How long do work trucks last

Add in beginner’s factor, prone to making mistakes. I loved watching the guys with contracts pushing snow when I lived in MD. my fav was a fella who used a standard cab, long bed 250 diesel. He knew how to shift, spin, slide, all about positioning the blade, knew his momentum, and had to be dead sober because his dead reckoning for the curb relative to his ever-changing orientation was superb. At his point of experience, he could do a lot with a 3/4 ton - however we didnt get to see him younger, building those skills, making mistakes, and stuffing the plow somewhere bad. You know it happened…

my vote here is for a 4-wheeler with plow attachment, or maybe one on a decent garden tractor. Frame on the front of a taco, frontier, canyon…. too small. I wouldn’t want to do it with my 1/2 ton, really.
 
Tough to say, I'd like to say a properly maintained work truck will last a very very long time. And it should, but plowing in the rust belt usually has different plans for the vehicle. I do find that most of these trucks have been annually treated for rust prevention, so that leaves you with the front component failures....bearings, ball joints, etc. Then there is the tranny. Keep up with it and you would think in a heavy duty truck you'll be fine.

I just find that it takes even more abuse than that - sometimes these things run at construction sites half the day! Guy is writing estimates in it, AC on, Just idling away. Then it's driven all over the place. I knew an HVAC guy that would literally drive up and down the highway all day long, from job to job...pulling a trailer, bed stuffed with stuff. Know a masonry guy that does the same. And carpenter. And a lot of times these trucks are just flat out forgotten and neglected in the maintenance department. They're money makers and along the way people forget the upkeep. That's what happens to work trucks. But because they're money makers people will also do MAJOR component replacement and keep them going, because to buy a new one will be too much. And therefore they stay on the road sometimes a lot longer than you'd think.
 
I've seen work trucks last a couple years to 25+, most of them seem to be run in to the ground with lack of maintenance and beat so they don't last as long as they should.
 
EDIT: Here is a work truck that is listed local to me it... should of lasted a lot longer then 180K miles, but here is it completely shot and ready for the junkyard. OT they are selling it for 5K if interested lol.
f250 1.jpg
F250.jpg
F2502.jpg
F250 3.jpg
 
Depends on who drives it, and how well it is taken care of. Every work truck I had in the day was in top shape until it was assigned to someone else.
I had 2 of them that were totally trashed by other employees, yes to the point of scrapping them, its crazy how hard on things that some people can be.
 
I have a friend who plows his driveway with a snoway plow on the front of his mid '10s Tacoma. Not commercial and not sure I'd do it commercially with such a light truck. Heck, I wouldn't even want to plow with my F-350

No commercial use. Just my personal lots. Takes me about 35 minutes each with a 26” snow blower so it’s not a massive. It only snowed 3x last season. So far 1x this season. My lots happen to be located in the narrow path of CNY that snow doesn’t hit lol.

I would consider buying a half ton or HD rig after I get alittle more use out of my Tacoma. Only stipulation is if I’m going to trade in, I will buy new. I have a very specific way I run and maintain my vehicles. That being said it also does hurt to see a new 50-60k rig get scratched up.
 
Tough to say, I'd like to say a properly maintained work truck will last a very very long time. And it should, but plowing in the rust belt usually has different plans for the vehicle. I do find that most of these trucks have been annually treated for rust prevention, so that leaves you with the front component failures....bearings, ball joints, etc. Then there is the tranny. Keep up with it and you would think in a heavy duty truck you'll be fine.

I just find that it takes even more abuse than that - sometimes these things run at construction sites half the day! Guy is writing estimates in it, AC on, Just idling away. Then it's driven all over the place. I knew an HVAC guy that would literally drive up and down the highway all day long, from job to job...pulling a trailer, bed stuffed with stuff. Know a masonry guy that does the same. And carpenter. And a lot of times these trucks are just flat out forgotten and neglected in the maintenance department. They're money makers and along the way people forget the upkeep. That's what happens to work trucks. But because they're money makers people will also do MAJOR component replacement and keep them going, because to buy a new one will be too much. And therefore they stay on the road sometimes a lot longer than you'd think.

I am good on maintenance. Oil change every 5k miles using full synthetic. Owners manual doesn’t call for anything else besides Coolant/brake at 100k or some other high interval. “Lifetime” transmission and rear diff.

I’m occasionally overloading the bed or trailer. I would be sick if I needed to replace the rear axle, leaf pack, or transmission. I take things easy when I have it loaded. I know the 2.7 can run for a long time…it’s just the stuff that it’s attached onto that I’m worried about.

