CUCV Snow Plow Trucks and Spreaders

[doghead]

Not just you, that is one of the reasons our rules ask to attach photos, not link them.

 

[cucvrus]

Photos uploaded now. I am not too computer-savvy.

Where are they? I see nothing at all. I will send out my best Dog to look for them. Hunt them down and bring them back to us.

 

[cucvrus]

I had a little incident while driving Big Red M1008 last week. I smelled antifreeze but had no leaks. I was driving on I 81 at ludicrous speed and I heard a terrible clanking in the fan. Barely heard it but when I got off the exit it was apparent something had gone awry. I thought maybe the fan shroud had broken and was hitting the fan. To my surprise the zip tie on top of the fan shroud had broken and the overflow tube was being chewed up in the fan. Thus the sound and the smell of antifreeze. While I was in there last week someone was posting about wiper motors that keep washing. Well time to replace that. Been about 2 years. Freebie and it was easy peasy. Gave me the opportunity to lubricate all the wiper linkage and avoid that irritating squeak that annoys you all night while plowing. I also changed out the stock fuel filter cartridge. Took Big Red into the dealer and treated it to a lube oil and filter. $62. Good deal for all around. Now back on the road. I hope the plow can stay off this year. Now I must get working on fixing the light fuse panel. I am cutting out the fuse and putting an inline in. Nothing fancy just what works.

 

[fitz]

Cucvrus, can you do a little write up with pictures when you do the inline fuse on the light fuse.
I know in the past you have mentioned doing that with the heater fuse. A few pics would be great.
Thank you.

 

[cucvrus]

I was going to take pictures and post that. I plan on doing that soon. I have a metal pen clip in place now to hold the fuse tight. Improvise adapt and overcome. All that was left of the fuse was the metal. The plastic be gone.

 

[nyoffroad]

I brought my plow home from where I store it back in November, since then I put it on once or twice. Considering that we normally get about 112" a year I'm happy!

 

[cucvrus]

Still snowing here in Jonestown. I never bothered getting in the CUCV and going anywhere. I want to wait for it to stop. I had to take my wife to work she works in the medical field so I drove the Silverado. Much more comfort and I do like the stabilitrac very much. I was out using the snow blower and it was snowing to hard for that. i came back in and will wait out the storm. Stay warm and be careful.

 

[cucvrus]

I have completed a 27 hour endurance test of the Big Red CUCV. 2 tanks of fuel and 1 flat tire later. I have pushed pulled and drug vehicles from the deep snow. i have plowed a couple million pounds of snow and the truck is still in 1 piece. I put it away for the night in a heated garage. All the trucks did great this storm. I had minor problems with the new snow plow. The Beyers product Snow Dog plow is junk. Do NOT buy one of them. They were the budget priced plows and a 1/2 ton Chevy has it looking like a 20 year old piece of scrap. It still plows but the mold board is bent and twisted and it looks like crap.This was a very heavy wet snow and the ground was not frozen below the snow. Also a multi million dollar inventory of brand new trucks. No damage. Not just push snow and drive wildly. Some of the long runs are 1000 ft long. Lots more cleaning coming up.

 

[cucvrus]

 

[cucvrus]

I have talked about this in the past. These CUCV's that I run I run 100% stock. i can not think of anything that is harder on a truck then plowing snow. Short of running it into a bridge abutment. I have NO auxiliary transmission cooler and never had an over heated engine or transmission while plowing or towing. Most failures I have are cracked transmission and transfer case cases. I have the stock electrical system and maintain everything as it needs to be maintained. They work well and are efficient. I drive the older trucks because other guys always seem to have problems with the older trucks. So I remove any problems from the equation and give them the never stuff. I broke the new truck last year and have never lived that down. Oh well. Someday they will be the older trucks. Have a great day.

 

[cucvrus]

Not your average parking lot.

 

[cucvrus]

Just when you think it is all done. I have a front drive shaft failure at the ball joint in the CV area. I sent the entire shaft out to Spicer to get rebuilt. The U joint in the area were still imbedded in plastic. They are the original ones. the U joints are still good it is the ball that failed. I had a rebuilt one and was back in business. That internal ball joint can be a bear to get greased properly when the shaft is still on the truck. No loss at this point. Back on the road in 15 minutes.

 

[o1951]

To be expected!
When plowing, the loads and the duration of the loads placed on the truck are well beyond what was considered when designing the truck.

 

[cucvrus]

A few more shots or the lovely snow and the chassis field.

 

[cucvrus]

After 20 years of using this tractor and snow blowing I was about to give up on it. The tractor would struggle to go in reverse. During the storm I was having to get a push anytime I got near a snow bank in reverse. I had it at the Honda dealer and they said that hydra-static transmissions are costly to repair. They were a bit confused that it would go perfect in forward but not in reverse. This may help someone else here. I removed the rear cover fenders and adjusted the linkage and checked everything. Then I looked at the coast free wheel valve and it was part way in and it was stuck in. Not moving. I cleaned the area and drove the valve closed with a punch and pry barred it back out and kept cleaning, opening and closing the valve. Low and behold it was the problem. I free wheel it in the shop at times to get it out of the way and I guess over the years the valve got a bit dirty and stuck part way. And this is painted 383 CARC green and I know you guys like green things. I thought I would share the pictures and information with you. It may help someone else with a similar problem. Today it was 50 degrees in Jonestown. I took advantage of the good weather to clean up my Honda snow blower and put it away for the year. Spring starts Tuesday. All is well. From 18" of snow to mud and flood inside of 5 days. Have a great day.

 

[GM72K10]

Although NOT a CUCV, it is what's left of a military base fire truck that I converted to a dump truck. Old school, works fine, Manual transmission and 12 volt but with the 6.2 diesel and 4:56s. Works great plowing.

 

[o1951]

Like your license plate.

 

[cucvrus]

This is the piece I am having replaced on the front drive shaft. I have several used ones but wanted to get a new one to avoid or prolong future down time. I did not get it back yet and will post pictures of the rebuilt driveshaft.

 

[cucvrus]

The last day with the plows on for this season. Our new plow truck What a deal. This is the future. Not our plow truck yet but will be what I have to pick from in 10 years. Oh yea. I wanted to show you a nice auxiliary-transmission cooler install. The instructions said. Mount cooler in front of the radiator. Done. Mount in an unobstructed place. Done. For maximum cooling mount that air can reach the entire auxiliary cooler. Covered. I have to wonder if the car parked at the left is the same person or family. It has run flats. When the one on the left rear failed they put the mini spare on. Sounds about right. A+ on following the instructions on the transmission cooler mount.

 

[GM72K10]

That Denali cost more than my house 32 years ago! (That dates me)

View attachment 672781The last day with the plows on for this season. Our new plow truck View attachment 672782View attachment 672783View attachment 672784What a deal. This is the future. Not our plow truck yet but will be what I have to pick from in 10 years. Oh yea. I wanted to show you a nice auxiliary-transmission cooler install. The instructions said. Mount cooler in front of the radiator. Done. Mount in an unobstructed place. Done. For maximum cooling mount that air can reach the entire auxiliary cooler. Covered. I have to wonder if the car parked at the left is the same person or family. It has run flats. When the one on the left rear failed they put the mini spare on. Sounds about right. A+ on following the instructions on the transmission cooler mount.