Need Advice Guys Im New!
 

Hey guys heres my story I just picked up a 1996 Ford F150 4x4 with the straight 6 4.9L motor and 5 speed manual tranny. It came with a plow setup which i was looking for. Is this truck good for plowing?? Im new to plowing and driving a big truck like this. Also how are manual transmissions when plowing? I'd only be doing local driveways not big lots or anything. Any advice you can give me Id appreciate thanks guys

The I-6 is going to be kind of torquey... moreso than an equally sized V6... but it is no powerhouse at all.

If it has a nice blade on it you should be fine.

Depends. Are you going to be contract plowing or just personal? How many places are you going to be plowing? What kind of driveways? Short residential or long winding private drives?

Generally speaking if it is small stuff you will be fine. If you do get into bigger stuff or plowing heavy wet snow you will find your truck lacking. I use to plow with a 1977 F-150 351M regular cab and bed with a 7.5 Meyer plow. I sold it and got a 1999 F-350 V10 Supercab shortbed with a 8.0 Western plow. The old truck was fine, but would struggle with the wet stuff or really deep snow. The new truck is no problem with anything.

Hope that helps some. Post up if you other questions and join the NY Chapter while you are here. Just follow the link in my signature and welcome to FTE!! :-X22

Darren and Jack said it all. The only thing I will add is. If you feel your truck is taking a woopin. angle the plow a little more. You might have to hit the snow more than once, but your truck will love you.

Since its manual... have fun with that :)

Just be sure to not smoke your clutch trying to push a load that shouldn't be pushed.

Thanks for the info guys. . .Is it worth getting an upgraded clutch or just get a reg one and change it as need be??

having plowed since i was a young'in, plowing with a manual is a wrecked tranny nearly every time. i'm not dispariging your driving skills, just KNOW that auto is a much better plowing platform.
if someone gave me a brand new truck with a plow and "manny"....i'd sell the plow and buy a snowblower.

Thanks for the info Lenny1Carl but i dont really have much of a choice I just picked up a 1996 F150 XL with the 4.9 Straight six five speed with 85,000 miles on it with a meyer plow, diamond plated toolbox, and stereo system for $2000 . . .as far as i know which isnt much this was a good deal. The only thing wrong with the truck as far as i kno is the slave cylinder is leaking so i have to replace that and the gas tank leaks which I already took out . .my buddy and i are in the process of that the last thing we have to take out is the tranny which is unbolted all we have to do is pull it. I figured since the tranny is out id replace the clutch and cut the flywheel. I bought a clutch but the question is now should i return it for a heavy duty clutch or dont waste the money and stick with the reg one??? This is my first truck much less a plow truck any info would help thankss

I'd go with a heavy flywheel and a good clutch. Spend the money now.

If your current flywheel is good, just machine it and you'll be fine for a couple seasons. It really depends on how hard you want to push it.

The bottom line is, just use a little common sense. If the motor is boggin or, the clutch is smokin. You are past the capacity of what you have. Just take a half blade of snow, and then move up from there. Your senses should let you know what the truck can, and will do.

Side note; That truck was not built to plow roads.

thanks . .Anoter question whats going on with the two fuel tanks. . Its a 19 gallon and a 16 gallon . .we removed one of them but i have idea how many gallons it is or how to figure out how to order it through my freind. All i know is that its located closer to the front of the truck. And the two filler holes for gas is crazyy ive never seen that before. Any idea where the other gas tank is . .looks like its on top of the spare??Another thing is the locking manual hubs . . ??? Whats does it mean . .i think i need to tun them to free when i want to go into 4x4?? But how do i move them they seem to be tough to move also when should i put them to (lock) and when should i put them to (free)?? thanks guys

And How the heck do you disconnect the hose that goes into the transmission and connects to the copper piece of the slave cylinder???

lol... Dom. You need a friend who knows trucks. Where are you located?
hehe

I'm not sure on that truck where the 2nd tank is. They are usually very obvious... not much else going on back there ya know?

As far as the hubs go. On a FORD there is free and lock, as you have stated.
Free - No matter what, that hub will not allow power to be sent to that wheel.
Lock - This locks that wheel to your front axle. That is it. You can drive with the hub locked, and still only be in 2wd. When you put your transfer case in 4wd (hi or low doesn't matter) your transfer case sends power from your motor to your front axles. With the hub locked the power going to the axles will power the wheels. With the hubs unlocked (free) you will be turning the axles, but not putting that power to the front tires. Make sense?

When I had manual hubs I left them in free 95% of the time. The other 5% they were locked, but the t-case wasn't in 4HI, it was in 2HI. When I needed 4wd on the fly, I'd slow down, and lift the t-case shifter into 4HI and I'd have 4x4. This was only done in the worst conditions where I didn't want to drive in 4HI, but I wanted to be able to get into it if I had to.

Hope that helps.

Awsome thanks for the help Jack. . . Yea man this is my first truck ive been driving a gti vr6 around before this and still am so this is a big difference . Im located in westchester. I found the second tank its on top of the spare tire under the bed.. . And i finally got the fuel line out all i need to do is put everything back in. . .thanks again

No problem, good luck Dom. Get rid of that v-dub if you haven't yet. hehe