Fisher Snow Plow Mounted on 4Runner

[jbourass]

Thought I would share as I could not find anyone who took the leap and mounted a hydraulic plow to a 4runner so I decided to mount a fisher homesteader plow to mine.

I used this plow on a Jeep and a Tundra before it is a poly blade so on the light side for a plow. I cut down the old Tundra cross bar and fabricated frame rails then used a GMC wiring kit for the headlights.

Good idea, not sure yet, I will have to let you know after a season of pushing snow.

 

[N i 4 N i]

Impressive!

 

[MikeinNH67]

Nice, obviously be gentle with the plow as it is light duty. I bought my 03 to do something similar. I ran an old style 6.5' Fisher on a 99 Jeep Cherokee for years. Snagged the setup off an early 90's Cherokee. The size and turning radius made it a great driveway plow. The naysayers said don't do it but I never had an issue for the 10+ years I used it. That frame was no where as beefy as the 4runner's is. Any pics of how you attached it to the frame?

BTW, my biggest issue was seeing well backing up. You may want to add bright lights to the rear and/or a backup camera.

 

[jbourass]

Mounting location

Thanks for the interest.

I ran this exact plow on a Wrangler and it was great so much more agile then the Tundra I had it on after that.

First a disclaimer, I am not an engineer so use any of this information with skepticism.

Regarding the mounting I made a cardboard template and fabricated the bracket arms in the first post. Attached in the post, the first pic has the sketch of approximately where the brackets bolted on. Hole 1 is a threaded frame hole using a M12 1.25 thread. Holes 2/3 I drilled and used bolts mounted on a metal rod placing them though the larger hole in the upper part of the frame.

Mount is not very noticeable when looking head on (not laying on the ground) and is 11.5 inch’s off the ground.

When planning I considered hanging the plow from where the bumper crash section bolt to the frame but decided it was to much labor to remove the front end for the amount of plowing I will do.

Jamie

 

[Terminator03]

Awesome, thanks for posting the addional pics showing how the custom brackets are mounted! This is a really cool thread.

 

[MikeinNH67]

Here's mine with a Fisher MM plow on it. The truck handles this plow amazingly well. The white metal on the plow is covering some swiss cheese that needs real repairing.

 

[jbourass]

Do you have the brackets connected to any part of the bumper frame or just the main frame? Did you do any upgrades to the front suspension to handle the weight of a MM?

 

[dta1984]

Definitely following along, interested to hear how it performed so far this winter. Any electrical upgrades needed?

 

[MikeinNH67]

Do you have the brackets connected to any part of the bumper frame or just the main frame? Did you do any upgrades to the front suspension to handle the weight of a MM?

I fabricated & welded pieces onto a set of mounts I cut up so they would connect to the frame similar to how Fisher built them for the early Tacos. You can see the Taco ones in the link below, they are hard to find and stupid expensive. Mine sorta U-bolts to the frame before and after the bumper joint. I may add another piece to the threaded hole the OP used. I really am pretty gentle with it so I will monitor it and go from there.

As for the suspension, this truck is pretty used up and almost on the bump stops as it is. If the truck ends up being dependable and not swiss cheese underneath I may replace the springs and add adjustable Bilstein struts. The plow is usually down and I don't take it on the road at this point. I just don't know if I want to put any more money into this truck or buy closer to the newer end of this generation. Fabricating some airbags on the front would be the ultimate setup with an on-board compressor.


7158 Fisher Plow Minute Mount Toyota Tacoma 1995-2004

Here's a pic without the plow on, the mounts hide pretty well. Man do I like how easy this plow goes on and off. My Jeep was the old style Fisher.

 

[jbourass]

Update: Plow working Great

We only got a few storms this year but so far plow has been great. The one thing I have found I need to do is turn off traction control if the snow is heavy as it wants to control any and all wheel slip.
[MENTION=87370]dta1984[/MENTION]: If you have the wiring install kit from Fisher (29499) for a GMC pickup which has the same headlight harness (HB3/H11) as a 4runner you simply connect to the battery and connect all the connectors.

Regarding suspension mine is running stock springs with 5100's, I am getting less then 1/2 inch sag similar to my tundra with the same plow. You can see the stance in the attached pic.

A big difference between my setup and MikeinNH67 is the plow. I chose the homesteader which is a light duty ploy construction so it is substantially lighter at only 239 lbs. The result is much less strain on the front end. Additionally I have mounted to the main frame instead of bumper frame so load on my connection point is further back.

After using it this season I would consider putting it on my 2019 TRD when the 2008 dies.

 

[jbourass]

After Plowing

Adding a Picture

 

[MikeinNH67]

I was just looking at traction control mods today after plowing heavy sticky snow. Looks pretty simple. The truck actually has really good traction though compared to my former plow truck even without the TC locked. It does a nice job.

Yes, the full steel plow is quite a bit heavier but the truck seems to handle it well. The push plates are attached to the frame before and after the bumper bracket setup. I can easily add more if needed. I really like how easy this plow is to mount/dismount.

 

[MikeinNH67]

It's been awhile since I posted on here, the 4runner has taken the back burner but I still have it. It was my daily driver until last September when it failed inspection for frame rust. I still plowed with it last winter. I can't count how many patches I've put on the frame and didn't have the time or ambition to fix it last fall. Now that NH is dropping inspections I guess it's not as big a deal not that I want to drive an unsafe car. I'm probably going to sell it with the plow if I can get enough for it.

The only issue I've had with the plow setup is bad solenoids and loose cables. Everything else has held up great. I did repair the plow rust a few years ago.