I suppose I could do a rear suspension enhancement but that doesn’t really add payload. Just helps with the weak factory leafs. May do a trans cooler come spring time so I can go above 3500lb without causing damage.
 
Never seen a taco with a plow here. Now keep in mind I’ve been driving sport package rwd bmws for 25 years, but I wouldn’t plow with less than an f250.
 
I am good on maintenance. Oil change every 5k miles using full synthetic. Owners manual doesn’t call for anything else besides Coolant/brake at 100k or some other high interval. “Lifetime” transmission and rear diff.

I’m occasionally overloading the bed or trailer. I would be sick if I needed to replace the rear axle, leaf pack, or transmission. I take things easy when I have it loaded. I know the 2.7 can run for a long time…it’s just the stuff that it’s attached onto that I’m worried about.

I suppose I could do a rear suspension enhancement but that doesn’t really add payload. Just helps with the weak factory leafs. May do a trans cooler come spring time so I can go above 3500lb without causing damage.
I don’t know how many miles you have on that Tacoma but I would NOT let that tranny or diff go “lifetime” on fluid changes. I’d do them both at 50,000, if you haven’t already.
 
It’s doable not ideal but doable. There is $ in plowing and those contractors will hire people to plow lots they don’t ask what you have you get some one show up in something small and it works but it just pisses the other plow guys off cause they are making the same money doing 1/4 of the work

I see wranglers even with plows on them around here time to time. XJ cherokees were randomly popular, we still have one at my shop with an old blade on it.

It’s harder on the trucks. That’s been stated and true. But for a small couple properties with not a ton of annual snow I don’t see the problem to use what you got
 
I don’t know how many miles you have on that Tacoma but I would NOT let that tranny or diff go “lifetime” on fluid changes. I’d do them both at 50,000, if you haven’t already.

Coming up on 25k miles soon.

I would do a trans fluid change, but I don’t trust the dealer to not mess it up. I would do it myself, but the process with these “sealed” transmissions are a pita.

Going to check how bad the rust has gotten in the spring. May add a trans cooler if it’s still salvageable.
 
Coming up on 25k miles soon.

I would do a trans fluid change, but I don’t trust the dealer to not mess it up. I would do it myself, but the process with these “sealed” transmissions are a pita.

Going to check how bad the rust has gotten in the spring. May add a trans cooler if it’s still salvageable.
I have a Toyota, and I’ve owned a Lexus in the past...I’ve been doing their tranny services for a decade now. They are a pain, but if you have a scan tool that will read tranny temp they’re not too bad. But I hate these dipstickless trannies.
 
How long do plow trucks last in central N.Y.?

6 years max, and depends how many clients you have!

Here, a plow truck can last much longer, since some winters you may only get one snow, or seven large events. I honestly do not know how they make any money around here.
 
Personal use rarely comes close to the abuse that business use can put on a truck. I plow my driveway with an 8" western on a 72 chevy half ton. But it's like three times per year, only 1/8 of a mile, and I take it easy.

Give my 72 to a 19 year old and have him do parking lots all day, it will break before noon. I will likely never break it.
 
An 8 car lot is what, 10,000 sq ft max? I’d just use a snowblower. My driveway is about that and it’s hilly and a snowblower does it just fine.

As others have said, plowing is tough duty and you’ll likely end up getting more work which equals more wear.
 
I cannot fathom plowing as a profitable business with F250 or F350 trucks and the plow. ROI does not seem there. Using an old truck and plow possibly until you break down.
 
I'd pass on the idea of using a Tacoma for a plow truck. They're great reliable trucks but they aren't made to be heavy duty work trucks. The area that you're talking about is small enough to do with a snowblower without risking destroying your truck. Every machine is built for a purpose and this is not the one your Tacoma was designed for.
 
How long do work trucks last? Well that just depends I guess. Take for example a friend of mines V10 98 F250. Used as a work truck for his plumbing, sewers and septic business. Has a regular truck tool box, two bed side toolboxes loaded with tools and usually a whole bunch of pipe in the bed. He used it on the weekends to tow his drag car. Leaving the stuff in the bed and just hooking to the the trailer which had the car and another large box full of tools.

This truck got used hard and lots of short trips/in town driving during the week but he was meticulous with maintenance. It recently got retired because it developed an intermittent miss due to a valve issue around 500k, developed a steady miss on another cylinder around 550k so that was the end of the line for it.
 
Back
Top