's nothing plug & play for unibody, and unlike with a truck frame, if you make a mistake you've permanently wrecked the unibody alignment it will never steer straight or wear tires evenly again.
Our Maverick suspension is connected by strut towers which are simply large cups formed from sheet metal - dent them, bend them, the sheet metal stretches its never good again - if cost of labor was no object they would have to cut the strut tower from a donor car in a junkyard & weld it in -- after fabricating a frame to use locator pins to verify squareness, parallelism, etc

If you want to snowplow, get literally ANY other US sold pickup truck, buy a shitty beater truck for it,
Most ploughing mishaps with a body on frame pickup can be fixed,
most mishaps with unibody including Maverick are "totalled the truck, alignment & suspension is permanently jacked"

 

[JohnCondren1933]

thank you everyone....the answer was a resounding NO, NO WAY, DON'T DO IT...etc....the truck can't handle it...and it'll break it.... I hear y'all loud and clear......so, if and when my Maverick which was ordered on 6 Sept 2023...and scheduled for manufacture in Feb 2024....if and when I get it...I will not even THINK of putting a snowplow on it..... now....about anti-rust / undercoating...? My area of PA uses road salt alot.

Lots of non-Maverick forums on undercoating vehicles I did mine.
Short answer,
hard undercoatings or wax undercoating NO
lanolin oil based YES! Krown undercoating good, as is Fluid Film, and others that are a sticky non-conductive oil that encapsulates metal, plastics, everything & keeps salt & mud getting on them, encapsulates the salt & mud.

If underbody coating forum wisdom is believed, you can undercoat spray lanolin even right over existing roadsalt & oil will migrate in cracks & encapsulate the salt residue preventing it from absorbing moisture which is how salt creates rust oxidation.

Krown & Fluid Film should generally be reapplied annually if you wash under you car alot or every few years, it resists car wash soap but hot water will wash it off.

Forum wisdom is, wax undercoating is fine for a brand new vehicle, but any dirt or roadsalt encapsulated in the wax will eventually form cracks in the hardened wax, allowing moisture in but not out = eventually hidden corrosion.

Or you can be redneck & squirt used motor oil on the underside of your truck suspension lol

 

[Cancunbadlands]

In a word, NO.

That's actually four words

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Absolutely not.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

In the owners manual, it says YOUR VEHICLE IS NOT SET UP FOR PLOW OPERATION, so I would recommend not doing it. It will put a lot of stress on the transmission and drivetrain system, plus it will block the sensors in the front and could cause random braking because the computer thinks the plow is a vehicle.

What I would like to know is, what about using a rear hitch mounted push blade like they make for small vehicles to push snow in reverse. I had one on my Ford Focus (I know that sounds weird), but it was great for pushing snow out of the way.

I reckon if a Ford focus can do it a Ford Maverick can do it too.
I sure hope to hell the Maverick is built a little more robust than a Ford focus.

 

[JohnCondren1933]

I reckon if a Ford focus can do it afford Maverick can do it too.
I sure hope to hell the Maverick is built a little more robust than a Ford focus.

Oh a Maverick & your Focus can snowplow the same way I can load a bullet in a revolver, spin the cylinder, point it at my head & pull the trigger & live to tell the tale.
Plenty of people have done it & lived to tell the tale, some more than once.

There's just 1 little tiny problem with both - if you misstep, you total the vehicle the same way you total your brain, not recoverable or fixable, totalled.

Maverick is actually heavier than the Focus so it can get more inertia going as it pushes a larger load of snow that would bog down the Focus puny tiny engine & make Focus just spin its wheels.
So Maverick would be more capable of snow ploughing than Focus, right up to the point Maverick hits a curb and the drivetrain has built up enough inertia with the heavier moving load of snow, to bend the vehicle frame.

Focus would spin its wheels before the snow load ever got heavy enough to bend the Focus frame.

Kinda like why a slower tiny donkey can run up & down steep hillsides that a much faster thoroughbred horse would break its leg trying to run down.

 

[BlueOval1954]

I reckon if a Ford focus can do it afford Maverick can do it too.
I sure hope to hell the Maverick is built a little more robust than a Ford focus.

Well, now there is an idea. Hmmm $1,300, maybe not

 

[Timothyd]

Well, my 2024 Maverick AWD (ordered in Sept 2023, not being build until Feb 2024) did not come in time for the 10 inches of snow on my driveway.....but it does beg the question...can this size truck take a small snow plow? I live in the Poconos and it looks like this winter will have actual snow....

You saved so much on your Maverick you can afford to pay someone to plow your driveway once in awhile.

 

[Timothyd]

Instead of my Maverick, my wife does a fine job of moving snow. She is sturdier than the front end of the truck (and also she does not see what I post on this board).

Does she have an older sister?

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