I just acquired two pickups. A rusty 1990 with a 3.0 and a snowplow and a rustfree 1995 with a 22RE. I'm going to put the plow on the 95 and take care of two small parking lots. The 95 is a dog. Any thoughts on swapping the 3.0 or beefing up the 22RE?

 

teh worst thing you could do for the 95 is swapping in the 3.0. the HP gain isnt worth it, plus there good about Headgasket failure. maybe throw you a header, magnaflo hi-flow cat and 2.25in pipe on the 22re to wake it up a bit. also search ISR. what size tires are on it? if you have 31s put in some 4.56 gears, 33's 4.88, and so on. just my $0.02

also you may watn to get some heavy duty torsion bars since youll have the plow on there

 

The 22re is a much more reliable engine than the 3.0 which chew up head gaskets. The 22re isn't that fast but you just have to drive it like you are mad at it and it will get you there. You don't need to go that fast to plow anyway. You could get a performance head from http://www.engnbldr.com/head_shop.htm and I bet that would wake the 22re up quite a bit if that's what you are looking for.

 

Thanks, it sounds like the best course is to tweak the 22. Should be easy enough. Any suggestions on beefing up the suspension to handle the weight of the plow?

 

22re's like to eat headgaskets aswell. Overheat them and they like to pop.

Just take care of it, run the proper coolant, good oil etc. etc.

Get some better torsion bars to handle the weight, and good shocks. A rear locker would make plowing fun

 

ya know...if your runnin 31's...and your gonna be plowing...ya might look into gettin a set of 4.88's to give you the extra low end grunt lol

 

if you put headers on a 3.0 it stops eating head gaskets. i like my 3vze, it is a good motor if you put time and care into it and of course the money, but if you're doing a build on a budget and don't mind less power then the 22-re is a good choice. put an aftermarket head, cams and header on it and it will run like a champ. good luck with your build!

 

CAM...it's singular you guys....i hate it when people say camS and headerS for a motor that only has ONE cam and ONE header lmfao

 

To the OP: I think you will get much better performance if you adress the gearing. No 4 cylinder truck was ever made to plow, much less with big tires. I don't know what your running for tires but I would bet the 22RE would be just fine with some 4.88s. I'd stick some 215/85-16s on there with those gears you should be good to go! Add a locker with all the money you save from not buying heads and headers and cam and ... you get my point...

Just my thoughts of course...

 

Thanks for all of the responses. We just had 12"s of snow and the rusty 3.0 plowed like a champ. I only take care of about 300' foot of driveway and a 12 space parking lot. Unfortunately the truck has plowed for 15+ years and has rusted away terribly. The brake lines and frame are shot.

Not sure of the tires on the 22RE but they're pretty basic and I'm sure stock size. Any suggestions on where to source beefier torsion bars? I think that is the first move to make. With the low gearing in 4WL I think even the stock 4 cylinder will be sufficient although I do intend to make some of the suggested mods.

By the way this list and it's contributors are a great resource. Thanks for you input.

 

ANY motor w/ a cast iron block and aluminum head will pop the headgasket if overheated. Different expansion/contraction rates of two different metals takes care of that in a hurry!

Agreed on gearing. On a side note, I'm not sure that a rear locker would be best for plowing. Wouldn't a Tru-Trac be better, or a selectable locker? I love my tru-trac in the snow, but if I were to do it again, I'd probably get the TT for the front, and a selectable locker for the rear.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I'd take a 22re pickup over a 3vz ANY day.

 

how many miles on the 22re? it might need a timing chain. when they get loose you can loose power. also check timing, airfilter, plugs, the little things can add up. also 2nd the locker idea. these trucks are light, the added traction will help. put some sand in the bed what size plow do you have?

 

173,000 on the 22RE. I intend to do the little things ASAP. Before the plow gets installed, its a 6' 6' Western Unimount by the way, the truck will be spending some quality time with Ziebert getting a good cleaning, rust stabilization, and undercoating. I'm friendly with the shop who serviced this truck and will check on the history of the timing chain. I have the rusty 3.0 to get me through until the 22RE is ready.